If you want a clean smooth finish you will be better off with the forstner bit.  And the first forstner bit will perform using a drill press and a backer board.  A 2 inch hole I would slow down the drill press some and go slow and easy as you drill.

49 minutes ago, Woodbutcherbynight said:

If you want a clean smooth finish you will be better off with the forstner bit.  And the first forstner bit will perform using a drill press and a backer board.  A 2 inch hole I would slow down the drill press some and go slow and easy as you drill.

And, back out every so often. I don't know how you'd get a backer on that dog's belly. 

never heard of hole saw will look it up though. see why i come here lol

 

oh yeah i tried hole saw thing. what i was calling door hole saw thing. splinters a lot :|

what is a backer???

 

 A backer is a board that is a sacrificial board placed under the piece you’re drilling.  When you drill into the backer it won’t splinter.

thanks but dont think it would work with the bank. perhaps if i drill before putting outer pieces on will see if i can 

Save the piece you remove to form the cavity of the dogs tummy. That would work for the backer. Or better yet, drill the holes before cutting out the dogs tummy.

I have the Irwin set (8pc).  FYI, The shank is 3/8".

Jim

I'm not sure if I  understand why you need a long shank bit.  Suggestion:  drill the hole before the scroll/BS work.  The splintered material will be removed with the scroll/BS.   Danl

Lissa, looking at the example you posted up, the center of the dog is not a perfect circle.  I would go with Danl's suggestion to drill a small hole and scroll saw the shape out.  That would allow you to do any type, size or shape of dog bank you might dream up.  Most of the splintering can be taken care of by laying your dog on a sacrificial board, but it would not be an issue at all if you drill a smaller hole and scroll it out.

On 1/23/2020 at 8:49 AM, Gene Howe said:

My set is Porter Cable. Without measuring, I think they'll go at least 4" . With some jigging on the DP table, you could drill from both sides. Or, just use an extension.

MLCS has a good boxed set that also can go 4" with patience and sharpening.

 

 Late to the show but here's a couple of things. Check the travel on your drill press. Travel is the distant your drill press moves from full up position or rest to full down position. You can do this by measuring from the bottom of the chuck to the table, full up then full down, the difference is the travel. I realized this when I tried to drill a 3.5" hole with a 6" bit, my drill press only travels 3", length of the bit didn't matter. I drilled the full travel of 3" and put a .5" backer board underneath and then drilled the remaining .5". Hope I didn't confuse you.

 Based on your pics it appears that you are using 4 pieces of wood, 2 for the body & 2 for the outside. Maybe you could add one more piece to the body & this would give your exit hole a little more space on each side. Using a darker wood would give the dog a stripe from head to tail.

  

Edited January 28, 20206 yr by DuckSoup

For holes like that I would first drill a small pilot hole all the way through

then drill only half way from both sides with the big bit. The pilot hole

will line you up and keep it centered. 

For drill extenders I make my own to fit all bits.

 

 

Hey @Lissa Hall  I was researching iin an old issue of Wood magazine and ran across this tip.  A bit cumbersome unless you have two routers, but would get you where you wanted to go.

Thank  u!!!