mortise bit???

[chesapeake]

I'm a newbee to this site and have just bought a shop fox mortise press to drill square 1/2" holes in the but ends of my cherry flooring I'm installing in my home. My plan is to glue two square plugs into the ends of each board prior to installation. The unit came with a free bit that I've inserted and adjusted according to specs, but the drill bit is burning the insides of the hole. The square chisel works fine. Is this a cheap bit they gave me? (No name on the box)How much should I expect to spend to get a bit that can drill approx. 200 holes? If that's even possible with just one bit. Again the wood is cherry and it's 3/4" thick I'm drilling all the way through and inserting 5/8" long square plugs.

Thanks,

Dale

[Dustystuart]

If there is sufficient clearance between auger and chisel my best guess is you may have the drill speed too high if you are experiencing burning. My mortiser runs at around 1720 rpm.

[Pete Bennett]

Check the bit is sharp and make sure you have enough clearance between the drill and the chisel (about 1/16" min.) should do it, but a little more won't hurt. Check your drill speed as this is almost always the cause of burning. If none of this works then try a good quality drill bit there are two patterns. The Japanese pattern has one cutting spur and the traditional 'Cabinet maker's' pattern has two. I don't know what they cost in the STates but here I can get them from Axminster Power Tools for a 1/2" it is £22.90 for the Japanese and £23.30 for the traditional.