Forstner shave away on usually two blades set into an incomplete/ fenestrated circumfrence which aids in evacuation. But you usually have to stop and tap out the dust as you go.
They do get seriously hot due to friction so don’t yank the bit out with your bear hands until cool.
The left is augur and brace, the right forstner with electric drill.
The augur stopped extracting 4/5th’s down the 2in plank. I cleaned the screw tip several times and blew out debris but couldn’t get it to re-engage again. I drilled a pilot hole all the way through, reversed the timber and used august and brace from reverse side. Overall, I had to.put huge amount of pressure to make it work…I’m short and lightweight and benches are high so tricky to get ballast weighing down on the brace! I’m rectifying this by eating lots of ice cream…any other solutions to use the brace from a lower height welcomed.
The forstner hole was clean but slow, not sure I could get through 2innin one go…needs several stop starts…is a pilot hole all the way through helpful or redundant when using forstner for 2in deep hole?
once you have the seat for the forstner bit as above you can drill through with a spade bit slightly smaller .
remember to stop before yo break through the other side and reverse drill it. also once inner hole is cut use the drill press on slow speed to ensure a straight hole
The forstner bits in the space are blunt as anything - I’ll have a crack at sharpening them a bit next time I’m in. Which size was it? Sapele should drill nicely.