Wood drill or metal drill in wood?

[Fredrik111]

Hello,

I pre-drilled 3 mm holes in Siberian Larch decking today. I used a wood drill bit, and it went really badly. Eventually, the bit broke, and it was fortunate because I switched to a metal drill bit and it sunk in like butter in the larch. Why?

When is the wood drill bit better? Do they provide cleaner cuts, perhaps?

wood drill bit on the left and metal on the right.

 

[Silver78]

Larch is hard. But it's just as easy to drill with an HSS drill.

 

[anders07]

Hi,

I pre-drilled 3 mm holes in Siberian Larch decking today. I used a wood drill, and it went really badly. In the end, the drill bit broke, and fortunately, I switched to a metal drill, and it sank in like butter into the larch. Why?

When is the wood drill better? Do they give cleaner cuts, perhaps?

wood drill left and metal right.
[image]

Wood drills are better for softer wood, but a sharp, good wood drill works in most wood materials.

Metal drills also work well in harder wood but not so well in soft wood (though they can make holes there too). A metal drill doesn't transport wood chips as well, so the hole can become "more uneven"...