BORA BFB-009942 35mm Dia Tempest Forstner Bit 90mm OAL, Round 10mm Shank for Wood Drilling Ideal for Cabinet Hinge and Fine Woodworking Projects

I have used many different forstner bits over the years doing my woodworking and many of them I consider one and done. Meaning that they are only good for a few holes, and they dull out. I was working on an OAK project when I tried the Tempest bits, and they were solid. I probably drilled over 200 holes in hard oak and they withstood the test with flying colors. Not only did they not dull out but there was no burning and they produced nice clean shavings rather than sawdust.Not only do I recommend these new bits, but I ALREADY HAVE!!! Try them, you will LOVE them!!

I am a fan of the BORA brand and when I saw they had these new forstner style bits I bought one immediately to install some Euro style hinges in a cabinet I was making. These bits are well finished and man do they cut! No tear out, no burning just a clean hole from start to finish. Most of these bits require a bit of force to remove material but not the TEMPEST bits. Apply downward pressure and they begin cutting and producing shavings - not dust - immediately. So glad BORA have released another great product range. I will be adding more of these bits for sure!

Just what I needed

This Forstner bit is exactly what you need for installing Euro hinges onto your cabinet doors. Almost all of them use the 35mm bore, other than a few heavy duty varieties I've seen that require a 40mm hole. The last bit I tried had the point well off-center and the cutting edges were not all in alignment. That's what you get with a cheap bit. This BORA drill bit is great though. The point runs perfectly true, making it a breeze to get your holes properly lined up. The cutting edges are all very sharp. I ran a few test cuts into some melamine, which for me has been one of the more difficult materials to drill. I did encounter a bit of resistance as the bit tried punching through the hard melamine layer, but once it got through it was like a knife through butter. Very consistent, easy cutting and zero chipping of the finished surface. Most of the doors I install are straight hardwood with no veneer, which cuts quite a bit easier than the melamine. I measured a couple of my test cuts at 35.04mm which is an impressive number for a wood drill. Very close tolerances. This bit is at the upper end of what you'd expect to pay for a Forstner bit, but it's also a top performer. Buy once, cry once! One little note about this style of bit with the sharp cutting "skirt": Do not overheat this thing. Use a low RPM and take your time, letting the bit cut as fast as it wants to. If you run high RPM's you will overheat the thin metal skirt and it will get dull very quickly. Take care of your tools and they will take care of you!

I have their circular saw edge guide and extensions and it is solidly built and works nicely. Quality stuff. And admittedly I do have a set of Forstner drill bits, along with some extras. But this ia a size I use more often and I don't relish having to ever try to sharpen one of these, so extras are welcome.These are not Chinese knock-offs and the bits are made in Austria. As you might have noticed, all measurements are metric, so for those not metrically inclined, this bit is about 3 1/2" long, including the shaft. The shaft is about 3/8". And the 22mm cutting head comes pretty close to 7/8" in diameter.Like all new bits this one is very sharp. In looking over their website I did not find a Rockwell hardness figure for the bits, so I am unable to even guess as to how long they will stay sharp. The company has a good reputation for quality, so that makes me feel better, considering these are not exceptionally cheap bits. The company does offer a 16-bit set for those in need of starting from scratch.I did a test run of my three different Forstner bits, but considering this one was new it was not an entirely fair test. This one cut smoothly with no tear-out. It also was pretty fast going through both cherry and oak. It is a good bit. You simply have to decide if your needs warrant spending what these cost. If you have only a few holes to drill something cheaper might be warranted. I use tools a lot, so the higher price doesn't bother me as long as it is a good-quality tool.

I needed to bore out 6 holes in 3/4 " melamine for a project I was working on, and this drill did the trick. It made very clean cuts, and I was able to see that the blades were still sharp after this operation. Melamine is a blade killer and will dull out your tools very quickly. This bit has a hex shank that allows your drill chuck to snug up on it without slipping. Bora is a well know brand and I have many clamps and also a heavy-duty tool holder made by them. Their tools are always high quality, and I had no doubt that this bit would be just as good. So far, I am happy with this tool, and I would recommend it. It was not cheap, but most time you do get what you pay for.....

Fisch makes some of the best forstner bits on the market. These Bora branded Tempest bits may not be as good as the Fisch Wavecutter bits, but they are very well made are more reasonably priced. These Tempest bits perform well, they made clean holes in nearly any type of wood. Perfect choice for any time you need a flat bottomed hole.The pilot point helps the but stay centered and makes it a lot easier to find the starting point, but it also leaves a small depression in the center of the finished hole that is otherwise flat.

Out of anything one buys, you would expect tooling to be pretty accurate dimensionally. I purchased this for the 10mm shaft, but it measures at 9.5mm, making it useless for my application.