Freud PB-011: 1-1/2" (Dia.) Forstner Bit

This thing cuts like a demon! I've drilled at least 5 deep holes so far and it hasn't lost any sharpness. No wandering, which was a big problem with my first set of Forstner bits. The scores around the mouth of the hole are from me having a little trouble holding the drill because of arthritis and I was hurting pretty bad. It measures dead on 1". Stays firmly in the chuck. Does exactly as they claim. Good quality, decent price. I hope the sharpness lasts! I've only had it 2 days.

If you want clean, accurate, well cut holes then these are the bits you should buy. I needed to cut a one inch drain hole in a stiff rubber water heater drain pain that was a half an inch thick. I cut through it with my Freud Forstner bit in less than a minute leaving a perfect one inch hole. Yes, you will pay more for these bits, but they are worth every penny you spend on them. Freud bits are sharp, durable and will cut through wood and rubber with near perfect precision. I highly recommend them.

This drill set delivers smooth, accurate cuts with minimal effort. The steep angled cutting edges and serrated design make a noticeable difference, especially when drilling flat-bottom, pocket, or overlapping holes. Even in dense hardwood, the bits stay sharp and cut cleanly without burning. The 7-piece range from 1/4" to 1" is versatile and well-suited for fine woodworking. Highly recommended for anyone looking for professional-quality results.

Works as described

The edges of the holes were fairly smooth, the bottom flat. These are for use in a drill press. The center point is useless beyond 10 or 12° off vertical; beyond that the hole starts with the rim and, thus, centering on a prick punch dimple or pencil mark is difficult or impossible. While this is possible in a drill press, it can't be done with a hand-held drill where the drill will "walk" at least a bit. The tool edges are evenly ground and razor sharp, the cutting edge configurations excellent. If you want a clean cut hole, you must run them at the recommended speeds (table enclosed), which is fast. Which is, depending on drill size and hardness of the stock, 900 to 2400 RPM. Like I said, drill press.

When I need a through hole I usually don't care so much about the quality of a forstner bit and even the cheap ones usually will do ok, but when I need a good clean flat bottomed hole I still look to Freud first and I prefer these "older" style rather than the carbide bits. These are still really well ground and still made in Austria. I considered trying out the Bora forstners...photos look nice and they're Austrian as well...but stuck with tried and true. Put it to use immediately and nice clean entrance and good looking flat bottom in both baltic birch ply and solid canarywood. I wish Freud hadn't discontinued so many sizes in their forstner bits...would love to have a 30mm and know that I could still get smaller 16ths again. I don't know if it's true that the Diablo bits are the same, just a marketing shift, but the ones I've seen don't look as nicely made as the Freud label and for this size they aren't even ground in the same style. If it's for woodworking instead of utility/construction, stick with Freud or Fisch (or Fomag...$$).

This is a precision tool! It is heavy and extremely sharp. It cut through hardwood easily.

This bit is amazing! Drilled 79 holes in 1.5 inch thick maple and it’s still perfectly sharp. Each hole was nice and clean on the start and of the 79 only about 10 had any tare out when bing used with a cordless drill and no backing on the other side of the hole. Made a custom peg board for my home climbing gym.