Star M Bits: How to Prepare & Use Them

I’ve spent many years (and at least $1,000) testing out different drill bits for making chairs and other pieces of furniture. I’m focused here on chairs because hundreds of different bits have been designed to handle the challenges of chairmaking.

Chairmaking bits have to work at odd angles, drill into curved surfaces and make perfectly clean entry and exit holes. That’s a big ask for a bit.

I started chairmaking using the traditional stuff: augers, spoon bits and center bits. As my chair designs became more challenging, with more radical angles, I used spade bits (until the spade bit industry tanked). Lately, I’ve been experimenting with bits that have been specially ground to have some crazy properties.

For now, I’ve landed on using the Star M F-type bits for all the 5/8" and 3/4" mortises in my chairmaking. (I still use the Wood Owl 1" auger for leg mortises in the seat.)

The F types are not perfect – not by a long shot. But if you are willing to pay the price, they can do excellent work.

What’s the price? About $13 for a bit. If that doesn’t seem like a high price, let me put it this way: About $13 for a bit that will be sharp enough for only one or two chairs – and that’s only if you use them in the ideal way. (And it cannot be resharpened, as far as I know.) Oh, and the bits aren’t ready to use out of the box.

If that sounds ridiculous, I agree. But when sharp, the bits do such a good job that I have decided they are worth that price. I sell my chairs for a living, so a $13 bit that can save me a couple hours of work or re-work on a $3,000 to $5,000 chair is a no-brainer.

So with the Preamble to the F-Type Review complete, let’s talk about the suckers in detail.