Router cutters for drilling

Router cutters are sharp and can be used for many functions. The following pages look at router cutters that are designed for drill applications.

Drilling router bits are designed for use with plunge routers, routers that can be plunged down to make cuts in the surface of a material, and can be used to perform the same tasks as some varieties of drill bit. The types of bit, or cutter, that are used for drilling and are available for use with routers are mainly geared towards wood joinery.

Dowel drill cutters, also called lip and spur drills, are used to drill accurately sized holes to receive dowels or plugs. They have a sharp central point flanked by two lips and two spurs. Counterbore cutters and counter sink cutters are designed to drill clearance holes for bolts and screws, and then either countersink or counterbore the top half of the hole, depending on the fastener head. Plugmakers, or plug cutters, are router cutters designed to cut out a small wooden cylinder that can be pushed into a counterbored screw hole to disguise the top of a screw. Pip cutters are used for cutting out decorative pips. Hinge cutters are used to create circular, flat-bottomed recesses that will fit cabinet door hinges. Through drilling cutters lack the versatility of some other types of drill bit and are only designed for drilling straightforward holes through a workpiece.