Forstner bits

This is my new favorite tool for the next couple of days: the Forstner bit.

Wikipedia, which is always true, all the time (right? right?) says Forstner bits are named after Benjamin Forstner, who invented them in the 1800s. They don't drill their holes so much as plane them with radial cutting edges that scrape and scrape in a circular pattern. Gunsmiths liked them, Wikipedia says, because they can drill very smooth holes.

I like them for that reason and because they are an example of a noun properly capitalized (in this case because they are named after a person). That's the copy editor in me speaking.

They've been useful in making large holes for some of R2-D2's parts, including some pieces for the styrene foot shell I cut today while my father was working on a center-leg drop design.. Here's a Forstner bit cutting a hole for the second foot drive, with my father at the drill press: