How to Drill a Hole Bigger Than Your Drill Bit?
All we have to do today is figure out how to drill a hole larger than a drill bit. This may sound like a daunting task, but it's actually quite easy, mainly because there are multiple ways to do it. let's start.
The simple fact here is that, yes, you can absolutely drill holes larger than your largest drill bit. There are ways to make the hole larger from the start, and there are also some great ways to enlarge an existing hole.
Now, in all fairness, while all of the following methods of drilling holes larger than a drill bit work well, they do require time and effort. At the end of the day, you're probably better off just buying a new drill bit that's large enough to make the hole size you need.
It's important to note that a hole saw is a special type of drill that fits into a drill bit and comes in a variety of diameters. As you probably know, the whole point of a hole saw is to drill holes, and yes, they are much larger than a simple drill bit hole. Holes made by a hole saw are ideal for making wood channel accessories, drilling holes to run cables through walls, or even removing round material for decorative purposes.
Therefore, if you need to drill fairly large holes (larger than one inch in diameter), then you should consider purchasing a hole saw drill bit.
7 Best Ways to Drill Holes Larger Than a Drill Bit
Now that we know it is indeed possible to drill holes larger than the largest drill bit, let's figure out how to actually do this, and yes, there are a few great ways to do this.
1. Oscillating drill bit
If you need a slightly larger hole than your existing drill bit, all you really need to do is drill the hole using your existing drill bit and then slowly move the drill bit from side to side or rotate it. Use a circular motion to enlarge the hole.
In other words, once the drill bit is through the material, apply some horizontal pressure to the drill bit and move the drill bit in a circular motion until the hole is enlarged enough for your needs. This is an ideal method to use if you need a hole that's slightly larger than a drill bit and you're working with fairly soft materials.
This works with most types of drill bits.
2. Drilling and filing
If the hole you're drilling needs to be much larger than the largest drill bit, you can try using a thin drill bit to actually drill out the entire circumference. In other words, what you want to do here is draw a circle on the surface where the hole is.
Take a small drill bit and drill a hole along the outer edge of the circle. Once you drill enough holes around the circumference, the inner material will fall out, leaving a large hole. Of course, this won't be perfectly smooth or even, so you'll need a file or some sandpaper to smooth it out and create a perfect circle.
3. Use a drill guide or hole saw
A drill guide is a special accessory that you attach to your drill bit and the front of the drill bit, allowing you to drill larger holes than the drill bit itself. In fact, for the purposes of this article, a drill guide is more or less the same as a hole saw (there are differences, but for the purpose of drilling large holes, both will work fine).
All you need is an appropriately sized drill guide or hole saw. Mark the center point of the circle, then place the center of the drill guide or hole saw's pilot bit on that center mark so that the circumference of the guide or hole saw matches the circumference of the hole you want to drill. Once everything matches, you can simply drill the holes.
4. Use wood dowels and sandpaper
Well, technically this method doesn't allow you to drill a hole larger than your largest drill bit, but it does allow you to easily enlarge an existing hole. All you need to do is find a dowel that is slightly smaller than the existing hole and wrap it with sandpaper.
Make sure to use enough sandpaper so that the sandpaper-covered dowel can still fit into the hole. You can do this manually if you want, but an easier way is to actually install the dowel into the drill bit and then use it like.
