What is Gimlet Drill Bit – All You Should Know!

A gimlet is a small-sized hand tool used for boring pilot holes and clearance holes for nails and screws, especially in wood. Gimlet is a must-have tool for carpenters to drill through wood without even a minor splitting.

Augers resemble the larger size of gimlets. However, the cutting process of the gimlets completely differs from Augers, and they make comparatively smaller holes.

Gimlets are useful and can be used easily by both professionals and amateurs. It is always beneficial to keep a gimlet drill bit set as it will be a life savior when you struggle to create a spoon hanger and working on other various professional DIY projects.

Where To Use Gimlet Drill Bits?

Gimlet drill bit is considered as a wood drill bit. Other than wood, you can also use gimlet drill bits on plastic and leather. 

Usually, drill bits are prominently used for drilling a hole in metal materials. When it comes to gimlet bits, they are majorly used on wood to boring neat pilot holes and clearance holes. Subsequently, gimlet drill bits are ideal for general DIY uses such as drilling holes in frames, baskets, leatherwork, etc.

Many tend to use knives instead of gimlets to make holes, which will add an uneven shape to the hole. So it is incredibly beneficial to have a drill bit set in your tool kit, even if you are not a professional, to get the household DIYs done neatly.

gimlet drill bit point
Gimlet drill bit tip

What Are The Sizes Of Gimlet Drill Bits?

There are gimlets available in a range of sizes under numerous brands. The following table showcases a few of the most popular drill bits and their sizes.

Gimlet Drill BitBit Sizes
Taytools 467900 French Gimlet (7 Piece Set)2mm, 2.5mm, 3mm, 3.5mm, 4mm, 4.5mm, 5mm
Robert Larsen Gimlet Tools (4-piece set)3 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm, 6 mm
Garrett Wade Steel Twist Gimlets (7 Piece Set)2-5 mm
KAKURI Manual Hand Drill, Japanese Gimlet tool KIRI 1.9 inches 
KAKURI Gimlet Taper type3 mm
Sizes Of Gimlet Drill Bits
Types of gimlet drill bits
Different size gimlet drill bits

How Deep Can A Gimlet Drill Bit Drill?

The following table depicts the maximum size of how deeply a few widely used gimlet drill bits can drill through.

Gimlet Drill BitHole Diameter
Garrett Wade Steel Twist Gimlets (7 Piece Set)2-5 mm (Hole sized #2 through #9)
AMYAMY Hand drill Carpentry Woodworking Gimlet drillsHole diameter 3 mm
Taytools 467900 French Gimlet (7 Piece Set)#2 through #11
KAKURI Manual Hand Drill, Japanese Gimlet tool KIRI 3 mm
KAKURI Gimlet Taper type3 mm
Gimlet drill bit drilling depth

In Conclusion

Gimlet drill bits come in handy when making pilot holes for screws, particularly in narrow spaces. They create clean holes due to their natural way of pulling wood chips into the hole without forcing them outward. 

Read More AboutWhat is Spoon Drill Bit?


Tom Mackency

Tom Mackency

Hi, I am Tom Mackency. It has been 10 years that I have been working as a professional woodworker since 2013. I am really enjoying my carrier by creating many kinds of projects in my workshop. But mostly I like for home improvement projects. Home improvement and DIY projects are the most interesting things for me. More than that, the coolest things are power tools. Those are very precious and efficient than a decade ago. So I try to introduce so many things about power tools, woodworking, DIY projects, home improvement and many more interesting topics here.