I was always told that 'the harder the material, the slower the speed'
If you want a 'clean smooth' hole in wood, you therefore should use a higher speed. Feed rate is very important too. If you ever use a router, you will know all about relationship between bit speed and feed rate. A router is designed to cut wood at a very high speed but if the feed rate is too slow, you will burn the wood.
If the feed rate is too slow while drilling a hole, it will probably blow the wood.[
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Likewise, when you turn wood, you will often crank the speed up to get a smooth finish.
When drilling plastics, I have found ( and been told ) NOT to use a freshly sharpened bit as it will often 'snag' and crack the plastic.
'Dull bit, high speed, slow feed' Conversely, if you wanted to drill in stainless steel for example, you would have the sharpest bit,lowest speed and steady 'firm' feed rate.
Frequent clearing of the hole goes without having to be said for any material.
There is a trick that people who drill often into plastic sheet do.
If they only have a HSS sharp bit, they will often 'dull' it by a quick touch on a brick or the floor while the machine is coming to a stop.
Another trick for drilling plastic, is to shape the bit differently.
After it has been sharpened, you can grind an angle on the cutting faces. Sorry for being vague on that, but I'm sure you could google instructions on how to grind it. I have seen this angle already ground into the pilot bits of several holesaws.
A bit long winded, sorry. But the point I was trying to make is that you want to 'drill' the hole and not 'screw' the bit through the soft material.
Of course, there are hundreds of ways of doing something. But this works for me.[
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Just found a picture that shows the angle to grind[
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