Thread: Which drill bit set?

I own both of these sets. I've never been really happy with the Frost set but the Dewalt bits are excellent - very sharp and I like the flats on the shank so the bit can't spin in the chuck. The only disadvantage is that they are difficult to sharpen because of the pilot point on the larger bits, but out of the two you've listed, I'd go for the Dewalt.

Cheers,

Steve

If you want an excellent drill set which will last then the only drills you should be getting is Colt (IMHO).

Available from here:

Colt™ Pro Brad Point Drills : CARBA-TEC

Have a look around though, The Big C can be a little expensive and there is no guarantee they'll have them in stock. There was a group buy of Colt a while ago which I missed out on but am keeping a keen eye out on the next one

I've a set of the Sutton Viper drills and I've found them excellent. Picked them up on eBay as Bunnings were a lot dearer for the same item.

I have a set of the Sutton drills bits that I picked up from Supercheap Auto. I also have a set of the brad point bits from colt.

I also had some drill bits that I purchased as single packets as required. Then again I still have the original bits that I aquired from my father.

For me it's Sutton. Or P&N or Evacut, which are the same drill/manufacturer.
Personally I'm actually not a great fan of their Viper range, however, as the geometry seems a little too "sharp" and therefore liable to blunting.

The regular sets/replacements are best, and cheaper too. Go for Cobalt for stainless and cast iron, and always use Trefolex or an equivalent in metals.

Replacement drills are best value purchased in quantity: I'm still in the dark ages, and use 1/8, 13/64, 1/4 & 5/16" by the packet.

I like the greater range of the fractional sets. Contrary to popular belief they are the correct sizes for tapping metric pilot holes, whereas metric drills aren't!

A Drill Doctor could also be a sound investment: I know of no other sharpener that can accurately retouch down to 1/8".

Originally Posted by Ratbag

For me it's Sutton. Or P&N or Evacut, which are the same drill/manufacturer.
Personally I'm actually not a great fan of their Viper range, however, as the geometry seems a little too "sharp" and therefore liable to blunting.

The regular sets/replacements are best, and cheaper too. Go for Cobalt for stainless and cast iron, and always use Trefolex or an equivalent in metals.

Replacement drills are best value purchased in quantity: I'm still in the dark ages, and use 1/8, 13/64, 1/4 & 5/16" by the packet.

I like the greater range of the fractional sets. Contrary to popular belief they are the correct sizes for tapping metric pilot holes, whereas metric drills aren't!

A Drill Doctor could also be a sound investment: I know of no other sharpener that can accurately retouch down to 1/8".

I do not wish to high jack your thread changing the subject but I have been wondering about drill sharpeners, as I have an imperial set of P&N (were my fathers and he worked at P&N making drills) and a metric Sutton set, that both need sharpening or replacing. The charity where I have started fixing furniture for, also have quite a few jars and tins full of blunt drills that have been donated, and really need something done with them as well.

Any idea of where to get one of these Drill Doctors at a reasonable price? Not cheap what I have seen of them and hard to justify for my budget!!

Ed

With skill, a bench grinder could be a better investment.
I have not really been shown how, but am able to sharpen drill bits. Anything smaller than 3mm it might be easier to buy a replacement, but for larger bits, sharpening is the way to go.

I bought that Frost set last week from Bunnings.

They are sharp however I ruined one in 5 mins....I think I was drilling through MDF and it started smoking, now the end of the bit is blue/black....

Actually can it be fixed at this point ?

Originally Posted by Arry

I bought that Frost set last week from Bunnings.

They are sharp however I ruined one in 5 mins....I think I was drilling through MDF and it started smoking, now the end of the bit is blue/black....

Actually can it be fixed at this point ?

If the bit is sharp and properly cleared regularly while being used I find it hard to believe that MDF made it smoke.

Anyway - If it is a high speed steel bit they can easily cope with this sort of treatment and it should not be affected.

As mentioned, they're all the same company now, but the drills themselves are anything but the same.

Sutton is the "premium" brand, with Viper as their flagship. I'm not a fan of their geometry personally. Their "regular" drills, together with the P&N "brights" are next down the tree (my firm favourites) followed by the P&N "blacks". Evacut is their NZ made range, every bit the equal of the others, using premium high speed and cobalt steel.

Frost, unfortunately, are now their import range, and aren't a patch on Frost drills of old.

MDF contains a high proportion of urea formaldehyde adhesive, which is very abrasive, not to mention injurious to health if inhaled in sufficient quantities. It has an accelerated blunting effect, especially if the cutting tool is not withdrawn to clear frequently. Anybody foolish enough to try holesawing into MDF will soon be all too aware of its clogging, blunting and burning ability!

Drills CAN be resharpened on a bench or angle grinder, or even with a machinist file. I do it all the time with my spade bits. However, it's rarely possible to accurately reproduce a professional factory grind, especially relief angles and split points, which is where jigs can help. Hand sharpening is OK for wood and other forgiving substrates, but in my experience useless for difficult materials such as Cast Iron or Stainless Steel.

However for speed, efficiency and accuracy I believe the Drill Doctor to be unmatched. Having an accurately resharpened bit is quite a revelation. The accuracy and repeatability, the speed and longevity of the diamond wheel, and the versatility and range from 1/8" (3mm or so) to 3/4" (19mm) means that you can resharpen literally dozens of bits in an hour or so.

While relatively expensive, it's main justification is that it would pay for itself within a few hours ( or a few dozen bits).

As for inexpensive sources, perhaps Ebay may be the place to look. Just remember that in the USA power tools run on 110v/60hz.

I don't own a Drill Doctor myself, but use the company's. I have a British Martek sharpener, which is rubbish!

I wouldn't touch Frost ones again. I bought some earlier this year and the first one I used lasted just a few minutes before the first inch or so of the tip split in two. Note - split, not snapped. I'd never have thought of a drill failing in that fashion before, though it was quite interesting trying to refit the spiral together.

When I returned it to Bunnings they said they'd had a few of them returned recently with the same failure.


Graeme

Originally Posted by Ratbag

Drills CAN be resharpened on a bench or angle grinder, or even with a machinist file. I do it all the time with my spade bits. However, it's rarely possible to accurately reproduce a professional factory grind, especially relief angles and split points, which is where jigs can help. Hand sharpening is OK for wood and other forgiving substrates, but in my experience useless for difficult materials such as Cast Iron or Stainless Steel.

I had a workmate who used to sharpen number drills by hand using a jeweller"s loupe, he was working with CI & SS all day making measurement flow tubes for pipelines.