Thread: Recommended drill bits?

Cooper
Your "Care" package is in the mail. You should get it on Mon or Tue. Enjoy

regards
bollie7

Originally Posted by bollie7

Cooper
Your "Care" package is in the mail. You should get it on Mon or Tue. Enjoy

regards
bollie7

Ok thanks Bollie. Cant wait to get the parts on Mon or Tue!

Cooper

Just to revive and hijack this thread, I'm after a decent set of drills and would like some advice. Previously I've only ever used bunnings cheapies but now I want a decent set for my mini lathe. Sutton currently have a 25 piece 95th aniversary metric set for $95. Someone cautioned against Viper bits and I'm not sure if these are just a repackaged version of those.

I don't mind spending a bit of money and there seems to be a price range of $100-$150. It seems the major manufacturers have numerous different sets and I'm just not sure what to get. It would seem plain HSS isn't good for ferrous metals although I won't be doing much of that I'd imagine on a mini lathe so I don't know whether coated ones would be better. I also want to get some proper sized drill bits for tapping and it seems I might be better off just buying individual bits for that?

Thanks for your help.

Plain HSS is fine for ferrous metals. The most important thing is the speed at which they are being used and that they are sharp. If the drills are run too fast they will overheat and lose their edge.
Sutton and P&N are both good brands.

Michael

There isnt anything wrong with the vipers to use, I find them a lot more resiliant to abuse from group after group of teenagers and if any tool can put up with that, itll be more than enough for a hobbiest. The only problem I have with the vipers is the internal web is a lot thicker than other drills (probably why they are so tough), so once youve sharpened off the back relief of the cutting edge, the drill becomes very difficult to push through work. You could just learn how to grind that back relief though, it reduces the need for pilot drills somewhat.

Materials wise, the M42 CoHSS are very good. Dear, but I dont think youd be buying new drills in a hurry.

Originally Posted by Greg Q

Without clicking on your link, Frost are made in China and are reputed to be crap.
Dormer make a great bit, as do Guhring. I think your quality desires conflict with your budget.

Greg

I have some really old Sutton and Frost drill bits. They were made when stuff was made in Australia. Encouraged by their quality, I recently bought a Frost tap wrench, only to be bitterly disappointed with the quality. The correct size tap starting turning in the wrench after 1/2 dozen turns, I really should have known because it looked like it was made of cheese. I took it back and I'll never buy Frost again.

I was under the impression that Frost, Sutton and P&N are all the same brand but I may be wrong. Dormer seem to make nice stuff still.

Simon

BTW, I recently bought a Drill Doctor 750X. Sharpens the drill geometry beautifully and symmetrically. Love it! Not a blunt drill to be seen!
My drill holes are now central to my centre punch marks again.

Simon

I suspect that Viper bits are the way they are because they are the old '4 facet' sharpening technique. From a production point of view a lot easier to automate rather than the 2 axis movement needed for standard sharpening.
Nothing wrong with them though.

Michael

Originally Posted by simonl

I have some really old Sutton and Frost drill bits. They were made when stuff was made in Australia. Encouraged by their quality, I recently bought a Frost tap wrench, only to be bitterly disappointed with the quality. The correct size tap starting turning in the wrench after 1/2 dozen turns, I really should have known because it looked like it was made of cheese. I took it back and I'll never buy Frost again.

I was under the impression that Frost, Sutton and P&N are all the same brand but I may be wrong. Dormer seem to make nice stuff still.

Simon

I wonder about that...i have a P & N tap wrench that is useless too...the tap will easily spin out of the collet jaws. Maybe its an undocumented feature to prevent tap breakage?

Hi Marty,
Earlier in the thread there where some good suggestions as to brands, bordo, dormer even snap on got thrown in IIRC. Buy the best you can afford and you won't regret it. As for tapping drills, if you don't get a set of drills in .1mm rises, then I would just buy the appropriate tapping drill with each tap you buy.

Almost every box of the Frost made in China drills (around 10) I've looked at are actually sharpened wrong, seemingly at random angles: another "Movie prop" product, it looks like the real thing but can't function as the real thing.

Originally Posted by scottyd

The only problem I have with the vipers is the internal web is a lot thicker than other drills (probably why they are so tough)

I just measure my S2 and viper webs and as far as I can tell they are the same. Though sutton makes so many different drills that doesnt mean much.

Originally Posted by Michael G

I suspect that Viper bits are the way they are because they are the old '4 facet' sharpening technique. From a production point of view a lot easier to automate rather than the 2 axis movement needed for standard sharpening.

Split point and four facet are a little different. The primary face on the vipers is 2D.

The only problem I have with vipers is some times they work to well.


Stuart

Originally Posted by Stustoys

I just measure my S2 and viper webs and as far as I can tell they are the same. Though sutton makes so many different drills that doesnt mean much.

Split point and four facet are a little different. The primary face on the vipers is 2D.

The only problem I have with vipers is some times they work to well.


Stuart

Nothing better than the blunt ones and those that cut oversize,you just need to throw the crappy ones that cut true and are sharp in the bin.

Thanks for the advice so far guys. I had a look at some Dormer sets on ebay. There seems to be some still made in the UK and others are made in Brazil. Are the Brazilian ones still ok?