Are these drill bits made in Germany ?

[lesmeyer]

Does your son know how to properly sharpen drill bits? If not, I'd suggest buying him a cheap set as well to learn on.
FWIW, the cheap stuff isn't false economy if you can sharpen them.

No he does not know how and I have not tried it myself either so cannot teach him .
Les

[Ratbag]

Ratbag thanks for the summary. If one was looking at a drill set to be used on timber and steel which suttons range would you suggest?

As a starter set I'd be looking for a standard Sutton or P&N set. As far as the particular style/grade it doesn't really matter as most seem to be ground from the same M2 HSS bar stock: any differences post grinding appears to be in the heat treatment, annealing & coating of the bits. The exceptions are of course the Titanium and Cobalt rich steels used in their top-line products.

The bottom line is that any Australian Made Sutton or P&N bit will be ground from the best steels (from Australian high-grade ore) with a level of uniformity & accuracy that virtually all East Asian manufacturers can only dream of.

All products are excellent in my experience. I mentioned that I don't like Viper bits merely because the back relief behind the cutting edge is beyond my limited eyesight to reproduce. This relief, however, makes them perhaps the most aggressive and rapid drills in steel, when their respective M2 & TiAIN formulations are compared with standard 118 degree split point designs.

As far as the coated bits are concerned, the Steam Oxide and Titanium Nitride coatings are more specifically designed for ferrous drilling, providing a form of lubrication at the molecular level to cool and protect the cutting edges. Especially true of new bits, when they're resharpened the coating is only present on one of the planes of each respective cutting edge, the other being bright steel of course.

From a practical perspective, P&N sets are still sold with a more "robust" metal case while the rest seem to be marketed in plastic these days. Metal can "sweat" in low temperatures & attract corrosion; plastic seals this out. Just as with any cutting tools, the edges must never meet, which means a secure plastic or metal indexed case is essential. As for the range of sizes in a set to buy, it depends on the use. Most of my drilling seems to be restricted to 4 main sizes: 1/8", 1/4", 3/8" & 1/2". These sizes (principally the first 2) I usually buy in sets of 5 or 10 as "refill" packs, using some 10 to 20 of these 2 sizes for any other size used. I have metric sizes too, but as most of my tools & fixings are imperial throwbacks (holesaw pilots etc) they are seldom, if ever used. Metric bits are useful for dynabolts & the like, but there's usually a close imperial equivalent: 1/4" = 6.35mm, 5/16" = 7.93mm, 3/8" = 9.525mm. As concrete fixings are drilled with SDS metric bits anyway, they can also be used for boring (slowly and noisily) through softwood plates & studs.

Opinions here will wildly differ, but I've found it nigh on impossible to accurately & uniformly maintain the geometry of a quality bit when regrinding. Hand sharpening may be OK for a quick on-site touchup, however nothing beats a proper jig for accuracy & repeatability. I have an old English Martek jig, which is pretty hopeless, but one of the better ones available these days is the American Drill Doctor range. This is quick, accurate and repeatable, and reliably resharpens down to 1/8" bits (which is nigh on impossible otherwise) using long lasting diamond abrasives. They're not cheap, but quality seldom is. Just be aware that although cheaper imported direct from the USA, these "grey" imports are all 110v models: only Australian purchased models are designed to work directly off the mains, and offer warranty backup.

[lesmeyer]

Thanks for the reply Mr Ratbag. Appreciated. I think that because sharpening is not an issue, I will settle on a set of the Sutton bits. A visit to their website states that they source the steel from France and Austria. Then the manufacturing takes place in Aus or NZ. They also state they steel from Asia is sub standard.
Regards
Les

[justonething]

drill.bits.1.jpgdrill.bits.2.jpg

These were made in Germany. Very sharp and only for a total cost of 6.50

[justonething]

As regarding how to sharpen drill bits free hand. Have a look at this video at around 17 mins mark.
[video]

[elanjacobs]

drill.bits.1.jpgdrill.bits.2.jpg

These were made in Germany. Very sharp and only for a total cost of 6.50

+1 for Aldi/Workzone drills. Bought their hole saw kit a couple of years ago and it's every bit (pun kinda intended ) as good as the Suttons we have at work.

[lesmeyer]

No Aldi in Perth (yet)

[elanjacobs]

No Aldi in Perth (yet)

Well we all know that WA stands for "Wait Awhile"