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  1. #1
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    Default Advice on sourcing decent drill bits...

    ...I've been using them for fifty years but still haven't found a source for good ones. Just this weekend I had to drill some 8mm holes (in mild steel) and didn't have a suitable bit (i.e. one that could actually drill through steel) so I did something I despise doing...I went to my local Mitre 10 and bought a single bit... for $14.99. And it was absolute crap!

    I've bought cheap bits (some of which are good but some are worthless), but I don't mind paying for quality.

    Can anyone suggest a source for decent drill bits?

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  3. #2
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    It’s easy to blame the tool.
    B4 spending a lot of money, What size was the hole and what speed were you using?
    Was it a hand held or DP?
    I usually find cheapies from eBay work fine in mild steel in a DP. Might have to touch them up a bit more often than better bits but that’s not a big deal.

    The only times I find I need to use better drill bits is in stainless or hardened steel like chainsaw bars.

  4. #3
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    Sutton Blue Bullet do a nice job in steel without being crazy expensive

  5. #4
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    It depends on the steel but once a hole has been started with a blunt bit, or a bit that is moving too fast, the steel in that hole can work harden and then even a new bit may not be able to break through the work hardened surface.

    At the mens shed a member did the following to a drill bit when he tried to drill a 3mm thick piece of stainless steel with a slightly blunt drill bit.

    Then he was given a new bit by the supervisor and the member managed to do this.

    SSdrilling1.jpg

    I bought these bits very cheaply on eBay and then next time I went into the shed the supervisor and some of the other members had a go at me me for buying cheap bits.
    As a former metal work teacher the supervisor should have picked up what was going on.

    I took the bent bit and some pieces of the same stainless steel home, cut the bent end off the bit resharpened it, and used it to drill a few dozen holes in pieces of the stainless.
    O=old bent bit N = new bit from same pack of drill bits
    SSdrilling.jpg
    I took the photos and sent them around to the members that had a go at me.

  6. #5
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    If you want good drill bits buy a brand like Dormer, a bit hard to find but they are around and available in Oz. Budget depending and your need there are some really good quality sets available in the US which are made in the US.
    CHRIS

  7. #6
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    Hi Tccp

    All my twist drill sets are Sutton/P&N apart from a few ring-ins I inherited. They are of decent quality. I have one set ground to a shallower angle for drilling steel.

    BobL's post says it all, if they aren't sharp they won't cut properly. I have the Tormek sharpening system which is very good but expensive. Have also used a mate's Drill Doctor which gave good results and is also much cheaper. I can't sharpen freehand very well.

    If you look online you will find local sellers a bit cheaper than hardware stores. Think about buying a drill sharpening system or learning to sharpen freehand. It will make all the difference.

    Regards
    Twosheds

  8. #7
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    Drill bit coatings also play a hand in a bits performance drilling different materials.

    YouTube

  9. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by twosheds View Post
    Hi Tccp

    All my twist drill sets are Sutton/P&N apart from a few ring-ins I inherited. They are of decent quality. I have one set ground to a shallower angle for drilling steel.

    BobL's post says it all, if they aren't sharp they won't cut properly. I have the Tormek sharpening system which is very good but expensive. Have also used a mate's Drill Doctor which gave good results and is also much cheaper. I can't sharpen freehand very well.

    If you look online you will find local sellers a bit cheaper than hardware stores. Think about buying a drill sharpening system or learning to sharpen freehand. It will make all the difference.

    Regards
    Twosheds
    Good advice & also from BobL. I'm also a Sutton / P&N advocate. Love the Sutton Viper bits. I have a couple sets of the commonly used sizes and keep them segregated and used for specific tasks, a cheap set for garden jobs, another good set for only drilling pen tubes, a wood only set & finally steel & non-ferrous sets. Oh and the tapping thread sizes. Sounds extravagant but actually works out cheaper in the long run, and never any cursing about "who used my good wood drill bits on steel?"
    Mobyturns

    In An Instant Your Life CanChange Forever

  10. #9
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    If you have a Trade Tool Store near you I have found the good suppliers of quality bits and tools
    Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.

    Albert Einstein

  11. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mobyturns View Post
    Good advice & also from BobL. I'm also a Sutton / P&N advocate. Love the Sutton Viper bits. I have a couple sets of the commonly used sizes and keep them segregated and used for specific tasks, a cheap set for garden jobs, another good set for only drilling pen tubes, a wood only set & finally steel & non-ferrous sets. Oh and the tapping thread sizes. Sounds extravagant but actually works out cheaper in the long run, and never any cursing about "who used my good wood drill bits on steel?"
    Over the years I have kept many of the broken ones and slowly set up what I call a "short" set of bits. I use these for starting holes on LATHES and DP as shorter bits tend to wander less especially into ingrain.

  12. #11
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    I doubt I have broken more than two drill bits in my life so I can't follow Bob's advice. Suttons to me are only mediocre in the quality stakes but getting to a better standard does cost real money and Dormer are my choice. For woodworking I only use Colt brad points but Fisch are at least as good.
    CHRIS

  13. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Parks View Post
    I doubt I have broken more than two drill bits in my life so I can't follow Bob's advice. Suttons to me are only mediocre in the quality stakes but getting to a better standard does cost real money and Dormer are my choice. For woodworking I only use Colt brad points but Fisch are at least as good.
    I don't recall breaking any bits in wood, well at least since I started collecting the broken ones about 15 years ago. The bits I've broken have all been while drilling materials like bisalloy, chainsaw bars, some types of stainless, and welded joints in steel. Some softer material that gall (eg Copper and Al) and then adhere to the bit can be problematic especially with smaller bits. The other situation I have broken bits was as an inexperienced youngster on construction sites, up a ladder, drilling at a bad angle, with material weight being supported by part of the bit, and using a high power corded drill , ie a recipe for disaster. I broke 2, 1/2" bits that way and the boss said if I broke another it was coming out of my wage. This made us more attentive to setting up and we never broke another after that. Any drill bits being worked in these materials or circumstances can have problems.

    My experience with quality compared to cheaper bits is that quality bits don't need to be sharpened as often. I still have some of the P&N 1/64's set I bought in 1968 and I remember they cost me about two weeks wages. These are really good bits and will drill about a dozen holes in 1/2" bisalloy plate before I can feel them starting to lose their edge, whereas the ones I got from Mcjings get touched up before then, maybe after 6-8 holes in the same material.

    One of the most useful things I found amongst amongst my FILs tools is a box of about 100 blunt twist drill bits.It seems like he never bothered to resharpen and just bought new bits. Most of these drill bits are old P&Ns - I'm still working my way through them to refill my old P&N set and it looks like I will be able to put together a full set of imperials from about 1/8 to 1/2" out of these.

  14. #13
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    Spent the morning sorting through and de-rusting the rest of the drill bits rescued from FIL's shed.
    I thought there were about 100 bits but it turned out that there were more like 130 bits.
    The most important thing was I managed to repopulate my circa 1968 P&N imperial set with mostly old P&N bits.
    Then there were enough bits, including a few of my own spares to make up almost a complete second set and fully populate my "short" set even though they are not all yet shortened. This means I can also have a sets with different drill geometry.

    The set on the left is my "short" set - the long bits are those that were missing and populated from FILs stash
    The set second from the left is the new almost complete set also made up from FILs stash plus a few extras of mine
    The set second from the right originally consisted of, about 1/2 from my original P&N set with the remainder being "all-sorts", replacements - I have been able to replace almost all of the all-sorts with old P&Ns from FILs stash
    There were also quiet a few masonry bits in FILs collection basically doubling the size of my masonry bit collection (RHS in photo)
    Bits.JPG

    There are about 70 of FIL's bits left over that I can play with.
    Most of these are between 1/8 and 3/8"
    All of FILs non-masonry bits were imperial except one 11mm bit that I didn't have.

    As far as metrics go I have
    - a set from 1 to 10mm in 0.1 mm increments
    - an MT2/3 shank set of 13 to 25mm in 0.5 mm increments
    - a reduced shank set from 13 to 25 mm in 0,5mm increments
    - a small set of longer bits from 3 to 10 mm in 1mm increments..

    For larger imperials I have a small set of reduced shank from 9/16 to inch.
    I also have a 1/64s set of brad point bits that I rarely use, and a set of Forstners that get a lot of use.

  15. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Parks View Post
    For woodworking I only use Colt brad points but Fisch are at least as good.
    We always made our own brad points at work from standard HSS twist drills, then you can have any size you like instead of being limited to what they make. Probably cheaper as well.

  16. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by elanjacobs View Post
    We always made our own brad points at work from standard HSS twist drills, then you can have any size you like instead of being limited to what they make. Probably cheaper as well.
    Elan

    That's most interesting.

    I would encourage you to start a thread on that subject as I for one would be most interested. Like Bob, I have many used and discarded bits, not all thrown out by me, awaiting rehabilitation. I can see that it would be very possible to make brad point bits from the larger sizes, but the littlies would be a challenge. I am assuming a grinding wheel on a bench grinder would be too large for such modification. Perhaps an angle grinder "trapped" in a vice with a new (square edge) grinding disc is the sort of tool for such work. Having egged you on, a new thread may be the way to go: If you have a mind to.

    Regards
    Paul
    Bushmiller;

    "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"

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