Thread: Carbitool TCT brad point bits - anyone tried them?

Neil T,

Another manufacturer of brad point bits:

W.L. Fuller Inc.


Cheers Yvan

Originally Posted by Neil T

Carbitool? I have a set of 5 and everything about them screams entry level and imported. They seem to cut OK in a drill press, but then I've never had access to anything better. A while back I noticed one of the bits had a significant bend to the shaft which I cannot for the life of me remember doing myself; I may have, but I was always suspicious that's how it came out of the box.

A couple of years ago at a sailing regatta, the kids broke something on their boat and I needed a drill set to fix it, I bought a Frost 12 piece set from Bunnings, and when I put them in the drill chuck, 5 bits out of the set were not straight, up to 4 mm of end wobble. Needless to say, they went back.

I have a set of inexpensive Chinese made "Grip Well" branded brad point bits bought from Mitre 10 about 5 years ago. Not carbide tipped, but have proven to be of surprising good quality.

Here are some photos of the Carbitool offering. They look more like a spade bit and after the carbide has been brazed in they look like they have been hand dressed to blend it in. Nothing like the profile of a normal brad point drill.

P1000304 (3).JPG P1000305 (3).JPG P1000307 (3).JPG

That is exactly the profile of a carbide brad point drill

Originally Posted by Treecycle

Here are some photos of the Carbitool offering. ...
P1000305 (3).JPG ...

Quite different profile from my Chinese el cheapos. Just checked; fine print says they are made from "100CR6 material" - whatever that means.

Drill Bits.JPG


PS: Any ideas as to why my camera should be making white backgrounds blue? Is there a fix?


Fair Winds

Graeme

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

PS: Any ideas as to why my camera should be making white backgrounds blue? Is there a fix?

Check your 'white balance' setting on your camera.
Hope this fixes the problem.

Alan...

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

Quite different profile from my Chinese el cheapos. Just checked; fine print says they are made from "100CR6 material" - whatever that means.

Carbide brad points generally have a different grind to steel ones; the spurs have a negative rake to score the edges of the hole because coming to a sharp point as on steel drills would be too fragile.

100Cr6 is a high carbon steel, apparently it's mainly used for bearings but being able to be hardened to over 60 Rockwell and having good wear resistance would make it a decent lower cost alternative to HSS

Originally Posted by Uncle Al

Check your 'white balance' setting on your camera.
Hope this fixes the problem.

Alan...

Thanks, Alan, fixed.

I didn't know the camera had a "white balance setting" - Found that it was set for "tungsten light" - Now on idiot setting [aka automatic].

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

...... 100Cr6 is a high carbon steel, apparently it's mainly used for bearings but being able to be hardened to over 60 Rockwell and having good wear resistance would make it a decent lower cost alternative to HSS

Thanks, Elan. I was baffled by the CR reference - did it indicate chromium in what was obviously not a stainless steel? Just a coincidence.

Yep, it's chrome. Chrome isn't just used in stainless, it's also a hardening element

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

Thanks, Elan. I was baffled by the CR reference - did it indicate chromium in what was obviously not a stainless steel? Just a coincidence.

100Cr6: First number is the amount of carbon with a 100x multiplier - so in this case 100/100=1% carbon, then the alloyed elements multiplied by 4, in this case 6/4=1.5% and Cr=Chromium. Non stainless steels are alloyed with Cr as well as the Cr adds hardness to the steel.

I bought the large Sutton set and was surprised by their sharpness out of the box, comparable to the Fisch bits.
Having said that I've only used the larger bits and only seldomly.

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

Ditto for their "European made" saw blades

Yes, I thought I would try one of their Swedish made rip blades. Not impressed.