Best drill bits to buy?

I'm in the market for a completes set of numbered bits to replace the cheap Chinese set Ii bought a few years ago (a lot of the smaller ones were actually the same size :/)

Who makes the best set? I don't mind spending the money for good ones.

H.

Reply to
Howard Eisenhauer
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I have a set from Norseman

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) that I'm very happy with. High quality, not too pricy, made in the USA and bought from a local supplier. I ended up throwing out anything I had that was Chinese after I got them.

AndrewV

Reply to
EIsmith

Given my choice -- Cleveland or Chicago-Latrobe.

If you don't need the extra length of the jobber style, I would go for the screw machine length ones.

And I would go for high Cobalt steel instead of just plain HSS.

And in particular, I would go for split points instead of the usual chisel points.

And usually bright finish.

Of course, all those selections lead me down to only one (in the Chicago-Latrobe brand -- Cleveland does not even fit those selections)

-- MSC # 81109589 at $175.21 unless you catch them on a sale someday. :-)

The only other two which fit all of those selections are by Hertel at $141.72 and "Precision Twist Drill" at $181.13. At those prices, those other brands should be pretty much the same quality.

Good Luck, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

Hertel is my former client. I recommend them highly. d8-)

Precision Twist drill also makes a fine product. And I'll second you on Cleveland. I have four sets of them. I don't know much about Chicago-Latrobe and I have no experience with them.

Reply to
Ed Huntress

Now you have nothing except your good bits to loan to the neighbor. Art

>
Reply to
Artemus

I've learned to just say no to the unqualified, but I usually offer my assistance. I have a list of people that can borrow my tools and everybody on it would replace or repair anything they broke, likely before I even knew about it. It is a short list.

AndrewV

Reply to
EIsmith

I would like to third this statement.

Good american drill bits aggressively remove materials, and tend to get less hot and hold the edge when heated.

Cheap Chinese drill bits overheat, dull and do not work nearly as well. Worst case is they overheat so much that they leave a part of themselves on material, after which you can only remove that with a carbide drill.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus32248

I use Chicago-Latrobe drills and like them, very nicely marked on their shanks with size in nice big readable numbers. See the thread on reading glasses on A.M.CNC. A #7 drill for example is marked

7 .201 C-L

Search the sale catalogs, MSC, Travers tool, Enco, Rutland.

Thank You, Randy

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Reply to
Randy

Don sez,

some snip and,

"And in particular, I would go for split points instead of the usual chisel points."

Don, as usual, I agree with your basic suggestions but I fail to see the facility of split points for the basic home-shop craftsman. Most of us use drills in machine tools and thus the necessity for easier penetration of a split point is not a big factor.

Bob Swinney

Given my choice -- Cleveland or Chicago-Latrobe.

If you don't need the extra length of the jobber style, I would go for the screw machine length ones.

And I would go for high Cobalt steel instead of just plain HSS.

And usually bright finish.

Of course, all those selections lead me down to only one (in the Chicago-Latrobe brand -- Cleveland does not even fit those selections)

-- MSC # 81109589 at $175.21 unless you catch them on a sale someday. :-)

The only other two which fit all of those selections are by Hertel at $141.72 and "Precision Twist Drill" at $181.13. At those prices, those other brands should be pretty much the same quality.

Good Luck, DoN.

Reply to
Robert Swinney

Penetration is not (though I keep a 1/2" diameter split point near the lathe so I am less likely to cause a workpiece to slip in a collet from the drilling force before I start boring.

But ... the freedom from walking is a major benefit. I've managed to drill a 1/16" diametrical hole in a 1/4" shank in an awkward place using a hand-held electric drill. A normal bit would have frequently walked around the curve of the 1/4" diameter workpiece. (It was the shaft on a bearing for a overhead garage door which kept walking out of the bracket. This allowed me to add a washer and a split cotter pin to hold it in place. It would have been better drilled in a drill press -- but getting it off the door and to the drill press was quite awkward, and I had recently picked up a new set of split-point fractional sized bits at a yard sale.

Any time you have to drill a hole in a precise location, and can't use a spotting drill for whatever reason, a split-point takes less of a center punch -- or often none -- to give a stable start.

And as for the drilling force not being important -- the more force, the more likely the drill is to bow (especially if a jobbers length or longer) and start drilling off at an angle to the desired hole. So my preference is for screw-machine length with split points for starting the hole at least -- and for deeper holes I'll switch bits to a jobber length to finish the hole once the depth of the hole is helping to guide the bit straight. (Even so, the bowing force causes the flutes to cut the hole a bit larger on one side once it starts.) If I were to buy my "Made in USA" 115 piece drill set again -- I would go for split points there, too.

Also -- reducing the force (by getting rid of the chisel point) means that when drilling through a workpiece in the lathe, you are generating less heat -- so you aren't stuck waiting as long for the workpiece to cool back down so you can get an accurate measurement.

FWIW The "bright finish" which I also suggested has the benefit of clearing chips out with less heat.

A TiN coating can improve performance in certain materials -- reducing the built-up-edge -- but is not needed for general work.

Enjoy, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

I sometimes have a hellava time mounting a drill press to a vehicle or fence post, etc. Having a set of split-point drills up to 1/4" or larger can be very worthwhile in the workshop for pilot holes, drilling with a hand drill or drill press.

Pilot drilling with a drill diameter of approximately the thickness of the larger drill's web, makes metal removal very fast and nearly effortless.

Split-points have no chisel edge in the web, and they begin to cut as soon as they contact the workpiece.. where common twist drill points require force to make the drill displace metal in order to cut. The rotational cutting rate of the center of a commonly ground drill point is zero FPM.

Split-points are very pactical, but a lot of folks believe they require special equipment or skills to create or sharpen them, but they don't.

Split-points can be ground on any common twist drill with a bench grinder, by grinding a low angle flat on the back side of the flute (almost parallel to the cutting edge, and almost parallel to the twist spiral), followed by grinding the cutting edge relief in the conventional way. This procedure can be clearly seen by closely examining a factory-ground split-point drill.

Reply to
Wild_Bill

My father thought that he got a bargain when he got a small set for $1

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-- Boris

Reply to
Boris Mohar

Hertels are good. US made.

My father thought that he got a bargain when he got a small set for $1

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-- Boris

Reply to
Robert Swinney

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