Which Style Drill Bits to Buy? / Opinions on Craftsman Drill Bits?

From what I understand..the drill bit set..letter, number and fractional, thats being sold at Costco for $49 or so..is a pretty decent set. Several machine shop maint. department have bought them and are quite happy with them.

Gunner who knows that many of the exact same make, model and type of tool sells at both sears and HF..and usually for 1/2-1/3 at HF

"The importance of morality is that people behave themselves even if nobody's watching. There are not enough cops and laws to replace personal morality as a means to produce a civilized society. Indeed, the police and criminal justice system are the last desperate line of defense for a civilized society. Unfortunately, too many of us see police, laws and the criminal justice system as society's first line of defense." --Walter Williams

Crapsman is for homeowners. For sure those are just cheap imports. I suggest you look at an industrial supplier's stock of US made drills. HSS is all you need, fancy coatings or cobalt are mostly irrelevant if you're just drilling stuff on a drill press. Look at Enco

And buy 1/8" or 9/64" drills by the 10-pack and always use those for the first hole, let those cheap drills do all the piercing work. After that you can step drill using much lower pressure and this will make the drills in your set last much longer.

You should not be breaking drills. If the workpiece is clamped and you are using a drill press or mill, breaking drills should not be an issue. I occasionally break small drills when I'm using a handheld drill motor, no sweat.

GWE

You can get many of those 118 piece sets for as little as $30 if you look around. Try and find a deal on a 135-degree split point set as these tend to wander less if you are starting a hole without a pilot.

In addition to these, get yourself a step drill for use with thin metal. They look like a cone with steps and they're much easier to use than twist drills when you need to make a hole in sheet metal or thin plastic.

Avoid the temptation to buy twist drills any bigger than 1/2" diameter. It's easy to wreck things and spill blood if you aren't careful with them, and most holes will turn out better using a hole saw for the larger sizes.

The Costco/Sam's club drillset Gunner mentioned (115 drills) were $39, and now are $29 at Costco, w/ the 135 deg tip someone mentioned, and w/ 3/8 shanks for the 3/8-1/2" drills. Above avg case, titanium coated (altho I can't vouch for its toughness yet), a MUCH better set than the one my supplier put together for me (albeit in Huot cases--not all that much better than the Costco).

Worksmith is the brand I think, w/ an 800 number for customer support! The drills are stamped, the case marked well (but not stamped).

I got THREE of these sets--one for the fadal, one for the lathe, one for the drill press table--at $39. At $29, I can't imagine more bang fer yer drilling buck.

Also, very good overall advice in this thread.

Thanks for the suggestion to look at Costco.

Thanks for the links. I checked them wuickly, but will have to go back and wade through all of it. There are a LOT of options and brands I have never heard of.

I assume I used them wrong, as well as them being of poor quality. At $10 for 30 bits, I think I got wat I paid for. :-(

I don't own a drill press, just the Craftsman 14.4 volt cordless drill mentioned in the original thread. A drill press is definitely on the "future purchase" list.

Thank you for your suggestions.

Thanks for the suggestions. I was not planning to buy a drill bit larger than 1/2". If I needed one larger than that, I would not miond just going to buy a single. For 1/2" and below, I have reached the breaking point of not having the correct sized drill bit. I want ALL of them from 4/64" -

Don't buy the cheapest ones you could find like my father used to. I am keeping this to remind me. The whole 99cent set was like that.

Thanks for your suggestions.

WOW! I think that is one to avoid. :-)

I guess you mean if you're using a handheld drill? I have a 2-1/4" diameter twist drill at work that does a fine job in Aluminum. 3/4" and 1" are no problem in mild steel. Holesaws work OK in thin metal or wood, but often stop and break in thicker material, even with all kinds of cutting lube applied.

I have one that's better than that. I picked up a cheap set some years back, twist drills and brad-point (wood drills). I was using a brad point in the drill press making some pilot holes in a piece of hard wood. All of a sudden, it quit drilling... Upon closer examination, it had literally "unwound" the flutes and "wound" them in the opposite direction for half the length of the bit... I think I still have the damned thing around somewhere... I call it a "bit for a reversable drill...

Sorry I don't have a picture of it.

Jerry

As an aside... Small drills in a hand-held drill WILL break. The problem is that you end up putting a side load on it. I drill with the mill, if at all possible, on the little stuff.

LOL! Thank you for the laugh.

Large bits can be dangerous with a drill press too. I saw the aftermath when two yokels decided to drill out the core of a cable spool using a

People don't realize that the torque transmitted to a part increases rapidly with the diameter of the bit. There's a reason they put those side handles on 1/2" drill motors.

They're out of stock at both my Costco's. They have a pretty boy kit instead. Karl

For 16 gage a hole saw would be the best choice. I clamp the hell out of anything on that drill press.

Thanks for the tips on the drill handles and clamps. I didn't really think about stuff getting moved if the drill bit stuck. I was thinking the clamps/drill press vise was just to hold the workpiece still so you could drill an accurate hole in it.

Thanks!

lol...I bought a set exactly like that, many years ago.and they did the same damned thing..unwound. I sat there..baffled...looking at the drill bit for the longest time..utterly befuddled.

Practice and eye hand coordination will lessen the breakage. I often drill and Tap 4-40 in machine tool bases, with a drill motor. I broke a tap about 3 yrs ago.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner