Used Drill bit buying Guide.

woody 73 · Dec 3, 2014

(1) Safety Glasses Enough said.

(2) Drill bit names, I could give you tons of names to look for; chances are (A) you will not find the names you are looking for and (B) 9 out of 10 times the name is missing from being chewed up by the chuck, remember we are talking used here.

(3) If you asked me 30 years ago to name the American drill companies I could do it. Today they change at the drop of a hat if you have some company in mind then you will have to do your own research as to coo.

(4) Just a few names out of many names.

Dormer
Irwin
Viking
Hanson
Cle-line
Guhring
Vermont American
Disston
Norseman
M.A. Ford
Cleveland
Interstate
Keo
Precision
Triumph

(5) I could throw out special drill bit coatings but (A) It gets confusing and (B) Finding them used is another story. Either some guys love them or they hate them and think why spend the money on them. Again keep in mind buying used you take what you can find.

(6) At least for me (you may be different and your results may vary); but in my search of flea markets, garage sales, cl, yard sales, estate sales, public auctions etc., 99% will be fractional drill bit sizes and the other 1% will be metric, letter, wire,aircraft,screw machine, cement bits etc. Keep in mind some cement bits have a carbide tip and you would need a special carbide grinder (wheel) for those bits.

(7) Tools that will help you out are the following:

Drill Index Gauge in order to help you ID the shank size.
Drill angle set up gauge for a bench grinder.
Drill Index box either new or used to store your bits.
Plastic fishing boxes/metal storage box to sort your bits.
Drill Doctor/bench grinder to keep them sharp.

(8) Happy Hunting.

woody 73 · Dec 3, 2014

One more thing before I forget and that is never, never, never throw away any broken bits or bits that are stamped with the CHINA name on them; because those are the bits that you can practice on sharpening 24/7 till you have it down pat, then you will be ready to work on the good drill bits.

T45 · Dec 3, 2014

Interesting topic....Any chance you'd do a detail on your organizers/setup? :thumbup:

woody 73 · Dec 3, 2014

Any thing up to 1/2" I clean them up de-burr the shaft if necessary, sharpen them and put them into the VA drill metal index boxes.

If they are wire, metric or letter then I hunt for new/used metal index boxes to put them in.

If they are aircraft or bell size (extra long) or heavy duty lathe size I make wooden blocks that either hold 10/or 20 per block of wood.

Overflow of different sizes go into plastic boxes till I can make up complete sets.

Hope that helps you out a little.

BlackjackNA · Dec 4, 2014

Wow!! For this bit lover/user, that collection is sweet!

woody 73 · Dec 4, 2014

BlackjackNA said:
Wow!! For this bit lover/user, that collection is sweet!

How about some more eye candy :beer:

Moparmonte · Dec 4, 2014

First of im a newbie to this whole forum concept. And I maybe in the wrong forum on this site. If i am please tell where I need to go on this site.
Ok - Hey fellas, where can I buy drill bits 1/2" and larger?
I mean where do y'all buy new tools besides, dare I say, harbor junk (they have some good junk) and Northern Tool. Which I like northern, but I'm thinking a place or store thats in the middle of harbor junk and CornWell, snap on etc. I don't use tools to make $ but you get what you pay for.
So what's in the middle?
Would like to see what other guys think.

wild cowboy · Dec 4, 2014

OK, I understand that there is a collectible aspect of old drill bits, but from a practical standpoint, would all of these older bits be eclipsed by modern cobalt bits if your intention is just drilling rather than collecting, or no?

woody 73 · Dec 4, 2014

Cobalt smobalt I put those large bits on my wood lathe and they are fantastic! :thumbup:

Try MSC for larger bits but you are going to pay out the wazoo.

wild cowboy · Dec 4, 2014

Moparmonte said:
First of im a newbie to this whole forum concept. And I maybe in the wrong forum on this site. If i am please tell where I need to go on this site.
Ok - Hey fellas, where can I buy drill bits 1/2" and larger?
I mean where do y'all buy new tools besides, dare I say, harbor junk (they have some good junk) and Northern Tool. Which I like northern, but I'm thinking a place or store thats in the middle of harbor junk and CornWell, snap on etc. I don't use tools to make $ but you get what you pay for.
So what's in the middle?
Would like to see what other guys think.

Welcome to the forum!

Hand tool brands that are cheaper than Snap-On and better than Harbor Freight:

Wright
Williams
SK
Armstrong
Proto
old Blackhawk
old Craftsman marked -v-
old Kobalt when they were made by Snap-On
Koken

and several more I can't remember right now - lol

wild cowboy · Dec 4, 2014

woody 73 said:
Cobalt smobalt I put those large bits on my wood lathe and they are fantastic!

yeah, makes sense, I am thinking metal, I'm a mechanic not a woodworker

nine4gmc · Dec 4, 2014

Nice selection Woody!! I need to practice with my drill dr, I only tried it once and screwed the tip up on the bit I was trying to sharpen...

wild cowboy · Dec 4, 2014

how do you know which bits are "keepers" and which are basically worn out and you should say "pass" at the flea market, yard sales, etc. - which ones should I throw back?? :beer:

woody 73 · Dec 4, 2014

If the cutting edges of the flutes are damaged ie. broken in any place then you do not want those bits.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Drilling-Metal-with-a-Drill-Press/step3/Anatomy-of-a-drill-bit/

cbacres · Dec 4, 2014

Nice collection and storage Woody.
I thought I had a pile of bits, looks like you could go for the next ten years and not have to sharpen any. Actually by the time I sorted like you have, Ilol end up with a few myself.
Were you lucky enough to get your bits in the condition they are, or how do you clean them up and protect from rust?
The plastic drawers are a good idea, since coming across a Huot set is far and few between.
Nice work.

Engine · Dec 5, 2014

Woody, do you find that you have better results sharpening the bits with the Drill Dr. or using the bench grinder? Is there any advantage in using one over the other?

Adam.C · Dec 5, 2014

I stored bits in wood blocks, but the wood corroded the bits' shanks. I used scraps of dry mahogany, not known to be corrosive like oak. Looks like you used SYP or doug fir. Have you had any trouble with rust? Ohio aint arizona, but maybe your fine looking shop is climate controlled better than mine was.

Adam.C · Dec 5, 2014

Engine said:
Woody, do you find that you have better results sharpening the bits with the Drill Dr. or using the bench grinder? Is there any advantage in using one over the other?

I have the DD 750. It is MUCH easier for me to use than a grinder and results in very good precise bits. Make sure you choose a model that allows you to change angles, do split points, etc.

uart · Dec 5, 2014

Nice collection Woody. :thumbup:

woody 73 said:
Cobalt smobalt I put those large bits on my wood lathe and they are fantastic!

I guess we should have realised that you were a wood working guy from the name.

Talking about wood bits, do you use the "brad point" type of wood drills at all? Lately I've been wondering if those ones can be sharpened.

One other thing I was wondering. How do you best clean up rusty drill bits?

woody 73 · Dec 5, 2014

Sorry it is taking me so long to answer some of your questions...

Storing in wooden blocks yes red/white oak is a killer funny story but while turning a wet red oak block of wood I literally watched the bed of my wood lathe rust in front of my eyes from the flying wood shavings as the landed on the bare metal turning it black in a matter of minutes.

I made several blocks from different trees but I found a little trick which saved me the long wait of drying large blocks of wood. One day while walking around lowes I found myself standing at the lumber section looking at dried untreated (key Word) 4x4 pine lumber and that light went off "Woody that will work out great for drill blocks".

Drill doctor and bench grinder/belt sander Question A tip that helps me out: Sometimes I might get the angle just a hair off using the belt sander/bench grinder because my hands tend to shake somewhat from old age; no problem I then put the bit I just sharpened by hand into the drill doctor and after a few turns it fixes up any minor mistakes.

This is a good link for the correct angles:

http://www.autospeed.com/cms/article.html?&title=Sharpening-Drill-Bits&A=112910

I hope this helps you out.

CoyoteKyle · Dec 5, 2014

I've found when buying drills, If you point the drill up you if you can read the size it's USA made, if you point it down like you're drilling to china and you can read likely that's where its made, even if it the COO isn't stamped. I find this to hold true on my HSS drills. Haven't checked my brad points and masonry.

jjjrmx5 · Dec 5, 2014

I"m slowly tackling the sharpening of my backlog of many many bits I haveon deck.

Drill Doctor here.

Often sharpened while watching Sunday afternoon NFL on the TV.
Multi-tasking FTW!

uart · Dec 5, 2014

jjjrmx5 said:
Drill Doctor here.

Often sharpened while watching Sunday afternoon NFL on the TV.
Multi-tasking FTW!

Your Drill Doctor certainly does a good job on the split points Jerry. The ones that you (very kindly) sent to me are still the best drill bits I've ever used. :thumbup:

uart · Dec 5, 2014

I can do a basic job of sharpening normal 118 degree points on my grinder. They're usually far from perfect, but at least I know if I take an old dull bit that it will cut better after sharpening than before. Let's just say that they usually cut correctly on at least one side or the other. :lol:

So back to the question of Brad Point wood bits. Has anyone here ever tried sharpening them on the edge of a grinding wheel? I've tried, but the results weren't that great. It's also very easy to lose the entire point if you're not careful.

jeffmoss26 · Dec 5, 2014

jjjrmx5 said:
I"m slowly tackling the sharpening of my backlog of many many bits I haveon deck.

Drill Doctor here.

Often sharpened while watching Sunday afternoon NFL on the TV.
Multi-tasking FTW!

Hey, those look familar

woody 73 · Dec 5, 2014

This lady has a nice gizmo type machine (Jooltool) for doing brad point bits:

Another way:

woody 73 · Dec 5, 2014

Uart if you look at the second video his grinding wheel width is smaller then the typical 1/2", 5/8", 3/4" and 1" wheels found on bench grinders which seem to give some slight advantage.

uart · Dec 5, 2014

woody 73 said:
Uart if you look at the second video his grinding wheel width is smaller then the typical 1/2", 5/8", 3/4" and 1" wheels found on bench grinders which seem to give some slight advantage.

Yeah that's kind of what I was thinking, you'd need something thinner than a normal grinding wheel to do a good job. To be honest I've even thought about trying to jig an angle grinder with small grinding disc in a vise or something, and having a go with the brad points on that.

The way I've tried to do it on the edge of the grinding wheel is as in the attachment below. It sort of works, but you don't get the depth of the wings that you should have.

WildwoodChuck · Dec 7, 2014

I have a Drill Dr. I really like it, it's fast and I can sharpen them as often as I need to.

TailGunner3000 · Dec 18, 2019

worth a bump to the top.

raiderhillbilly · Dec 19, 2019

I bought a flea market toolbox that had an almost complete set of Lawson drill bits for 20.00. I looked on their website to see how much individual bits were to fill in the missing ones and couldn't believe the price.

Used Drill bit buying Guide.

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