Best screw driving bits for drill?

[Rebelphotog]

I bought some Skil 2" phillips head bits a few weeks ago on clearance for $3. Tried them today while putting 2" wood screws through my subfloor into the joists to tighten up some squeaks.

In a matter of 10 minutes, I completely demolished two of the bits. At that point, I grabbed the old bit that came with my 18v DeWalt 6 or 7 years ago and finished the job. It's in poor shape, but at least it held together.

This prompted me to go to Lowe's to grab new bits. With everything made in China, I just wanted to set the bit section of Lowes on fire and walk out. But, I needed bits, so I couldn't do that. I bought a 6 pack of DeWalt 2" impact phillips bits, and a 6 pack of regular DeWalt 2" phillips/slotted bits. I used one of the impact bits to drive another dozen or so screws without a problem, but I'm wondering how long that will last.

What do you use? Any experience with these DeWalt bits? Will they last? I bought 12 just in case. I miss the days when you could pretty much buy something once and as long as you took care of it, you'd never have to buy it again, at least not anytime soon.

 

[G1GRANDEUR]

Use impact screwdriver or just buy bulk bits.

 

[pipsters]

I have this:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...R=100126002&catEntryId=100126002#.UOzyHHdHG00

Works fine, $5 for 15 bits seem to be high enough quality. I had your same issue, chewed thru all my el cheapo bits and bought the Dewalts. They lasted a lot longer.

The way you chew up bits is by having the thing cam out and strip. I am interested in trying my impact driver as I think it will be easier to press it into the screw to prevent camming out.

 

[cheechi]

Best? Wera. Most cost effective? see above.

 

[Rebelphotog]

I have this:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...R=100126002&catEntryId=100126002#.UOzyHHdHG00

Works fine, $5 for 15 bits seem to be high enough quality. I had your same issue, chewed thru all my el cheapo bits and bought the Dewalts. They lasted a lot longer.

The way you chew up bits is by having the thing cam out and strip. I am interested in trying my impact driver as I think it will be easier to press it into the screw to prevent camming out.

Actually, that's not what happened. The blades of the phillips head sheared off in the slots of the screw as soon as they started to sink into the joist. I had to use pliers to pull the pieces out of the screw, then drove the screw the rest of the way in with the old bit. I've definitely ruined a bit or two in my day from it camming out. This however, is something I hadn't dealt with much with my driver bits I use in my drill until this year. As I said, I've still been using the old, original, quality DeWalt bit, but it's worn and ready for retirement now.

I actually had the exact same thing happen to me about 8 times with a regular bit-change screwdriver that I bought to work on something at my sister's bakery. The thing came with 12 bits, I twisted 8 of them off in the heads of screws without getting anything tight. Total cheap junk.

 

[Rebelphotog]

Best? Wera. Most cost effective? see above.

Looking at those now. Will probably order a few of the Impaktor bits. Paying a little more for quality doesn't hurt my feelings at all. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[bcradio]

Get the gold bosch bits at lowes and your troubles will be done... Guaranteed. The dewalt impact bits are fair but only last a couple hundred screws or so. No need to waste money on the wiha when bosch gold bits are as good or better

 

[doan]

I think the Z's are pozidrive.

 

[acdc73]

use an impact - you won't go back to a drill driver...

 

[Thunderbisciut]

I'm waiting on a bunch of Zephyr industrial bits to arrive myself.

 

[djjsr]

I've been happy with Irwin's "torsion" bits. (note the blue band)

Lots of places have them in stock and they're not real expensive.

 

[Jure]

wera/wiha

 

[Zorba]

I've never use the blue banded Irwins, just the normal ones. Never broke one while building my shed.

 

[cgv69]

http://www.apexpowertools.com/brands/fastening/

 

[woody 73]

If you want the best of the Best then buy the Apex bits (see above link); but I must warn you they do not come cheap!

For my two cents the dewalt impact bits will ger the job done, but I like the cheap chrome Vanadium (CV) bit sets from HF tools, they can take the abuse and if they break you got a whole box left over to keep going on the job at hand.

 

[DanarchyCustoms]

I've used alot of different types of bits and so far the blue banded Irwin bits have seemed to work the best. They are strong and last very long especially while screwing Tek screws into steel.

 

[got2boostit2]

I've had the most success Pozidriv Phillips head bits.

http://www.phillips-screw.com/pozidriv.php

 

[Jack Olsen]

Just to reiterate: once you get an impact driver, you'll see what lousy tool a drill is for driving screws. It makes a night-and-day difference. Not only will you stop ruining bits, and screws -- you'll suddenly also be able to put screws much deeper into lumber. You can drive lag bolts with the thing, too.

 

[pipsters]

Also to hijack but I hate hate hate phillips screws. I like those torx ones, even the square headed ones are better.

 

[tarbellb]

Go SQUARE DRIVE. Its a much better design.

 

[ejkuhl]

i have some regular Bosch phillips that shear off with even my 12v impact. I go back to some old bit that says CHINA real big and it does fine. I have to agree that torx or square are much better.

 

[IndyGarage]

Another Wera fan here. This is a great set:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Y8Y31K/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Thunderbisciut]

One thing to remember is that some bits are hardened a lot more than others. Zephyr and others make multiple lines. For Zephyr the industrial is very hard, and the aviation is not. For Apex bits, they use an "X" suffix for their hardest bits, an "I" for the intermediate, and "R" for the softest bits. If you're using an impact or your man muscles keep snapping bits, get softer ones.

 

[rick carpenter]

The original theory behind phillips head screwdrivers was that they would first cam out and second be softer than the screw to keep from buggering up the screwhead. I buy middle of the road price bits and expect them to wear out. Go with an impact driver if you can, the impact action keeps seating the bit in the screwhead making the bit last longer.

 

[cheechi]

Also in theory, there is more surface contact (in two dimensions) with the phillips than either a pozi or square. In reality it doesn't help due to the way it cams out, but this was the thought behind it.

If I had my choice of fastener I would always go Torx. Second would be square though.

 

[Builder302]

dewalt and Bosch work good enough for me, with the impact driver of course. They are easy to pick up at lowes or home depot.

Apex are awesome, a little hard to come by.

 

[dogmir]

I have had the best luck with the blue banded Irwin also. If I can help it I use square drive.

 

[justanengineer]

The list of acceptable screws only has two types, torx and square drive being a distant second. They are well worth the extra money, especially driving a few thousand of them into antique lumber that is rock hard. If youve ever worn out a drill motor you will appreciate them greatly and the best part - theyre self centering.

 

[Monte]

 

[theoldwizard1]

Just to reiterate: once you get an impact driver, you'll see what lousy tool a drill is for driving screws.

+2 !

I have been using DeWalt Impact Ready bits. They work pretty good and you can find them cheap on eBay !

 

[bcradio]

I definitely dislike Torx compared to Philips head. Torx cams out a little less than Phillips, but when it does the screw/bolt head gets shredded.

No thanks

Amen on the impact driver though

 

[Rebelphotog]

I bought a 6 pack of DeWalt 2" impact phillips bits...

Well, so much for that.

Found another squeaky spot in the floor today, so I pulled up a tile and attempted to put a screw through the subfloor and into the joist. The screw made it about halfway and the impact bit's head broke off in the screw head. Literally snapped. I totally would have expected the screw to break first (as one other screw did). Don't believe a impact would have had a different outcome on this one.

I'm so sick of all of this chinese ****. I'm definitely ordering my next bits online and getting something recommended in this thread.

 

[fireguy]

McFeelys for bits and screws. And like a prevous poster said, Robertson bits, not Phillips

 

[#1SomeGuy]

Square head with the dewalt impact bits...I have a 2" square drive dewalt bit that sits in the little holder of my drill most of the time, I've probably sunk 1000+ screws with it and it's still going strong. I've snapped a few screws with it, but the bit keeps on going.

I feel sorry for you americans where everything is philips...we are definitely more square oriented up here north of the border.

 

[JoeyMitch]

My favorite bits are either Makita Mak Bite ir Snap On driving bits. They both have grip like things on the blades of the bit to keep a hold on the screw.