Good Drill bit set?
- Thread starter edgewater
- Start date
chad s
Well-known member
I have tried a lot, and I love my Norseman mechanics length 29 piece set. But anything from Cleveland twist, precision twist, chicago latrobe, norseman, champion are very nice.
russlaferrera
Well-known member
High speed steel is OK, Cobalt is much better, and if used properly will last a lifetime.
Uncle Buck
Banned
Excellent brands all, add Greenfield to that list.
I've been thinking of picking up this Cobalt set on Ebay. They are made by FastCut Tools in the USA and seem like a good deal at $60.
He has twenty three sets.
Link: http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...Track=true&ssPageName=VIP:Watchlink:middle:ca
He has twenty three sets.
Link: http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...Track=true&ssPageName=VIP:Watchlink:middle:ca
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chad s
Well-known member
for a hand drill, Cobalt is much ore brittle, and chips easily, unless your doing a lot of stainless or very hard to cut metals, HSS is great.
I just bought that exact set from that seller. Make sure you pay attention to the shipping cost and the fact that you'll have brokerage charges on top. i have nearly $110 into that set by the time it's done. Nice quality though.
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Merkava_4
Banned
Take a gander at the drill bits they have over at mscdirect.com
They have the good stuff over there.
They have the good stuff over there.
I just bought that exact set from that seller. Make sure you pay attention to the shipping cost and the fact that you'll have brokerage charges on top. i have nearly $110 into that set by the time it's done. Nice quality though.
The site says 25.55 US postal service to Canada. Strange they charged a brokerage fee. I only have seen that from UPS.
strizzy
Well-known member
Very interesting, thank you for that link. I'll sleep on it.
Its a shame shipping is so expensive to you Canadians...
eschoendorff
Well-known member
I'll second this... I found out how brittle Cobalt is the hard way. I snapped a couple USA made Cobalt drill the first time I ever used them. Of course, I was drilling off-center and was going too fast, etc... so it was my own dumb fault.
I personally do not think that the brand of drill you buy is nearly as important as the condition you keep it in. A nice sharp Chinese drill is simply going to do a better job than a dulled abused USA made drill.
I bought USA made Craftsman (probably Vermont American) drill on clearance from Sears a few years ago. I really love an Irwin set I bought at HF years ago... made in Brazil and the USA. LOVE those drills! They all work well (even my cheap Chinese HF set - that one works surprisingly well) if you take care of them.
Jbullfrog
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I have had a $90 set of Craftsman titanium coated bits for 6 years. If you use the right drill/speed for the size of bit and always use lube most any drill bit will last a long time.
chad s
Well-known member
Check out SPM-29 http://www.harryepstein.com/highspeeddrillbits.htm
I paid $100 for the same set, and I was thrilled at their performance for the price. $75 is a steal, and Ive only dealt with Harry Epstein once, but they were very nice to deal with, and very old fashioned (no online ordering, receipt was and old counter roller type hand written invoice, very cool), in a good, warm feeling way!
I paid $100 for the same set, and I was thrilled at their performance for the price. $75 is a steal, and Ive only dealt with Harry Epstein once, but they were very nice to deal with, and very old fashioned (no online ordering, receipt was and old counter roller type hand written invoice, very cool), in a good, warm feeling way!
eschoendorff
Well-known member
Harry Epstein is top notch. We should all take a field trip over there. Just imagine: all the GJ guys desecnding on that store at once!!!!!!
I agree with most of the replies about buying mid range priced bits and keeping them sharp. I have had several sets of Matco and Mac cobalt bits and it seems like I am constantly sharpening them. I recently bought a set of Irwin black and gold set and a cobalt set and they seem to be staying sharper longer. I bought both Irwin sets for cheaper than one of the tool truck sets. I do not recommend buying any tool truck brands. The only thing better than the mid range priced bits is the professional machininist bits you get from the industrial suppliers (MSC, Grainger). The only time those are needed if you are drilling through exotic metals like knife blades, titanium, etc.
mike944
Well-known member
I bought this set about a year ago, when they were on sale for something like $29 with free shipping. They work really well. I should have bought 2 sets.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000EB8912/?tag=atomicindus08-20
The only specific reccomendations i have are high-speed steel, and split points. (The bits above are both, even though HSS isn't mentioned anywhere in the writeup, the bits are all marked HSS)
Titanium nitiride coating (the gold-colored bits) are kind of nice, but they are only effective if the coating is applied over a good-quality bit, making a good coated set noticably more expensive than a good regular HSS set. A lot of unscrupulous manufacturers will coat **** bits, and market them like the titanium coating magically transforms them into some kind of super-bit, which it doesn't.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000EB8912/?tag=atomicindus08-20
The only specific reccomendations i have are high-speed steel, and split points. (The bits above are both, even though HSS isn't mentioned anywhere in the writeup, the bits are all marked HSS)
Titanium nitiride coating (the gold-colored bits) are kind of nice, but they are only effective if the coating is applied over a good-quality bit, making a good coated set noticably more expensive than a good regular HSS set. A lot of unscrupulous manufacturers will coat **** bits, and market them like the titanium coating magically transforms them into some kind of super-bit, which it doesn't.
rsanter
Well-known member
I have an assortment of Cman, snap on, Mac, Dewalt, and old black& decker
most have performed well and lasted well with care taken in use. the cheap chinesuum bits I have used were ****
bob
most have performed well and lasted well with care taken in use. the cheap chinesuum bits I have used were ****
bob