Good Hex Shank Drill Bits
- Thread starter zendriver
- Start date
Dave455
Well-known member
Can you get a conventional shank / long series drill bit that would do?
I must admit I’ve recently been trying a few different hex shank bits.
The only reason I’ve been trying them is that I can get away with just carrying my impact driver if I‘m putting up a light or something, but I’ve been somewhat underwhelmed by the quality, especially as I tend to have decent conventional drill bits.
I’ve tried both Bosch and Milwaukee and neither seem great, either for concentricity (they both use a two piece bit) or for durability, though the Milwaukee seem to be the better.
I have been using some masonry bits (yes, I know it’s the wrong tool for masonry, but for small holes in brick it's fine) and have been using these Armeg bits, which are way better quality. They’re forged in one piece for a start, seem to be exactly concentric, and good quality.
They also make a Cobalt bit for metal. I haven’t tried these but if they are comparable quality to the masonry bit they will be excellent.
I think they are one of the few manufacturers to offer hex shank Cobalt.
The downsides are that Armeg are a British outfit and I don’t know if they have distribution in the U.S. They are also geared to the electrical trade, so offer only a limited range.
Are you able to utilise a Japanese spec bit? The Japanese seem to get the absolute most out of their impact drivers so just about everything seems to be available in hex shank. Can’t believe they don’t offer a good HSS drill bit.
I must admit I’ve recently been trying a few different hex shank bits.
The only reason I’ve been trying them is that I can get away with just carrying my impact driver if I‘m putting up a light or something, but I’ve been somewhat underwhelmed by the quality, especially as I tend to have decent conventional drill bits.
I’ve tried both Bosch and Milwaukee and neither seem great, either for concentricity (they both use a two piece bit) or for durability, though the Milwaukee seem to be the better.
I have been using some masonry bits (yes, I know it’s the wrong tool for masonry, but for small holes in brick it's fine) and have been using these Armeg bits, which are way better quality. They’re forged in one piece for a start, seem to be exactly concentric, and good quality.
They also make a Cobalt bit for metal. I haven’t tried these but if they are comparable quality to the masonry bit they will be excellent.
I think they are one of the few manufacturers to offer hex shank Cobalt.
The downsides are that Armeg are a British outfit and I don’t know if they have distribution in the U.S. They are also geared to the electrical trade, so offer only a limited range.
Are you able to utilise a Japanese spec bit? The Japanese seem to get the absolute most out of their impact drivers so just about everything seems to be available in hex shank. Can’t believe they don’t offer a good HSS drill bit.
Thanks for the input, everyone, but I'm good.
I had some new "Warrior" Harbor Freight bits, that were absolute ****, maybe the "metal" they could drill through is soft lead, maybe. Unreal my-bad.
Noticed in my cheapie Craftsman bit driver set had some hex shank drills, so sure why not? They drilled through the busted off screw pretty easy.
Lesson learned.
Again, thanks.
I had some new "Warrior" Harbor Freight bits, that were absolute ****, maybe the "metal" they could drill through is soft lead, maybe. Unreal my-bad.
Noticed in my cheapie Craftsman bit driver set had some hex shank drills, so sure why not? They drilled through the busted off screw pretty easy.
Lesson learned.
Again, thanks.
Those look nice, are those all one-piece bits?
I have tons of hex shank bits, with my nicest set being Norseman QR-16 - 16PC Hex Shank Set. The bigger sizes are one piece, and the smaller sizes are 2 piece, but the quality of the fitment between the bit and hex shank is way better than what they sell Home Depot, Lowes, etc.
Another nice set I have is an old Dewalt Made in Germany hex shank set that they used to sell at Lowes. They are all one piece bits, and while I didn't piece together the full 29 piece set, I got most of them up to a 1/2 inch and then a lot of duplicates of the smaller ones. Dewalt ended up replacing them with a gold set that looked the same, but they were no longer made in Germany.
These were the German ones:
Haven't used them to extensively yet but when I needed a set, I wanted short and hex
Spyder USA made from Lowe's was a easy buy
Spyder USA made from Lowe's was a easy buy
There are longer lengths of conventional/smooth/non hex drill bits made. I have them up to 12" in typical sizes.
While I'm sure they are definitely exceptions, I would say that the majority of hex shank bits = home DIY = cheap ****. Yeah, I'm sure the Matco and Snap On are quality, but otherwise it's not going to be amazing quality. Because this is typically what Joe Homeowner buys to drill a hole in a 2X4 and they're not being used in typical production applications.
While I'm sure they are definitely exceptions, I would say that the majority of hex shank bits = home DIY = cheap ****. Yeah, I'm sure the Matco and Snap On are quality, but otherwise it's not going to be amazing quality. Because this is typically what Joe Homeowner buys to drill a hole in a 2X4 and they're not being used in typical production applications.