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McMaster-Carr for Small Drill Bits?

Outahere

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Mar 13, 2021
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871
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Idaho
Am looking for drill bits in sizes under 1/8" for drilling in mild steel. Prefer to buy new in these small sizes instead of sharpening old bits. McMaster has them in HSS mechanics length with 135deg split points, with black/gold oxide coating.

But they do not reveal who the manufacturer is. Are they from Norseman?

Here is the link to a 7/64" drill:

 
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kjbenner

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Jan 1, 2011
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NE Ohio
I think the last few times I've ordered drill bits from McMaster they've been Chicago-Latrobe, PTD, or Cle-line.
 

GeoBruin

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May 5, 2018
Messages
3,733
I thought McMaster sold Chicago Latrobe bits but I suppose they sell whatever they can get the best deal on, and the black and gold description does sound like a Norseman. I've also never seen a HSS "mechanic" length bit advertised by CL but it's quite common for Norseman.

Consider this somewhat educated speculation.
 

CallumRD1

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Jul 7, 2017
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339
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Colorado
Put another way, all the manufacturers that McMaster is known to use for their drills are very well regarded and no matter which they choose from you'll be satisfied with the tool. (I've received Cle-Line and Chicago Latrobe from them in the past.)
 

Craftfab

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Sep 19, 2018
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Garage
Have been told you can call them and see what supplier they are using for the part you are wanting. Mine I got recently from them were CL.
 

Rinspeed

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Apr 26, 2020
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Location
NY
If you call they will tell you who they are made by, pretty frustrating they don't list the manufacturer.
 

DevinJ

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Jan 8, 2019
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Location
N.E. Ohio
Call or write an email and they will tell you the manufacturer. In my opinion I wouldn't bother because everything they sell is high quality.
 

purplezr2

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Jun 1, 2010
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5,291
Location
Central MN
If you call you will get a manufacture that they currently are stocking as others have said. We order tons of stuff for work from them as they are by far the easiest to buy from, and the catalog is awesome. With that said, the brands very sometimes, but it is always good stuff as others have said.
 
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rustyzman

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May 7, 2015
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772
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Chicagoland
If you call they will tell you who makes them. Their customer service is excellent. I think they leave it out so they can utilize different mfr's under the same mcmaster part number if needed. Especially since they don't generally change part numbers for items over many many years in the catalog. Have to expect that supply chains have shifted on some stuff in that period of time, but they retain the same catalog part number. It is nice that you can use an old catalog for a part number and still order current stock items.
 

dscheidt

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Apr 26, 2017
Messages
2,883
If you call they will tell you who makes them. Their customer service is excellent. I think they leave it out so they can utilize different mfr's under the same mcmaster part number if needed. Especially since they don't generally change part numbers for items over many many years in the catalog. Have to expect that supply chains have shifted on some stuff in that period of time, but they retain the same catalog part number. It is nice that you can use an old catalog for a part number and still order current stock items.
This is exactly the reason. There are plenty of people and companies that are reordering the same stuff for years on end. Changing part numbers creates friction in the ordering process, and if someone has to look things up, they may buy them somewhere else (where for stuff like drill bits, it may well be cheaper).
 
OP
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Outahere

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Mar 13, 2021
Messages
871
Location
Idaho
I sent an email to MM-C and they quickly replied that the mechanic's length drill bits are sourced from Greenfield Industries (which includes drills from Cleveland, Chicago-Latrobe, and Cle-Line). A little more research showed that only the Cle-Line brand includes mechanic's length drills.
 

Sgtboz

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Joined
Mar 6, 2017
Messages
115
I bought a 41 piece set of metric drills from mcmaster-carr and they were all from Chiwandia. They are OK but i haven't pushed them hard. They don't appear to be concerned about alerting their customers about country of origin on their web site.
 

DevinJ

Active member
Joined
Jan 8, 2019
Messages
41
Location
N.E. Ohio
I bought a 41 piece set of metric drills from mcmaster-carr and they were all from Chiwandia. They are OK but i haven't pushed them hard. They don't appear to be concerned about alerting their customers about country of origin on their web site.
They've recently added a COO in their descriptions. They have it for most items. Here is a screenshot.

I get surveys from them a lot about adding products and features to the site. Not sure if everyone does, or I get them because my work buys a lot from them.
 

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Steve_P

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Sep 15, 2010
Messages
5,181
I bought a few random "premium" metric bits from McMaster within the last two years and they were Norseman. Or identically marked to my USA Norseman.
 
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