In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
Options

Drill Bits

buddybbuddyb Member Posts: 5,249 ✭✭✭✭
edited May 2019 in General Discussion
Are any good drill bits made anymore?
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • Options
    wpageabcwpageabc Member Posts: 8,760 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    There are but they are expensive and hard to tell from the junk.

    Get a drill doctor and sharpen your good bits.
    "What is truth?'
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Options
    Horse Plains DrifterHorse Plains Drifter Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 39,383 ***** Forums Admin
    edited November -1
    Absolutely.

    Here are some:
    https://www.cutting-tool-supply.com/ClevelandTwistDrill/

    https://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn/searchterm=Precision Twist Drill?navid=4294647324+4287924171

    I bought this set a couple years ago, and they're doing real good.
    https://www.albanycountyfasteners.com/Norseman-Magnum-29-PC-Ultra-Dex-Drill-Bit-Orange-p/1050-338.htm
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Options
    buddybbuddyb Member Posts: 5,249 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I did some contract HVAC work in a local plant that makes drill bits.They say all their bits are made in USA which is true but when you go in the plants,all the blanks that they make the bits with are made in China.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Options
    Horse Plains DrifterHorse Plains Drifter Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 39,383 ***** Forums Admin
    edited November -1
    buddyb wrote:
    I did some contract HVAC work in a local plant that makes drill bits.They say all their bits are made in USA which is true but when you go in the plants,all the blanks that they make the bits with are made in China.

    Yep, that's popular these days. The new catch phrase is "Made in USA of global materials".
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Options
    pulsarncpulsarnc Member Posts: 6,259 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    The drill bit manufacturers are in league with the electric drill manufacturers. High speed kills drill bits in just a few uses . Using slow speeds , less than 600 rpm and some form of coolant in copious amounts and even ordinary bits last a long time . This is something the average handyman never learns .To him when the bit seems a little dull the solution is more pressure and more speed . I concur buy a drill doctor or if you have a good bench grinder an attachment for it to sharpen bits . I can do a reasonable job sharpening on a grinder freehand . Course it has taken prob 40 years to learn how to do it in a repeatable manner .My good drill bits are like my chain saw,good files chisels and my fishing rods and reel...... NOT available for loan!
    cry Havoc and let slip  the dogs of war..... 
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Options
    mac10mac10 Member Posts: 2,546 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    brand new bits did not cut worth a $%^&* i bought a drill doctor i will get around to try it
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Options
    redneckandyredneckandy Member Posts: 9,686 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Chicago Latrobe makes decent drill bits. Not a commercial level bit, just a good general purpose.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Options
    RobOzRobOz Member Posts: 9,523 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Horse Plains Drifter wrote:
    buddyb wrote:
    I did some contract HVAC work in a local plant that makes drill bits.They say all their bits are made in USA which is true but when you go in the plants,all the blanks that they make the bits with are made in China.

    Yep, that's popular these days. The new catch phrase is "Made in USA of global materials".


    Coke probably came from Clairton, Pa
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Options
    AlpineAlpine Member Posts: 15,054 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Cobalt drill bits, appropriate speed, coolant if required, and a Darex drill sharpener.
    Ti speed is less than 200 RPM, and high nickle SS is about the same.
    ?The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.?
    Margaret Thatcher

    "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
    Mark Twain
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Options
    Sam06Sam06 Member Posts: 21,254 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have had good luck with the Dewalt Titanium Drill bits with the pilot point.

    Next would be Bosch Bits. My FIL swears by them and he does a lot of drilling in his business.

    Irwin Tools Cobalt has a nice set of bits and they last. I used them drilling metal and they held up well.
    RLTW

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Options
    yonsonyonson Member Posts: 904 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Learn to judge the back rake angle of a drill bit by sight. Drill bits made of good material but having dull cutting edges, or insufficient or no back rake, cannot cut. I spent a few hours in trade school in the 60s learning to sharpen drill bits by hand, which turned out to be a useful skill.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Options
    mac10mac10 Member Posts: 2,546 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    dont think they teach that anymore unless a cell phone comes with the grinder attachment
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Options
    BrookwoodBrookwood Member, Moderator Posts: 13,385 ******
    edited November -1
    I use a lot of 1\16" drill bits and do not know how to sharpen such a small point.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Options
    jwb267jwb267 Member Posts: 19,666 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    to me the smaller ones are easier to sharpen than the bigger ones on a bench grinder
    I am very fortunate , dad was a tool and die maker and I acquired all his bits, lathe bits and all his measuring tools
    all these bits are from the 50s and the 60. I have a bit that will drill through a human hair up to 1.75". this includes fraction, letter and metric. multiples of each
    if I were to guess I would guess over 400 drill bits
    not counting bits for the brace
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Options
    Smitty500magSmitty500mag Member Posts: 13,603 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Horse Plains Drifter wrote:
    buddyb wrote:
    I did some contract HVAC work in a local plant that makes drill bits.They say all their bits are made in USA which is true but when you go in the plants,all the blanks that they make the bits with are made in China.

    Yep, that's popular these days. The new catch phrase is "Made in USA of global materials".

    They also use "assembled in USA" for items like these Timken bearings that used to be made in the USA.

    KdyGpqj.jpg?2
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Options
    truthfultruthful Member Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Try some cobalt bits. You'll never go back.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Options
    babunbabun Member Posts: 11,054 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I use for 99% of drilling, a good set of USA made HSS drill bits. I can sharpen the cutting lips to different angles for different drillings. Lasts a long time till they get too short.
    All the "fancy" bits with coatings, spotting points, trick ends only drill good till they need to be sharpened, then you have to throw them away.
    Proper lube is a big factor in drilling. The lube has to match the metal being drilled.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Sign In or Register to comment.