Drill bits ??

[Crow#21957]

What drill bits do you guys use. I've had all different brands.I don't trust drill bits. It's so hard to figure what brand to get. Advertising is misleading. I would like to buy some bits for my important jobs,,,barrel pins,,flash hole liners,,lock bolts,,.. Seems I get a brand and they work good then later same type and brand and they Duck. Good bits for the serious stuff and regular bitsfor the easy stuff like wood.

 

[oldwood]

The company I worked for bought all the bits I used. Once I got a coffee can full of dull bits , I bought a drill bit sharpening machine. It works well. Now I have a coffee can full of sharpened bits. I've got good bits from Grizzly , and a local , Mennonite owned , high quality hardware store. They sell only quality stuff there.

 

[SDSmlf]

Good chance it’s a feed and speed problem. Are you using a drill press, adjusting your spindle RPM based on drill diameter and using a cutting fluid?

 

[1950DAVE]

Call these people. They are the ones I depend on for serious metal cutting tools.http://www.precisionmachinerysupply.com/contact.html

 

[ZUG]

I buy from here <http://www.toolsavings.com>. Buy the standard "jobber drills" no need to get fancy with carbide or cobalt you will not need them and a waste of money unless you are drilling hardened steel.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I have long used three kinds of bits with success: hundreds inherited from my father, some now nearly 100 years old; El Cheapos and high quality. Admittedly, my use is not high volume.

 

[Davey Boy]

I have bought really cheap and crazy expensive

I will take the least expensive Harbor Freight any day of the week.

 

[Flintlock Whiskey]

With practice one can grind new tips on them. I will wear them down until there is nothing left.

 

[Sam squanch]

Get a Drill Doctor!! And read the instructions…..

 

[Felix the Cat]

I use quite a lot of stub drills rather than jobber drills. Most gunsmithing does not involve drilling deep holes and the shorter stub drill is more rigid as there is less metal cut away for the flutes.

You can get stub drills in most of the variations that you get jobber drills for. I have been steadily replacing the jobber drills that I break or wear out with both a stub and a jobber and find that I am using the stub ones more with less need to replace....

 

[Sam squanch]

I was the most popular guy at work when I got my Drill Doctor. You can be too……

 

[Packrat]

McMasters Carr, I have a great selection, Fraction, Number Letter all are Cleveland Twist

 

[Icemanxxxv]

Drillsandcutters.com

 

[user 34300]

I use whatever I get with no preference. I will say some of the Harbor Freight sets a particularly terrible. I also taught myself to sharpen them free hand on the grinder. Watch some Utube videos, it is not hard. I do tiny bits with a dremil diamond wheel. All drills drill oversized unless you make a pilot hole. IF size matters then do so. All I care about is does it cut smoothly. Eyeball symmetry is good enough.

 

[SOLANCO]

The company I worked for bought all the bits I used. Once I got a coffee can full of dull bits , I bought a drill bit sharpening machine. It works well. Now I have a coffee can full of sharpened bits. I've got good bits from Grizzly , and a local , Mennonite owned , high quality hardware store. They sell only quality stuff there.

Similar here. Old Order Mennonite owned Holtwood Supply. Everything you might need to build a house except for lumber. Pneumatic tools and compressors for the Amish. Electric for the rest of us.
This is rural and the people who use tools basically can not afford cheap tools. To get in a truck, or hitch up a horse, to go ten miles to replace a cheap broken tool makes that original purchase price a false economy.

 

[Crow#21957]

I got my drill press down to 400 rpm. It's a digital readout. Just move one lever and go from 400 to somewhere around 2500.
It ran my new harbour freight counter sink pretty well but still wanted to get hot. I used a alcohol base liquid for cooling and only engaged material for about 3 seconds. I'm going to see if I can get that drill press slower. And not use to much pressure. Thankyou all for the info.

 

[BJHabermehl]

I got my drill press down to 400 rpm. It's a digital readout. Just move one lever and go from 400 to somewhere around 2500.
It ran my new harbour freight counter sink pretty well but still wanted to get hot. I used a alcohol base liquid for cooling and only engaged material for about 3 seconds. I'm going to see if I can get that drill press slower. And not use to much pressure. Thankyou all for the info.

As slow as the machine will turn for countersinking to avoid chatter. Most smaller drill bits under 3/16 1000 rpm or a bit less. Under 1/8 1000 plus. In mild steel. You break more small drill bits with too slow speeds, due to the chip load. BJH

 

[BJHabermehl]

Plus one more tip, for any hole I’m going to countersink I will pilot drill first with a 5/64 or so drill, then countersink to the finish diameter. Then drill the hole to finish dia. This virtually eliminates chatter problems with countersinks

 

[Crow#21957]

Thankyou sir

 

[HSmithTX]

I am in the metalworking business, I buy jobber drills, taps, etc from the machine shop supply houses. They are better than the top end at Harbor Fright, Ace etc. They cut cleaner, straighter and last longer, and the best part is they are not expensive at all. I recently bought a 5/16-24 tap drill, plug tap and bottoming tap, total bill was 20 bucks and the quality is hands down better than any box store stuff. Find out where your local machine shop is getting their tooling, that's your spot if you want quality.