Decent drill bits?

[Hedgehog]

Where do I find and what brand drill bits.

I'm sick and tired of buying drill bits... Dewalt = Junk .... Ace is better but still junk .... it seems that none of the big box stores have decent drills, so I got to thinking, "There MUST be something better out there, what do the pro's use."

 

[73CJ]

Pick up a Drill Doctor.

It's a sharpener. Then you have an endless supply.

Easy to use as well.

 

[IOPort51]

Just about any HSS , high speed steel, and all cobalt , the metal not the brand. and a drill dr is fantastic. a lot easier than doing by hand.

If this does not help I would re evaluate my technique.

 

[Old Dog]

At work we use HSS (bright finish) for almost all our drilling, we use a lot of 4140 and the drills hold up well. We get them from here McMaster-Carr

 

[Torxhead]

Hedge, other than what Old Dog suggested, you could try a local machine shop tool supplier. I have had good luck with cobalt high speed drills, but they do have a heavier webbing making it tougher to resharpen, otherwise use a high speed drill. Keeping the drilling operation ridgid and the speed down helps also. The stuff you get a hardware store usually is a carbon steel that does not hold up very well.

 

[Hedgehog]

Boy ain't that the truth. A few weeks ago I purchased some bits that have the shank that is made for a screw driver bit. They were supposed to be cobalt, at least they were that gold color. They were good for only a couple holes with most of them, even the bigger drills like the 3/8" drills bent really easily. This was with hand drills, but they would also bend on the drill press. I do use cutting oil, especially with the press, but I'm less likely to use it with a hand drill. I've never bent drills before. Going to HSS as old dog suggests is more than likely the direction I'm going to go in. A decent set from Grainger is pricey.

I've got an old set in a metal case that I've used for 27 years. Some of the bits have been sharpened several times, others were burned, some of the little ones were broken or lost and replaced, but I've noticed that the replacement drills don't last as long as they used to. I'm beginning to believe that I'm wasting my money and it's time to find better drills.

 

[Torxhead]

Another issue that can happen with drills is when they spin in the chuck. This can damage the holding surfaces of both the drill and chuck as the surface of the shank is not hardened like the cutting surface of the drill. I have seen a triangle ground or machined on a drill shank so it won't spin. Then in a case of using one of those with a hand held drill it can cause the motor to spin or even break the drill as it goes thru the surface being cut. I have a set of Dewalt's that came like this and am very careful while using them.

 

[Hedgehog]

I've had decent luck with the triangulated drill bits. You are right about soft shanks. I don't have a problem with them in my press, but in my Milwaukee Lithium drill motor with the hand held tightening chuck it can be very frustrating keeping the bit tight and once it's spun in the chuck there is an ugly mess to deal with.

 

[GARGOYLEJEEPER]

All my bits are made in U.S.A.
When I break 1 I go down town to McDonalds Industrial Supplies and buy American.
Mac bought a Harbor Freight 115 piece set and told me to use them, they set on the shelf for years. Until one day I broke a 1/8" twist drill and grabbed his and chucked it in the drill press to drill sheet plate steel. It straightened that bit before I could turn the handle up, it looked like a Yankee Push Drill bit. So now he has a new set with 1 bad bit.

I buy good American tools once, not import every time they do not work.

Caution: This is Why Cheap Drill Bit Sets are so Cheap | ToolGuyd