King of the Drill bits?!

[Woodypk]

Hi all,

Just wondering what are your go to brand of Brad point drill bits for wood.

Is there a king of the drills (brand/make/model) in your eyes?

I’m looking to replace my cheapish drills with some high quality, premium brand versions.

I’ve so far used all the regular power tool brand versions and a I’ve recently purchased some that I forget the name but were made in Austria (ring any bells?) from Wealden tools. Although the ones from Wealdens do cut well, the land on the drills themselves (the part on the body/shaft of the drill that’s not the flute and is the same diameter as the shank) is very large for the first 10mm or so and thus seems to get stuck in the cut and cause a lot of friction and hinders chip evacuation.

I’ve recently been purchasing individual sizes of the FAMAG Boremax 2.0 forstner bits as and when I’ve needed them and they’ve performed flawlessly up to now in the materials (mainly hardwoods) that I’ve used them. So I’m tempted to have a go with their Brad point drills.

So I’m looking to find out what’s the best Brad point drills you’ve ever used and if you had to only use one make/model of drill bit for the rest of your woodworking life, what would it be?

Cheers,
Tom

 

[rogxwhit]

I ground my own from hss twist drills 40 yrs ago & I'm still using them ... ;-)

 

[Jameshow]

https://www.rennietool.co.uk/produc...-9-aYyxwDu7DB2zWiu-eMf6mZMZrWQIIaAgWYEALw_wcB
Cobalt bits are the best imho.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Except the OP wants brad points.

 

[MikeK]

I don't know what the king of brad point drill bits would be, but I am very happy with my 19-piece FAMAG set I received as a gift. They have only drawn blood a couple of times when taking a drill out of the case, but they make very clean holes in plywood, hardwood, and MDF. If I were buying these, I would not have bought the set, since I have used only five or six of them in the past two years. I would buy them as I needed them.

Since you mentioned Forstner bits, I did splurge and bought the 16-piece Fisch Wave Cutter set from Dictum. These are pricey, but I am happy with them.

 

[Ollie78]

Fisch are pretty nice, Famag are nice too, Star M are really nice Japanese ones.

Ollie

 

[thetyreman]

I use Fisch, the austrian made bits, they always drill very clean holes so can highly recommend them, I am sure festool, famag and star-m would be equally good.

 

[Woodypk]

Thanks guys.

I can get a 5pc Famag set in 3/4/5/6/8mm for £25 which isn’t a bad price at all if their Brad point drills are as good as their forstner bits. I think I’m going to give it a go. Im interested in trying the Fisch and the Star-M drills too but I’ll try these FAMAG ones and see how they get on.

I’ll report back with my findings.

 

[MikeK]

I have the Festool set of brad point drill that are part of the Installer's Kit. However, I prefer the FAMAG set because they have outlining spurs on the outer edge of the flutes that make clean holes.

 

[ajs]

Out of interest are there any magical high quality drills that avoid blast out? Reasonable brad point bits cut cleanly (I use Bosch myself) but the far side tends to be a right mess unless supported which isn't always an option.

 

[clogs]

With no back up blocking u just have to go real slow…
Really sharp sharp bit's is a must…..to stop blow out…..
I use em but metal drill bit are ok for wood but just ok….

 

[pgrbff]

I find Fisch cut nicely and last a long time. I have one Irwin brad point and it doesn't come close. Famag are good too but I have never used them.

 

[Stevekane]

I ground my own from hss twist drills 40 yrs ago & I'm still using them ... ;-)

I have a cheap set(s) that work well enough but grind any bigger ones that I might need from regular twist drills, but so far Ive not needed to make any small sizes and Im not sure I could grind up say a 5mm one?
Steve.

 

[Bristol_Rob]

Another vote for Fisch here - I love my set...

 

[Keith Cocker]

Fisch for me too (no chips ).

 

[mikej460]

Famag Bormax

 

[thetyreman]

Out of interest are there any magical high quality drills that avoid blast out? Reasonable brad point bits cut cleanly (I use Bosch myself) but the far side tends to be a right mess unless supported which isn't always an option.

star-m make f-type bits where they not only cut cleanly but they are designed to have no tearout on the outfeed, I got one from workshop heaven was impressed with them, the only downside is you have to buy them individually.

 

[Woodypk]

So my FAMAG 5 pc Brad point drill bit set arrived today and they are by far, the best drills I’ve ever used in wood.

The smaller sizes track much truer even when drilling into end grain in Oak and Ash than I’ve seen before, even when used on my cheap bench drill which has much to be desired in terms of stability of the quill.

They seem to create less fine dust than than the other bits I’ve been using and the top of the hole is as clean as the FAMAG bormax forstner bits I use due to the lipped spurs on the end of the drill. The chip ejection is great and the drills (the smaller ones at least) create small spirals of wood a little like HSS twist drills do in steel.

Another thing I really liked is that due to the very tiny, tiny land on the drill, there is hardly any metal to wood contact of the drill to the bore of the hole that’s being drilled and so hardly any friction when drilling, so much less effort needed to push the drill through the wood at all plunge speeds.

All in all, would highly recommend for hardwoods (not tested in softwoods yet) and will probably never need to switch brands as long as I can get these drills should I ever burn one out or break one.

Paid around £25 for the set of 5 and worth every penny.

Cheers.