Recommendations for decent wood drill bits?

[neilricketts]

Hi, i have used the fisch http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Fisc ... 719612.htm and the colt http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Colt ... 783291.htm and they have been superb i would highly recommend any of these.

Cheers Neil

 

[Steve Maskery]

Matt
This is interesting, and I would like to know more about why yours were "truly awful".

Personally I'm very happy with my set, I get holes that do not trouble me, but maybe my standards are lower than yours, and maybe I've got a good set and yours were faulty. Maybe both, I don't know. I have no axe to grind either way, but I am interested, nonetheless. What was so bad about them?

S

 

[matt]

Matt
This is interesting, and I would like to know more about why yours were "truly awful".

Personally I'm very happy with my set, I get holes that do not trouble me, but maybe my standards are lower than yours, and maybe I've got a good set and yours were faulty. Maybe both, I don't know. I have no axe to grind either way, but I am interested, nonetheless. What was so bad about them?

S

I didn't get holes - just got smoke and a small black pit. They had absolutely no cutting edge/angle. Even my wife (who does not care to know anything about drilling holes) observed, in passing, "that can't be right". Whether she was referring to the smoke, the absence of progress, or my puce colour is debatable but probably irrelevant.

 

[wizer]

I've been using a set I bought from Lidl about 4years ago and can't remember ever drilling a 'truly awful' hole ? I'm not even sure what a truly awful hole looks like. Got pics?

 

[matt]

I've been using a set I bought from Lidl about 4years ago and can't remember ever drilling a 'truly awful' hole ? I'm not even sure what a truly awful hole looks like. Got pics?

I refer to my previous post...

 

[wizer]

I just read the reviews on the Axi site. One guy tied a drill bit in a knot? Probably not a good bet then

If you want reliable quality then go for the Colt, Fischer or Wealden, as referred to earlier in this thread. I am honestly happy with my Lidl's, I bought a 2nd set recently as I've lost a couple.

 

[woodbloke]

If you want the best performing drills then by some standard HSS engineers twist drills and grind them into lipn'spur bits yourself on small bench grinder. I've never bought any commercial lippy bits but just grind my own HSS bits as and when I need them...gets a bit tricky below 4mm though - Rob

 

[dunbarhamlin]

These from Lee Valley have served very well for a number of years - but my pillar drill is tea and biscuit powered. I use Jennings type bits up to 1 1/2" in a brace for portable boring.

 

[Woodcrafts]

I use DeWalt Extreme 2 double tip HSS bits in a drill press. Clean cut, no wandering. I regularly need to drill hundreds of 4mm and 6mm holes accurately through 32mm or 44mm beech. Have tried various lip and spur and hss bits in the past but either they lose their sharpness very quickly and burn, or else they wander off line. Last batch of 4mm holes - approx. 2250 in total with same drill bit - last one as clean as the first! Do need to clear the swarf frequently though.

 

[j]

Another vote for the lidl set. Never had a problem, but don't use them a great deal.
Looks like they have some drills on next week.
http://www.lidl.co.uk/uk/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20090928.p.Tap_and_Drill_Bit_Set.ar3

Mine are in a very similar looking case, but just drills, no taps.

 

[pooka]

I have a set of the Axminster TiN bits linked to above which I haven't used much. I needed to drill 5mm holes for shelf supports in a birch plywood cabinet yesterday so I started out with the 5mm bit from the Axminster set. I hadn't used the bit before so it was brand new. The bit was on a par with the standard ones that I have bought in the past from a local tool store. It did a reasonable job of creating a clean entry for the hole, but it took only a slight increase in speed for it to tear the surface fibres rather than cut them. Also, it had that horrible tendency to struggle with each layer in the ply before digging in all of a sudden and pushing quickly into the next layer - that made it tricky to avoid drilling right through the cabinet wall. It was the same frustrating experience that I have had of drilling in birch ply with cheaper bits.

I also have a set of the Lee Valley bits linked to above, so I turned to the 5mm bit from that set next. It was a totally different experience. The bit created perfect hole entries every time and drilled through the ply layers smoothly and consistently which made the drill much easier to control. It was a far superior drill bit. The Lee Valley bits are more expensive than the Axminster ones but based on this one experience (my first time using the Lee Valley bits) I think the Lee Valley bits are worth the extra cost where the quality of the drilled hole matters, as it did in this case as the holes are to be visible in the cabinet.

 

[Keenedge]

Cobalt HSS drills with an 118 or 135 degree angle would just stay sharper longer than standard HSS drills, but the problems in drilling wood would be the same.
I've used the Famag lip and spur drills that I got from Isaac Lord and have been delighted with them, (Miles cheaper than the Ruttles!!!!)

 

[matt]

FWIW... I used a 5mm cobalt bit for drilling shelf support holes but with a depth stop to prevent it going mad. Very fast and clean. The only downside is I use a mains drill set to it's fastest speed but it doesn't have a brake. Being impatient I tend to damage my perspex hole template.

Useful comparison re the Lee Valley bits. I don't mind spending money on drill bits because it makes such a difference.

Pooka - if you've not done so already, have a go with one of the larger bits... If there anything like mine you'll have no problems with them grabbing their way through the wood but you might find the smoke and burning a little off putting...

 

[matt]

Does anyone know if he Lee Valley bits are available in the UK? Or... does anyone have any idea (roughly) what it costs for them to be shipped across the pond?

Cheers

 

[Lee J]

I didn't get holes - just got smoke and a small black pit. They

I dont mean to be funny here but you haven't accidently set your drill to 'reverse' have you? thus drilling backwards?

just a thought, something I've done recently :lol:

 

[matt]

Nice thought and something I have done before but no, not on this occasion.

 

[ivan]

Just as the £ fell against the euro I discovered Famag make HSS lip and spur bits sized in 0.5mm steps (fine-tools.com). Waiting for a £ recovery, and meantime using Tilgear chinese HSS lip and spur (by 0.5mm) which are very cheap and unfortunately not all that well ground. The lip/spur is OK and gives very clean entry but had to send several sets back in succession as they were ground with no clearance (stopped drilling 1-2mm in). HSS is worth it in a drill press if you have a lot of drilling to do it's very easy to overheat carbon steel, and lip/spur bits seem prone to heating up (more than standard jobber drills)

 

[Tim Nott]

The reviews on the Axminster site are not encouraging

I've had a set ofTHESE for several years and they are still going strong. Sizes start at 3mm and go up in 0.5mm sizes. Considering how many drills there are it's a decent price.