Time to buy some decent drill bits, but what to buy??

[zodiac]

I have drill bits. They make holes. They are part of a set I bought years ago for not much money. I'm thinking I need to buy some decent drill bits now but what should I upgrade to?

I want to drill mostly into wood, but when I want to make a hole in metal I want to have bits that will do that on hand also. I like to reach out for the tool I need on the spot not think "oh I'd better go out and buy one".

What say ye?

 

[wizard]

I allways use Dormer and buy them off ebay

 

[Steve Maskery]

Twist drills are not ideal for wood. They are designed for cutting metal and even then you really need a couple of sets, one ground for steel and another for softer metals like aluminium.
For wood you need a nice set of twin-lip and spur bits. The sharp point can be located accurately and the lips cut through the fibres cleanly leaving a hole with smooth sides. Mine are Axi's own brand and are fine.
S

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Here's what the only reviewer had to say about Axi lip and spur.....you can never tell whether it was just a lemon set he had I guess but it makes you think. Any comment Steve? Did you maybe buy a more expensive set? I couldnt find it if so and I looked because I would like to get a decent set myself.

Here's the review:

To deal with the second point first, "The set contains sizes 3mm to 13mm in 1mm steps plus 5.5mm and 10.5mm". I beg to differ.

My set contained 3, 4, 5, 5.5, 6, 7, all good so far. Next was 5/16 which is 7.94mm so that's OK, if a little awkward. Next is 9, but then we have another imperial drill at 3/8. That's 9.525mm. That's certainly not 10mm, which it should have been as the remainder were 10.5, 11, 12 and 13.

Now the quality. I was using these in a brand new Jet JDP-13 drill press, in fact they were bought together. Some of the drills ran perfectly, sadly several did not. The 5/16, 9 and 13 were all WAY off centre. I tried reseating them and cleaning the shafts and chuck, nothing made a difference. The 11mm was borderline centred.

Of course, Axminster were great at customer service and offered a full refund without demur. I'm now in the market for a smaller number of much higher quality lip and spur bits.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Oh dear, that isn't very good, is it?
I can only reiterate that I've been happy with mine generally speaking. The above has reminded me that one of the bigger ones in the set is not quite as straight as I would like, but for the most part I don't have any issues with them. I have had them for years, mind, maybe things have changed.
S

 

[chippy1970]

I just bought a stack of twist drills off axminster. They were on clearance spotted them while I was buying some clamps and a trim stop for my domino. I thought they look cheap il ad them to my basket. Now I know why:x if the first one I've used is anything to go by. Straight out of the packet they are bent, absolute rubbish so avoid them ones.

Not sure what quality of the lip and spur bits is like

 

[Jacob]

You can sharpen your old ones and/or grind them into a lip and spur if you want to. Saves a bit of cash and gives you control.

 

[powertools]

I use Irwin Turbomax drills. They are really for metal drilling but the tip is similar to a wood drill and they give good results in both wood and metal.
The only down side is they are not good at enlarging a hole that is already there but the plus side of that is if you want a 10mm hole in metal you just use the 10mm drill and no pilot hole first.

http://www.irwin.com/tools/drill-bits/t ... drill-bits

 

[merlin]

+1 for Dormer drills (metal and pilot holes)
Alpen auger bits from Japan - The best I have ever used as they stay sharp and there is enough meat on the lip and spur for plenty of sharpens.

Merlin

 

[James C]

I just bought some Colt Twinland Bits from Peter Seftons Tool Shop. They are very nice quality and I'm very happy with the finish left behind.

 

[mqbernardo]

these are nice.

 

[Eric The Viking]

I'd buy Colt - they seem amazing, but Axy are discontinuing them - it's not clear why.

I have some similar German lip and sour (Fisch?) and they're much better than the el cheapo Silverline ones. I occasionally buy them when I"m in a hurry, but the chuckout rate is as high as 50%. Their long series bits seem better made though. Perhaps they take more care as it's smaller volumes.

Otherwise Presto, Dormer, SKF expensive but really hard to beat for general use. I started off using them years ago and didn't realise what rubbish is out there until I bought some later on.

Any decent conventional HSStwist drill will be supplied sharpened for use in mild steel, but that's not optimal for use in wood. You can re-grind good quality HSS bits for wood. It's down to increasing the tip angle and the rake (clearance behind the cutting edges). The instructions came with my drill grinding jig, I think, but I'm blowed if I know where they are now! It's a good way of recycling worn metal bits, but you need to put a dab of paint on them or something in case you pick them up by mistake to use on metal - they won't cut properly and will blunt really fast.

E. (Really a skinflint, honest)

 

[No skills]

From a more budget point of view.

Screwfix's 'Erbauer Ground HSS' can be very good value for money (life v cost) - we used these exclusively on a MOD contract that involved drilling many thousand of holes in shipping containers ( #-o #-o ). Tried a fair few others in the first stages of that job and those were the best in the price range by far. That included Dormer jobbers by the way (not used any of dormers more expensive range), yes you will get the odd duff bit in an odd pack but its not common at all.

For a pricer bit have a look at the Dewalt Extreme's, they are slightly better than the above but I wouldnt personally bother with the experience I've had with the above (unless I needed a centre point metal bit).

Not played enough with wood bits to have any preference yet.

FWIW

 

[zodiac]

these are nice.

I'm sure they are quite lovely lol just a tad over budget

 

[mqbernardo]

you´re right about that...

 

[Eric The Viking]

From a more budget point of view.

Screwfix's 'Erbauer Ground HSS' can be very good value for money (life v cost) - we used these exclusively on a MOD contract that involved drilling many thousand of holes in shipping containers ( #-o #-o ). Tried a fair few others in the first stages of that job and those were the best in the price range by far. That included Dormer jobbers by the way (not used any of dormers more expensive range)

Noskills: That's a bit depressing, if it means Dormer has contracted a case of Accountamarketing. As we know, it's horribly infectious.

I know it's odd, but would the Erbauer ones actually be good value, or just the least worst? What's your take on it?

You have to do Dormer etc., sometimes, as some tapping sizes are second-series, but they've become stupidly expensive of recent years.

E.

 

[No skills]

Eric

That job was about 5 years ago now (maybe 6? :shock: - it was for the training villages in thetford), the dormer drills had been in stock on our shelves for years before that - no 'new' quality issues.

Dormer jobbers in a good drill press will last a good while, slow speed/loads of pressure and coolant = good life span. For use in a hand held drill? forget it. They do seem to be very consistant though, dont remember much in the way of out of balance or odd faults.

The screwfix ones I have used seem a bit sharper out of the packet, deal with heat better and perhaps are a touch harder than the dormers. I would get 3-4 times more holes from these bits than dormer jobbers. With the lower price comes less consistancy though, the odd one would be slightly un-balanced and very occasionally there would be ones that snapped very easily - upon inspection those bits had a lot of air bubbles where the break happened (poor casting?).

I dont get to use the screwfix drills at work these days, I still buy them for use at home when needed though and have found them still to be pretty good. I still use dormers at work on a weekly sometimes daily basis, I still think their dog poop - had to use 3 today to drill 7 holes in 3mm mild steel #-o #-o #-o I just chucked them away after, not worth the time trying to re-sharpen them.

The cheapest drills I have used were several shades worse than this, some so brittle they snap when you try to drill steel - one so soft I actually unwound it when it got stuck (yes really!, wish I had taken a picture).

So I say good value for money 8)

 

[Eric The Viking]

NS:Thanks for that, very much.

I have re-sharpened them on occasion, but I haven't had the jig set up on the grinder for some years (Grinder keeps being moved about). I have to say, on steel, I only ever use Dormer with cutting compound - Trefolex rather than oil, as it's easier for a small workshop. As you say, they do well in those conditions. Trefolex and the right speed make an enormous difference to the fiinished quality. It can be almost burr-free on the exit, but again, it's usually fairly thin material too.

I'll try Erbauer and see how it goes.

Cheers, E.

 

[Noel]

If the last set of Axminster Lip & Spur I bought some years ago are anything to go by I wouldn't recommend them. Don't think a single one of the set was straight, visible run out on each one. Orange tin box, gold coated bits. Only use them now on less important job. Got a small German set from Brimarc some time ago, Der Finest (or some such daft name) and they are good and long lasting too.