I have used full sets for 20 dollars and single bits for 20 dollars. I cant find a good long lasting bit. There is so much **** out there not sure what company to buy from.

I am drilling slow, using coolant (little oil), they keep dulling fast and spot weld bits tear down fast too. Any usfull coments/ suggestions will help. - Dustin

 

the big Harbor Freight set is a killer deal.

better than most bits I've used , plows thru 1/2" plate , no probs.

 

Dont waste your time on **** tooling... I drill stainless steel all day long so having good drill bits is a key in my business. I find the longest lasting bits for myself come from mcmaster.com... they cost a little bit extra but its worth it. When looking for drill bits just type in the search "drill bits" then a list will come up, pick metalworking and multi-purpose... then pick jobber's length. then pick standard.. then pick heavy duty cobalt steel, they work best for me no matter what im drilling. I often do a lot of work for my landlord as well fixing up dump trucks and plow trucks and they drill well through all the different materials when working on the trucks. Also what oil do you use? I Suggest using rapid tap... mcmaster sells that too.

 

i just keep resharpening my bits until they're too short already, then i just buy per piece of those which i regularly use, and keep the set only for special sizes....

 

So do I. Most cheapo toolbits you find at those "supermarket" style shops are junk. I have a set of HSS bits with that "gold" coating on them. they werent the cheapest ones, but they're still working fine. Dormer also makes good bits.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by butch11a &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i just keep resharpening my bits until they're too short already, then i just buy per piece of those which i regularly use, and keep the set only for special sizes....</TD></TR></TABLE>

luis,
can u sharrpen mine too?

 

we use morse drill bits and have had good luck with them we just drench our parts in tap magic and the bits fly out like butter

 

So pretty much high dollar bits and name brand? No certain materials or anything of favor for drilling all day... resharpening bits seems to waist lots of project time, I just want to get the job done.

Any comments on spotweld cutters too?

 

Ive had no problems with my snap on drill bits they cost a little more. Its what i used on the our race car drilling though 1/4 1/2 3/4 plate with no problem. i have had them about a year now still is shape as the day i bought them. Use alomst every day you get what you pay for

 

ive drilled out some LCA bushing earlyer this week and i found my favorite bit....BLUmold carbine bits. i drilled two bushing and cooled with some oil (casue that hot ****). still sharp. u can buy them @ HOME DEPOT

 

I'm not a fan of anything Harbor Freight. They work 2 times... then that one time you REALLY need it a few months down the road the part/tool/machine breaks on you.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PrecisionH23a &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm not a fan of anything Harbor Freight. They work 2 times... then that one time you REALLY need it a few months down the road the part/tool/machine breaks on you.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I concur.

but their drillbits rock.

they get HEAVY USE in our shop and they just wont quit.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Doctor CorteZ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I concur.

but their drillbits rock.

they get HEAVY USE in our shop and they just wont quit.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You know what is the best? These bitches!

 

Those are good for thin metals, but if you need a long hole in a block of metal, then those wouldnt cut it.

 

Thanks for pointing out the obvious

I just wanted to show off my unibit collection. I'm actually going to try out the HF drill bits since you guys think they can take a beating... if they suck you bet your sweet *** you're going to hear about it.

 

I love step bits those rock but they arent cheap

 

Clevland twist's seem to last the longest for me. I assume you are a fabricator and using an air drill. Weld obviously work hardens the material causing drill bit failur. Try using a cordless drill and run it slowly, and for bigger holes a pilot obviously helps alot. If its really hard Carbide is the way to go, expensive but it will last for a long time (as long as you know what the heck your doing) and drill through just about anything.

 

I like the blue carbide twist drills. The gold-colored "titanium" drills are usually junk, and can't be resharpened without losing the Ti coating.

I also love step drills. Good luck drilling a 3/4" hole in sheet metal without one. (without owning large morse drills and a mill, of course)

 

try Mcfadden-dale hardware in Anaheim
they have high speed steel, split point, cobalt, carbide drills and so many more that place is insane.

 

Morse Cutting tools make great stuff. We distribute those as well as many other brands. we also make and sharpen specialty cutting tools. If any of you are interrested the # is 918-250-9400 ask for Jeff let him know what you are cutting and he can point you in the right direction.

 

Just for what it's worth hree folks, cutting speed is CRITICAL for drill bits to last. I don't give a rats *** what kind of bit you use, cheap one's last pretty well, as long as you're cutting at the optimum speed. Some materials require high speed tool adavancement, some require slow speed. You need to nkow what materials you're drilling through in order to pick the right drill bits. Sorry if this doesn't help you in your quest man.
Clayton

 

this is all good info.. fyi i am cutting/drilling spotwelds mainly, it is a very tuff material... looking for good pilot bit and very good spot weld cutter.

 

welds are really tough to drill sometimes, I tried to drill a balljoint plate for my weber linkage which I welded and then use a high-speed grinder tip to make the hole into a rectangle to fit the throttle axle, snapped the grinder bit in two.

 

Tried some bosch bits today.. they heat up fast even with coolant but they aren't bad, I go through them link any other though. That must be a fact of life. Im going to try drilling into wax bars before i start cutting to see if anything happens.

Any other input?

 

Are you cutting too fast? Steel should be fairly slow.