Drill Bits - Where To Get Them And The Best Type

I have been trolling all second hand stores and yardsales. I buy a coffecans of bits but only if they say USA on them. I won't pay much because they are almost always dull and some broken, rusty etc.. I chuck em up in the drill dr and most of them turn out pretty good. Take my calipers, measure them and stuff em in my slide catalog that is now a drill bit organizer. I have gotten lucky and bought entire packs of NOS USA drills. Not the sizes I need, but couldn't pass em up anyway!

MSC now that enco has been absorbed is the answer.

 

Like he says…

I can buy a hundred bucks worth of USA made bits in a coffee can for $5. I have hundreds of 'em now, no sweat if I break one. A bit grinder is a great investment too.

For full set indexes, check ebay, and go for HSS (high speed steel) at the minimum.

 

Unfortunately, I buy drills according to the job. For general use, some Black &Decker ones are fine, as well as the coffee can bits. I've picked up an old Craftsman USA index at a yard sale, and they are pretty good for general use
Then I need specific letter or number sizes for things like Helicoils, so I buy better ones for for these jobs. Ever have a broken head bolt or grade 8 bolt? I have a few cobalt bits for these. Some of those B&D bullett bits actually leave a nice hole, especially in thin materials and they last pretty long, but they can't be sharpened (at least not by me).
There is no simple answer to Warlock's question. It depends on the work.
-Donny

 

For me the solution is this...........I have two sets , one set that stays around the Mill and consists of Fractional in both High Speed , Cobalt & stub drills , there is also a High Speed set of Fractional , numbered and lettered drills there also including a complete Silver & Deming set.............but no one touches these but me. I also have a set of CAR tapered reamers........these work great when you have a 3/8" hole that you want to take out to 1/2" quickly either in the drill press or laying under a car or Truck...........without fear of breaking your wrist when the bit grabs in the hole.

And then over by the Drill Press there is another dispenser. Anybody who wants to drill a hole only uses drills from the dispenser. Most are recycled drills from days past.............there all sharp but used. There is also good deals on E-bay sometimes where these hardware folks sell bags of new import drills that serve as replacement sets for the individual fraction drill holders........normally you can get a set of Import drills in a bag for less than $20.00 bucks........I buy them and just fill the dispenser , if they break so be it...................

Chuck , As I'm sure you know , drill feed and speed and proper lubrication for the metal is also the key to keeping them in decent shape........Maybe a tutorial on drill bit care for the boys some weekend would be fun?

At the Mill

By the Drill Press

 

Boy, would it ever. I'll tune in. I have one drill index and an old cigar box full of junk bits.

Maybe a tutorial on sharpening as well. I stink at that. Don't have a drill doctor. had a knock off drill doctor but, it didn't seem to work very well on smaller bits....say 3/16 and smaller or something. Frankly, I did't like how it worked on bigger bits. Could have been operator error, too. Now, i take them into work and sharpen them on the belt sander. Any bit under 1/4" just gets replaced cause I'm no good at sharpening anyhow.

Have I told you guys lately how great you are? For reals.

 

A drill bit lesson would be great.

To run out and buy a bit I now always Milwaukee Brand bits for my drill press and metal work. Drill slow and use plenty of oil. When I change the oil in the cars I drain the last little drops of new dead dinosaur into a oil drop can so I can use it when I drill metal.

 

Interesting ... Car, as in railroad car - apparently they were originally used for railroad car manufacture, where short length is needed to get into tight spaces. Pricey just to have laying around, but I can see how they would be handy. I know where that wrist breaking action is at. Try to drill a hole in thick steel with your Silver and Deming bits and a strong portable drill. It can be done, but you can get hurt if the drill binds up.

 

Tim ,................. CAR or Bridge Reamers..........Yes , they can be pricey , but in exotic heat-treated steels like some truck frames or just basic A-36 with just a very small amount of pressure and some WD-40 as lube they almost self feed themselves and cut like going through butter..........A small hand operated drill is all that's needed................they are tapered most of the way then the last 3/4" of an inch or so is a straight bore reamer with a stop. Once you use them it's pretty hard to go back to drilling large holes in tough steel the conventional way...............A tool for every job.

 

I generally throw out drill bits smaller than 3/16 or so, unless I happen to want to be irritated sharpening it. Once every couple months when I am really bored I pull out the can of dull bits and zone out sharpening them until they are all sharp or in the trash bin. If you follow the DrillDr instructions and watch the youtube videos you get a pretty good grasp of what to do. If it doesn't work you can resharpen them. Cant ruin whats already ruined, you can only make it better.

 

This and a bench grinder is what you sharpen small drill bits with.

 

The other day member Timgr asked here on this thread about CAR reamers and there use:...........and the response was simply they work great to expand a given hole size in a frame or plate to a larger size without the issues normally associated with that function like drill bits grabbing or flutes braking or getting your hands or wrists banged up during the process , notwithstanding they cut through heavy steel like it was Butter!..................Cost associated with these reamers can also be an issue when buying New at Retail prices. For a 1/4" New reamer plan on spending about $75 and up to several hundred dollars for larger sizes.........I like to watch E-Bay for deals on these and just bought a few extras the other day for the shop that were very reasonably priced.

I bought a pair of 3/4" from the add below for $35.00 net and a pair of 1/2" reamers for $30.00 bucks net.

ICS Cutting Tools 3/4" High Speed Steel Car Reamer W/ 1 1/4" Hex Shank Adaptor

 

I've had great luck with the following Milwaukee bits...about $20 at most hardware stores.
I've used them all during my last transmission upgrade, engine swap and hanging pedal modification. All of the bits are still sharp and unbroken!

 

x2 What I use for metal drilling. Keep them oiled when you cut with them and they seem to stay sharp.