On Sat, 02 Aug 2003 22:07:59 GMT, Roy Hauer wrote:
Harbor Freight has regular Black Oxide bits n sale now, 115 piece set
for about $24.00, which should do just fine in most home shops for the
average guy. I sort of like the HF bits and other import, as they do
seem harder than some american made ones. The biggest problems I found
with the ones that did not drill right was that they were not
sharpened right, and other than that, they seem to hold up just fine.
I have heard that the Chinese use cyrogenic treating on their
drillbits.

Well, I have that set of HF bits. I was drilling a 1/2 inch hole in some
diamond plate on my truck, and suddenly the drill motor (a Hole Hawg)
started to free spin. I stopped the drill motor and the bit had a reduced
round shank about a half inch long at the end of the bit. The flutes had
sheared free of the drill body for half an inch from the tip. Now that's
crappy metallurgy. I had never seen a bit fail that way before.

I went and got a good Cleveland Twist Drill bit, and it breezed through
the rest of the holes with no problem.

Gary