Alex wrote:

I have an opportunity to buy high quality drill bits really cheap.
But since I already have a bunch of cheap Chinese bits from HF and I am
pretty much satisfied with them so I wonder if I even need these hight
quality bits. I remember reading on this forum about big difference
between good bits and cheap once.

Can anyone explain what exactly the difference is?

Thanks,
Alex



Cheap has many different levels..from drill bits that unwind, to bits
that snap right off to bits improperly ground. You may find a handful
of cheapos that are better than most and actually work, but that is a
rarity..even with ever increasing quality from India and China.

The real value of a GOOD set of drill bits is seriously reduced hassle
level. A good bit cuts soooooo much better than a bad one that it's
like night and day. Where the better end of "bad" may take a couple of
minutes, a lot of energy and do a lousy job drilling through a part, the
good end of good will cut through like butter in 1/10 the time, still be
useful after, and give a better hole.

Better to have a few good bits than a whole set of mediocre bits.

It gets worse with taps and dies, which don't yet seem to have developed
a good end of bad...cheap China and India stuff is REALLY bad when it
comes to these cutting tools.

Note that there are always exceptions to every rule..someone somewhere
here probably swears by cheapies....it's just not me.

Koz