"Robert Swinney" wrote in message
...
ED sez: "Absolutely"

Yep! From the descriptions, a HF set for $29.95 looks as good as a
Chicago-Latrobe set for $300.

Bob Swinney

Yeah. The difference is all in the labor. g

Good M2 HSS makes pretty versatile bits: useful for wood and composites, and
capable of drilling steel with good efficiency. M4 is better for drilling
steel, but very costly -- not because of the difference in material costs,
actually, but because M4 bits generally are just made better.

M50 is what you usually get in hardware stores. It's fine for wood and
composites. But it has little red hardness, and it has to be run very slowly
in steel. And its abrasion resistance isn't good enough for drilling
high-silicon aluminum, for more than a few holes.

It's ironic that we see those cheap bits often made with a TiN coating so
thin you can actually see through it -- it's translucent goldish, in some
cases, rather than a bright gold color -- because a *thick* TiN coating is
still cheap, and really would increase drill life a great deal in abrasive
materials such as particle board or Masonite.

--
Ed Huntress