On 5/25/2020 1:00 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Mon, 25 May 2020 12:17:42 -0700 (PDT), rangerssuck
wrote:

On Sunday, December 1, 2019 at 10:59:51 AM UTC-5, rangerssuck wrote:
First: Big shout out to my Drill Doctor. I had to drill three #19 holes in cast iron yesterday and all I had was my set of HF TiN drills. Had to sharpen the bit for each hole, but I did get through the job OK. Drill Doctor made quick work of it.

Second: Enough is enough already. I have had enough screwing around with garbage bits. I'm looking to buy my last set of drill bits. Generally the 115 piece sets (1/16 - 1/2, A-Z, 1-60) fit my needs. I'm not looking to break the bank, but I don't want to cheap out, either. So, I'm looking for suggestions. If you were looking for a complete set of drills, what would you buy?


I had a job that involved drilling through stainless electrical control panels last month. Having been ****ed off too many times by my crappy drills, I decided to take a look at some cobalt drills. After doing my research, I decided to take a shot on the Harbor Freight cobalt drills.

Holy crap, these are the real deal. A night & day difference from the "HSS" drills they sell. Rather than looking like a boy scout trying to start a fire, these things just make holes. really easy to drill a half-inch hole (in three steps) with a 20V Porter Cable.

I bought the less-expensive fractional set and a set of cobalt step drills (which also fly through stainless). I will be watching the sales and jumping on a 115 piece set soon. Just today, I had an HF HSS #21 drill bend(!) while drilling on a drill press in 1/8" aluminum. Not doing this again.

Just thought this might be handy information for someone.
That one sounds like the drills a former boss bought off a wagon
jobber years ago. Were supposed to be "the cat's ass" - when they guy
came back to see how he liked them he told him he had gotten it wrong
- - they were only good for drilling assholes in balsa-wood
teddybears.



I've had decent luck with the cobalt drills from HF as well, but to be
fair I've had ok luck with their cheaper drills as well.

That being said I bought some decent brand name drills for all the
standard sizes and a modest metric set. Cleveland, Precision, etc.
Some of them I found to be dishearteningly disappointing. Well, until I
took them over to the grinder and reground them.