I'm looking for a set with wire sizes, letter, and fractional. There are
a lot of 115pc sets a places like Northern tool and Amazon.com that I
suspect are substandard. What are some good brands to look for and where
should I look? I'd also like to get metric bits at some point. -- Fred

Nachi are my favorite.


"F. Hayek" wrote in message
...
I'm looking for a set with wire sizes, letter, and fractional. There are
a lot of 115pc sets a places like Northern tool and Amazon.com that I
suspect are substandard. What are some good brands to look for and where
should I look? I'd also like to get metric bits at some point. -- Fred

On 2004-12-31 15:08:54 -0500, "F. Hayek" said:

I'm looking for a set with wire sizes, letter, and fractional. There
are a lot of 115pc sets a places like Northern tool and Amazon.com that
I suspect are substandard. What are some good brands to look for and
where should I look? I'd also like to get metric bits at some point. --
Fred

I waited until the 115 piece American made set went on sale at MSC.
Figured I'd keep some local folks in business...I've been happy with
it, but subsequently realized I don't know what "American made" really
means. Is it domestic? North American? South American? Oh well, I
really did try.

Chas Morrill

"F. Hayek" wrote in message
...
I'm looking for a set with wire sizes, letter, and fractional. There are
a lot of 115pc sets a places like Northern tool and Amazon.com that I
suspect are substandard. What are some good brands to look for and where
should I look? I'd also like to get metric bits at some point. -- Fred

I don't think it's a "good" set, but the 115 pc set at Costco looks better
than most $40 sets. I'll know more after I use a few.

In article ,
"Tom Gardner" wrote:

Nachi are my favorite.





"F. Hayek" wrote in message
...
I'm looking for a set with wire sizes, letter, and fractional. There are
a lot of 115pc sets a places like Northern tool and Amazon.com that I
suspect are substandard. What are some good brands to look for and where
should I look? I'd also like to get metric bits at some point. -- Fred





The Nachi website is cool. I'd probably be scared to see the price
though.

http://www.nachi-fujikoshi.co.jp/eng/tool/index.html

--Fred

In article ,
"F. Hayek" wrote:

I'm looking for a set with wire sizes, letter, and fractional. There are
a lot of 115pc sets a places like Northern tool and Amazon.com that I
suspect are substandard. What are some good brands to look for and where
should I look? I'd also like to get metric bits at some point. -- Fred



I forgot to add that I don't know exactly what kind of bits are best for
general metalworking. I assume that all the bits I'd be interested in
are high speed steel (hss) twist drills. I don't really understand the
coatings though. Cobalt, black oxide, titanium nitride? -- Fred

I've had good luck with the 115-bit set Hertel set from J&L. They go on
sale every so often for around $90.

Mike

"F. Hayek" wrote in message
...
I'm looking for a set with wire sizes, letter, and fractional. There are
a lot of 115pc sets a places like Northern tool and Amazon.com that I
suspect are substandard. What are some good brands to look for and where
should I look? I'd also like to get metric bits at some point. -- Fred

In article 2004123116112827590%deichles@yahoocom,
Charles Morrill wrote:
On 2004-12-31 15:08:54 -0500, "F. Hayek" said:

I'm looking for a set with wire sizes, letter, and fractional. There
are a lot of 115pc sets a places like Northern tool and Amazon.com that
I suspect are substandard. What are some good brands to look for and
where should I look? I'd also like to get metric bits at some point. --
Fred

I waited until the 115 piece American made set went on sale at MSC.
Figured I'd keep some local folks in business...I've been happy with
it, but subsequently realized I don't know what "American made" really
means. Is it domestic? North American? South American? Oh well, I
really did try.

They also sell sets made purely of drills by Cleveland, which is
a known good brand. But I have the "Made in USA" set as well, and am
quite pleased with it.

Note that the 115 bit index by Huot (who makes the indexes used
in the quality sets, but not in the cheaper sets) also has a clip in it
on the letter side of the index to hold the 61-80 index, and I have one
stored there.

As a rough guide, using MSC's typical pricing, I consider that a
115-piece set with index should sell for not much less than a dollar a
drill bit.

However, next time around, I will go for another index filled
with screw-machine length split-point cobalt steel drill bits. I've got
a number-size set of these which I find to be spectacularly good for
most of my needs.

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

F. Hayek wrote:

I'm looking for a set with wire sizes, letter, and fractional. There
are
a lot of 115pc sets a places like Northern tool and Amazon.com that I

suspect are substandard. What are some good brands to look for and
where
should I look? I'd also like to get metric bits at some point. --
Fred

How about Precision Twist? http://www.precisiontwistdrill.com/ Made
right in Crystal Lake, IL. Drill sets are he
http://tinyurl.com/3mqka They have metric sets as well. Plus you help
an American machinist keep his job when you buy from them.

Dan

I bought a USA set from Traver Tool about 15 years ago, and it's without
question the most useful investment in metalworking/machining/auto
repair/etc. tooling I've ever made. And I ALWAYS replace any that get
broken or misplaced.
Came with a nice HUOT case, too. It was about $200....well worth every
penny from the use it's given me over the years.

"F. Hayek" wrote in message
...
I'm looking for a set with wire sizes, letter, and fractional. There are
a lot of 115pc sets a places like Northern tool and Amazon.com that I
suspect are substandard. What are some good brands to look for and where
should I look? I'd also like to get metric bits at some point. -- Fred

In article .com,
"Dan Murphy" wrote:

F. Hayek wrote:

I'm looking for a set with wire sizes, letter, and fractional. There
are
a lot of 115pc sets a places like Northern tool and Amazon.com that I

suspect are substandard. What are some good brands to look for and
where
should I look? I'd also like to get metric bits at some point. --
Fred

How about Precision Twist? http://www.precisiontwistdrill.com/ Made
right in Crystal Lake, IL. Drill sets are he
http://tinyurl.com/3mqka They have metric sets as well. Plus you help
an American machinist keep his job when you buy from them.

Dan


Wow! I live just up the road from them! Thanks for the good tip and the
tiny url. -- Fred

In article , F. Hayek
says...

I'm looking for a set with wire sizes, letter, and fractional.

I bought mine from MSC. Number sizes in split point cobalt, made
by greenfield. I also bought fractional and metric in HSS. I
just got tired of rummaging around for a drill that might do the
job, or modifying a design for something based on what drill
I *did* have.

Jim


--
==================================================
please reply to:
JRR(zero) at pkmfgvm4 (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
==================================================

F. Hayek wrote:

I'm looking for a set with wire sizes, letter, and fractional. There are
a lot of 115pc sets a places like Northern tool and Amazon.com that I
suspect are substandard. What are some good brands to look for and where
should I look? I'd also like to get metric bits at some point. -- Fred
http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNLMK3...&PMK0NO=368852

which is :

Search Criteria
Brand Name : Chicago-Latrobe
Type : Heavy-Duty
Size Range : 1/16 - 1/2 x 1/64, A - Z, #1 - #60
Products: 2
Pages: 1
Current Page: 1

HSS and Cobalt versions. 400 500.

There are other name brand versions - but
you want HSS High speed steel or Cobalt.

The coating is nice to have and reduces wear, but doesn't indicate a good drill.

Don't pay for the cobalt when only HSS is needed. It depends what you are drilling.

They have metric sets....


What I did was get metric in .1mm to augment my #'s, letters, fractions.
My metrics are in two cases. Don't worry about buying a half dozen boxes -
it does make sense to have a metric set as they are in between sizes.

Martin [ my 115 pc set is for general purpose drilling, my nice sets (smaller) are
for quality drilling ]

--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

"Martin H. Eastburn" wrote in message
...
F. Hayek wrote:

I'm looking for a set with wire sizes, letter, and fractional. There are
a lot of 115pc sets a places like Northern tool and Amazon.com that I
suspect are substandard. What are some good brands to look for and where
should I look? I'd also like to get metric bits at some point. -- Fred
http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNLMK3...&PMK0NO=368852

which is :

Search Criteria
Brand Name : Chicago-Latrobe
Type : Heavy-Duty
Size Range : 1/16 - 1/2 x 1/64, A - Z, #1 - #60
Products: 2
Pages: 1
Current Page: 1

HSS and Cobalt versions. 400 500.

There are other name brand versions - but
you want HSS High speed steel or Cobalt.

The coating is nice to have and reduces wear, but doesn't indicate a good
drill.

Don't pay for the cobalt when only HSS is needed. It depends what you are
drilling.

They have metric sets....


What I did was get metric in .1mm to augment my #'s, letters, fractions.
My metrics are in two cases. Don't worry about buying a half dozen
boxes -
it does make sense to have a metric set as they are in between sizes.

Martin [ my 115 pc set is for general purpose drilling, my nice sets
(smaller) are
for quality drilling ]

--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

I've been looking at restocking my drill collection as well. I'm thinking
that if I got a set of metric drills in 0.1 mm increments up to about 13 mm
it would cover everything I would ever need. A drill every 4 thou of an inch
?

regards,

John

"ATP" wrote: (clip)the 115 pc set at Costco looks better than most $40 sets.
I'll know more after I use a few.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I bought that set a few weeks ago, and used it for the first time today. I
am very pleased at the way it works in mild steel, but I can't say anything
about stainless or anything really tough.

In article ,
john johnson wrote:

[ ... ]

I've been looking at restocking my drill collection as well. I'm thinking
that if I got a set of metric drills in 0.1 mm increments up to about 13 mm
it would cover everything I would ever need. A drill every 4 thou of an inch
?

Hmm ... two factors to mention:

1) The index which I have stops at 12.0 mm. Actually two indexes
one is 1.0 mm to 6.0 mm, and the other 6.1 mm to 12 mm, IIRC.

Or -- does the larger set stop at 10.0 mm?

I'm not up to going downstairs to refresh my memory at the
moment -- but I am *sure* that it doesn't go all the way to 13
mm.

2) There are times when having all possible sets is helpful. I
have bought (but not yet used) some thread forming taps, which
use different size starting holes than cutting taps do. And,
IIRC, both 1/4-20 and 10-32 require metric sizes.

Enjoy,
DoN.
--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

john johnson wrote:
"Martin H. Eastburn" wrote in message
...

F. Hayek wrote:


I'm looking for a set with wire sizes, letter, and fractional. There are
a lot of 115pc sets a places like Northern tool and Amazon.com that I
suspect are substandard. What are some good brands to look for and where
should I look? I'd also like to get metric bits at some point. -- Fred

http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNLMK3...&PMK0NO=368852

which is :

Search Criteria
Brand Name : Chicago-Latrobe
Type : Heavy-Duty
Size Range : 1/16 - 1/2 x 1/64, A - Z, #1 - #60
Products: 2
Pages: 1
Current Page: 1

HSS and Cobalt versions. 400 500.

There are other name brand versions - but
you want HSS High speed steel or Cobalt.

The coating is nice to have and reduces wear, but doesn't indicate a good
drill.

Don't pay for the cobalt when only HSS is needed. It depends what you are
drilling.

They have metric sets....


What I did was get metric in .1mm to augment my #'s, letters, fractions.
My metrics are in two cases. Don't worry about buying a half dozen
boxes -
it does make sense to have a metric set as they are in between sizes.

Martin [ my 115 pc set is for general purpose drilling, my nice sets
(smaller) are
for quality drilling ]

--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder


I've been looking at restocking my drill collection as well. I'm thinking
that if I got a set of metric drills in 0.1 mm increments up to about 13 mm
it would cover everything I would ever need. A drill every 4 thou of an inch
?

regards,

John


Get a good drill chart from a #80 to 1/2" with letters, numbers, fractions
and metric to 0.05mm.
I have two - one in color over the lathe and another on the back door in plastic.

It shows what is the drill to use and what is next larger or smaller...
I often step from one into another unit system in order to take light cuts.
My large set is for gross items and the
various small boxes cover the quality cuts wanted.
Martin

--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder