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Drill Bits where do you find the best ones

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White70JavelinSST View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote White70JavelinSST Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Drill Bits where do you find the best ones
    Posted: Dec/03/2021 at 3:04pm
As the title states, I'm looking for a good place to buy the best quality drill bits.

Not a fleet store, or Lowes, Menards, Home Depot, not even Office Supply.....those places only sell the chinesium junk bits.

I used to have a source for exceptionally excellent quality bits that easily drilled stainless steel.

Anybody know of a good source?

Thanks
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mstrcrftr Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/03/2021 at 3:42pm
For stainless, you need titanium bits.. but where to find them now is the question.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 304-dude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/03/2021 at 4:02pm
I had to reply out jest... the best drill bits are always in Grand pa's work shop. Ha! Being that he always was complaining about the missing tools and what nots, not being returned or replaced if broken. Yikes! I was too young to have a finger pointed at me.

Donno, Lowes has a good assortment of titanium bits, at least on my last check through the bit section.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote brownspirit Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/03/2021 at 4:04pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tufcj Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/03/2021 at 4:30pm
I bought a "Reaper" 115 piece set from https://rodmandrill.com/ at Barret-Jackson this last spring.  I think the show price was $295 for the set (it's $399 on their website).  So far, I'm quite impressed.  I use them in a hand drill and drill press.  They've held an edge very well, and cut excellent.  I've bought cheap bits all my life, and wanted a good set that would last, regardless of cost.  Their demo at the show was impressive.  They are lifetime warrantied also.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Steve_P Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/03/2021 at 6:00pm
Norseman.  USA made.  Not cheap.  But outstanding.  The "Magnum" line is the best and drills 300 series stainless.  Read their description on their site, and they explain why it's better than cobalt, which they also sell, and cobalt bits are more expensive.  Now what company tries to sell you a less expensive product???
 I'm not aware of any "Titanium" bits.  Titanium has become a "buzzword" in the last decade, like "billet" was the decade before.  Titanium is not a good drill bit material.  Look up its properties.  Yeah, titanium nitride coated, etc, titanium scissors....  It's all marketing BS, because that wears off after you drill a few holes.  Quality steel is what drills holes.  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 6PakBee Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/03/2021 at 8:05pm
I don't know if these are the "best" but they work for me.


Stay away from DeWalt, I can't get them to drill more than a couple holes in steel and they are toast.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote PROSTOCKTOM Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/03/2021 at 9:11pm
Since I have a Tool & Die degree, worked in an Army munitions plant as a tool maker, and ran my own CNC shop I would say I am qualified to give a good recommendation. In my shop I own Triumph Precision Twist drill bits. I have two fraction, letter, number indexes in jobber length and two CNC (stubby length) indexes. Plus a few hundred other Triumph Precision Twist bit in various sizes. To get a fraction, letter, number jobber length index your in the $350-$400 range. Remember it's hard to go quality work in poor quality tooling. You can never go wrong spending money on good drill bits. 

Here is the jobber length sets I have and you can shop around the web with the part number.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tomj Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/03/2021 at 11:24pm
There are lesser-cost, decent quality US made drill kits, from McMaster, MSCDirect, etc. Absolutely they're not as good as the best, but they are sharp and dimensionally correct. 

I figure besides cost, I have to consider that I just don't drill as many holes as pro machine shops, I can run lower cutting speeds because I'm not hourly-cost sensitive, and I can run lots of Tap Magic and damn the cost.

$100 for the last number set I bought. Of course I use some sizes more than others, like all the standard tap sizes and clearance sizes. I go through a lot of #36 or whatever's .140").  Then I buy small packets of replacement bits.

I keep a drawer of what I call ship bits minus p plus t. Half the holes I drill don't need to be an exact size. Those I sharpen myself, the good ones I don't (or they become the other category). I buy 1/8" HS steel 10 at a time, and use those for pilots, wire holes, etc.

Also get some center drills. Amateurs often forget them, and pilot holes with a small bit like 1/8". It's an "extra" step (not really) that increases precision and saves your bits. 

I have some chinese Silver and Deming bits for the big stuff. Those get replaced fairly often, as I drill probably 25 big holes a year.

I don't own many cheap measurement tools though. One crap toolbox caliper for "what size bolt is that" type stuff, the rest Starrett and Mitutoyo.  


Though I have a decent ACE Hardware store I get run of the mill nuts and bolts from, and my cheap bits, I've given up buying anything precision, from retail stores. These days the focus is on lowest possible cost. Cost is the worst way to pick anything, at least in the last 20 years. Walmart, Amazon, Harbor Fright have brought stuff down to joke level. Fake tools. I find myself saying "that doesnt cost enough!" -- how strange.

Though one day I desperately needed a ratchet box end to operate a home-made spring compressor, and bought one from the Home Despot. It was surprisingly good quality. Their combo wrenches are not bad, it took me a year to admit that to myself. Most of my tools are older Proto, SK, some ancient Craftsman. I rarely wrench metric stuff, so I bought a combo set from the Despot. Slightly fatter metal (a sign of lesser steel) and they don't ring like good hard tools, but they've been surprisingly sturdy and accurate. Not bad for a second set. I'm living off Soc Sec now, I'm a frugal dmned yankee, ... but I have zero tolerance for crap. I've recently tossed some vice-grip type welding pliers I got from IMS Metals. Usually they sell good stuff, but man, these plier jaws deformed sideways, and I was no way that tight! Just junk. Caveat emptor etc.




Edited by tomj - Dec/03/2021 at 11:36pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 6768rogues Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/04/2021 at 6:35am
I agree with McMaster Carr. They have a downloadable app of their catalog.
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