The AUSubaru.com.au Forums

My turn to get caught out with poop. Coupla years ago a mate bought a drill set from a field day. One bit about 3mm could not handle the pressure and bent, to a 90 degree ! Felt like it was crafted from coat hanger wire.

Out on a job I popped one masonary bit , lost its cutting bit brazed in the end in a brick. Dug out a spare that was part of some kit of drill bits may have come with a cheapy drill.

It cut cleanly through the acrylic render then bloody near melted as it mushroomed on me as it hit the brick, looks like the cutting bit was part of a cheap casting not brazed in. Looked like a real one - zinc plated or zinc colour paint ? , red paint on the tip - for some reason.

A quick trip off to hardware and bought a known brand (Suttons) and we're back in business. Time to check the rest of the dodgy stuff lurking in my drill box

There are some really bad quality drills out there, the factory that made them must have forgotten the step that makes them hard. Meaning they stay as a drill shaped piece of metal not much harder than mild steel. Sutton all the way!

Yeah Sutton are the go, but for drill bits in my work case, Frost from Bunnings are half the price but still seem to last as long when any bit is eventually lost or accidentally drilled through fibro which blunt them real quick.

Ive got a set of evacut that are in a blue metal case Ive had them for over 10 years now, the 2mm and 3mm are long gone, but the rest even though they have been used still look brand new.

TOONGA

Yer "Sutton" are my prefered brand, The JBS ones are sutton ones in a JBS case and are a little cheaper.

I work for the company (http://www.anca.com.au) that make the grinding machines that Suttons and P&N (mostly) use to make drill bits (and for P&N punches, Christmas tree cutters, deburrers, taps). And yes, you can't go wrong with Suttons drill bits - just a pity I can't get them at a discount rate through my employer. The Viper (purple box) series can be picked up off eBay for about $65 a set which is about 1/2 Bunnings price.

I bought a set of (I think) Kawasaki brand drill bits from Costco about 18 months back (they come in a big green metal box, and I thought should be decent). Absolute rubbish. Real drill bits do NOT bend!

Frost - I've used them for 1-off jobs (extended shank or for odd-sized hold cutters), but they're not much for repetitive use.

dfoyl wrote:I work for the company (http://www.anca.com.au) that make the grinding machines that Suttons and P&N (mostly) use to make drill bits (and for P&N punches, Christmas tree cutters, deburrers, taps). And yes, you can't go wrong with Suttons drill bits - just a pity I can't get them at a discount rate through my employer. The Viper (purple box) series can be picked up off eBay for about $65 a set which is about 1/2 Bunnings price.

I bought a set of (I think) Kawasaki brand drill bits from Costco about 18 months back (they come in a big green metal box, and I thought should be decent). Absolute rubbish. Real drill bits do NOT bend!

Frost - I've used them for 1-off jobs (extended shank or for odd-sized hold cutters), but they're not much for repetitive use.

Cheap tools are .... cheap tools

Kawasaki are a small brand struggling to stay afloat I think. They've been lending their name to a few dodgy products of late.

I've never had any trouble with P&N drill bits.

The Vipers , are they the ones with a more aggressive angle tip on them? I used to be able to buy odd bits that had a pilot tip - no centre punch needed, no skippin' all over the joint. Wish I had a full set of them. Same mate then splashed out $35 for a complete set of gold coloured bits in an orange box from a reputable tool shop. They were so good bought a set for myself before shop realised they were so good and whacked price up heaps

famous saying - you pay what you get. I use Sutton for work, i use black drill bits for my jobs on site. Recently my boss changed the bits to würths and they're heap of .... - breakage and gets blunt quickly. JBS is not too bad. The common issue to cheap bits is they get blunt quicker, cannot drill quickly enough, or break/snap while being in progress of drilling. Normally i use either cutting fluid or machine coolant while I'm drilling steel to extend life of sharpness of the bits, I have drillbit sharpener to sharpen the bits again over again, other option if you know how to sharpen them on grinder - then you can do it.
Cheers
AP

AlpineRaven wrote:famous saying - you pay what you get. I use Sutton for work, i use black drill bits for my jobs on site. Recently my boss changed the bits to würths and they're heap of .... - breakage and gets blunt quickly. JBS is not too bad. The common issue to cheap bits is they get blunt quicker, cannot drill quickly enough, or break/snap while being in progress of drilling. Normally i use either cutting fluid or machine coolant while I'm drilling steel to extend life of sharpness of the bits, I have drillbit sharpener to sharpen the bits again over again, other option if you know how to sharpen them on grinder - then you can do it.
Cheers
AP

Now I know how to sharpen them by hand the next on the list of power tools to get is a small bench grinder. It's really worth learning, it means you can use your drills almost right up to the shank, instead of until the first time the cutting edges get blunt.

Silverbullet wrote:Now I know how to sharpen them by hand the next on the list of power tools to get is a small bench grinder. It's really worth learning, it means you can use your drills almost right up to the shank, instead of until the first time the cutting edges get blunt.

Thats right. Also there are different angles to do the jobs nicely - Less angle as possible is better for metal where more angle is better for wood etc
Cheers
AP

getting it right is the hard bit. A welder gave me a quick lesson and i was impressed at how he did it and explained as he went. Going back for another lesson, taking notes.

Think my metalwork teacher wanted us not to learn - make us think he was great - and we did. Only recently found out older years enjoyed getting one up on him with the last (smarter) word - he HATED it

steptoe wrote:getting it right is the hard bit. A welder gave me a quick lesson and i was impressed at how he did it and explained as he went. Going back for another lesson, taking notes.

Think my metalwork teacher wanted us not to learn - make us think he was great - and we did. Only recently found out older years enjoyed getting one up on him with the last (smarter) word - he HATED it

Most important thing for making a near-as-possible parallel hole is getting both cutting edges the same length, and making sure there is a bit of relief behind the cutting edge so it doesn't rub. But for what most of us do with drill bits around the house it doesn't need to be that accurate, as long as it cuts it's good enough