OT Need new Bits

I'm so tired of todays drill bit dulling out in two or three holes.

I need a new set of drill bits and I need some hands on exceptions of bit quality.

I remember drilling different holes in chrome bumpers to mount CB antennas, mounting brackets and such and the drill bits seemed to last forever. I've picked up a few new bits of different sizes to use on special projects instead of buying the entire pack of 12, or 25 or even a 60. Chinese steel?

Where did the good drill bits of yesterday go, and what brand do you buy?
 
Your most-ready option is to learn to sharpen the buggers yourself... Further, a Drill Doctor (or other) option will help... I know the American Way is to just Buy New... all the time Buy New... but learn to sharpen your own... You'll never regret it.
 
(quoted from post at 19:57:33 09/29/18) I'm so tired of todays drill bit dulling out in two or three holes.

I need a new set of drill bits and I need some hands on exceptions of bit quality.

I remember drilling different holes in chrome bumpers to mount CB antennas, mounting brackets and such and the drill bits seemed to last forever. I've picked up a few new bits of different sizes to use on special projects instead of buying the entire pack of 12, or 25 or even a 60. Chinese steel?

Where did the good drill bits of yesterday go, and what brand do you buy?

I like cobalt drill bits, cost more but work better.
 
I have an electric drill bit sharpener that I've use for 25 years, but it only goes up to a 3/8".
It's a Craftsman.

It does a pretty good job but if it's Chinese steel in most drill bits today I'll try the Cobalt brand next.

Is cobalt usa steel?

The titanium coating or other coating don't seem to last any longer either.
 

Make sure you use a filter mask when grinding cobalt.

http://www.carbideprocessors.com/pages/technical-info/grinding-carbide-health-and-safety-risks.html
 
I learned years ago how to sharpen drill bits on a bench top grinding wheel.
Saves a bunch of money.
Richard in NW SC
 

When I purchased a Sears bench top grinder, it had an attachment for sharpening drill bits. You just take off the little table rest and stick on this attachment and it has a "V" groove in it that keeps the bit at the correct angle. You just lay the bit in that groove and move it up to the wheel and give it a few turns and your good to go. Works great.
 
(quoted from post at 21:11:19 09/29/18)
(quoted from post at 23:46:03 09/29/18)

[i:6c1b155713]"Further, a Drill Doctor (or other) option will help..."[/i:6c1b155713]

i'll second this.
I'll third this. :) A Drill Doctor is a very modest investment compared to constantly buying drill bits. Plus you don't have to run out every time you need a sharp bit - just sharpen the old one and get back to work.
 
I have a large assortment of drill bit up to 1". Most came from yard sales (read reaaaaaly cheap). A rainy day and a sharpner and I am good to go for months.
 
(quoted from post at 20:07:05 09/30/18)
(quoted from post at 21:11:19 09/29/18)
(quoted from post at 23:46:03 09/29/18)

[i:49c283e157]"Further, a Drill Doctor (or other) option will help..."[/i:49c283e157]

i'll second this.
I'll third this. :) A Drill Doctor is a very modest investment compared to constantly buying drill bits. Plus you don't have to run out every time you need a sharp bit - just sharpen the old one and get back to work.

I recently bought a drill doctor to sharpen my drill bits. It took about thirty minutes to sharpen all the bits I own. It sure is a pleasure to have sharp drill bits to work with again.
 
Like Richard stated, I too, learned at a young age how to sharpen a drill by hand on a bench/pedestal grinder. At 17 I worked in my first machine shop over the summer before my senior year in high school. I attended private parochial schools so we had no metal shop, no wood shop, no auto shop, no swimming pool, and no hockey team. I was trained to run a gang drill, drilling 1/8? holes in rocker arms for Chrysler. There was a special drill sharpening machine next to the line for sharpening the smaller diameter HSS drills but for the larger ones you learned to hand sharpen on the grinder. There was a special steel rule handy at the bench grinder with the 59? angled protractor scaled so you could measure each land as you sharpened so the correct 118? included angle was accomplished. You also learned how to grind the correct web relief as well. It took practice but helped if you had a good teacher and mine was an older experienced toolmaker. If you have a bench grinder and the shelf has a VEE-GROOVE on it, that was for a guide to sharpen drills with at the correct angle. It isn?t used much these days as most opt for some sort of manual drill sharpening device. I can?t speak for Cheena using lousy steel, haven?t read any data to support that claim. Most HSS drills today are Cobalt or TiN coated. What dulls a drill is when used improperly, meaning trying to drill into hardened steel with HSS. Hardened steel drills best if carbide is used. Carbide is very brittle and if the workpiece, the workholding, and the toolholder are not rigid, any movement by any one will cause the carbide to chip or break. Don?t attempt to use a carbide drill in a hand drill ?it won?t work. The standard TiN (Titanium Nitride) coated tools made today usually perform well on most materials. Both HSS and carbide come in TiN coatings. When you sharpen a TiN coated drill, you will remove the coating on the tip where it the most needed. This will reduce tool life quite a bit. The included angle of the drill is also important. The standard is 118?. For some materials, 135? works better, and still a 140? included angle works better on other materials. For a more precision hole, use a parabolic drill. A spotter drill or center drill helps tremendously too. The tool is only part of the equation for good machining. The condition of the machine and the workholding are key factors that also must be considered. Finally, I once helped a guy who called me to come and help him see why he couldn?t drill into a steel bracket on his tractor using a HSS drill and a hand drill. He was using an electric variable speed reversing drill motor and a 3/8? drill. His attempts showed only small witness marks where he was trying to drill holes. The bracket was mild steel ?no problem. The drill was TiN coated and relatively new ?no problem. When I inspected his drill motor the first thing I did was pull the trigger to see if the drill was running out and if so if it chucked properly. It did not runout but I did observe it was running in reverse! Now, there is such a thing as a left-handed drill, but this was not one of them. I flipped the ?forward/reverse? switch on the drill motor and proceeded to drill a hole for him. He didn?t understand until I showed him he was trying to drill in reverse using a RH cutting tool. Sometimes it?s the little things that bite you in the butt.

Who Knows What This Tool Is? ?
OWEjmzLh.jpg

Tim Daley(MI)
 
(quoted from post at 21:57:33 09/29/18) I'm so tired of todays drill bit dulling out in two or three holes.

I need a new set of drill bits and I need some hands on exceptions of bit quality.

I remember drilling different holes in chrome bumpers to mount CB antennas, mounting brackets and such and the drill bits seemed to last forever. I've picked up a few new bits of different sizes to use on special projects instead of buying the entire pack of 12, or 25 or even a 60. Chinese steel?

Where did the good drill bits of yesterday go, and what brand do you buy?

Well you asked for it.

The HSS drills sold in hardware/box stores are typically low end quality intended for soft materials and disposable use. I drill a lot of holes in steel (see picture) and I buy my twist drills online from MSC Industrial Supply. The drills used to fill that bin with chips have drilled hundreds of holes with at most one or two sharpenings. MSC sells HSS twist drills from Interstate, National Twist, Dormer, OSG, Onsrud, Kennametal, Iscar, Klein, Niagra, Dewalt, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Chicago Latrobe, Hertel, Triumph, Precison Twist, a generic "Made in USA", and others. Drills are available bright or with black oxide, TIN, Cobalt, or other exotic coatings. For general purpose work I buy the Interstate 118 degree black oxide coated jobber length drills. They are a good quality Asian import, economical, and if used properly hold up well in cast iron, carbon steels, and aluminum.

Regardless of brand, coating, or material the key to good drill life is proper speeds and feeds and an abundant supply of a good quality cutting fluid. Metal cutting fluid acts as a coolant and contains EP additives that help prevent edge welding and galling. Engine oil is not a good metal cutting fluid. Dry drilling greatly reduces drill life and hand held drill motors almost always run too fast for anything but small hole sizes.

TOH

DrillChips.jpg
 
Who Knows What This Tool Is? ?


I have two of those drill sharpening gauges, one for the home shop and one for work, both at home now as I'm retired............... 8)
 
(quoted from post at 15:28:41 10/01/18)
(reply to post at 06:18:44 10/01/18) [/quot

Hey TOH, Is that a Wells Index mill you have there ??

No - it is a 1975 Cincinnati Cinova-80 Model 307-14. It was a custom configuration with a late model Workmaster vertical head on the over arm. NMTB 50 on the horizontal and NMTB 40 on the vertical spindles. I added a Kwik-Switch 300 adapter in the vertical along with a raft of tooling and a 3 axis DRO. About 10HP horizontal and 3HP vertical with power feeds and rapids on all axes. The local Corning plant paid a little over $40K for it and the rotary table when new. I bought it used in 2012 for $.03 on the dollar. It took a while but I quit feeling guilty a few years ago :D

TOH

Toolmaster.jpg
 


That is the ultimate in mills to have in my book !!
I am now very jellyous, I have an RF-30 that I just installed a
DRO system on and lookin for a deal on a BP or a BP clone someday.
That and my CM 12x36 lathe does what I need.A DRO forthe lathe is next, my eye balls are tired of squinting to see the dials anymore.
Still miss the big machines I used to run at a job shop....
 

I'll have to go take some pics ..
After I clean up the shop............. :roll:
Needed an excuse to do that anyways ........... 8)
 
(quoted from post at 18:57:33 09/29/18) I'm so tired of todays drill bit dulling out in two or three holes.

I need a new set of drill bits and I need some hands on exceptions of bit quality.

I remember drilling different holes in chrome bumpers to mount CB antennas, mounting brackets and such and the drill bits seemed to last forever. I've picked up a few new bits of different sizes to use on special projects instead of buying the entire pack of 12, or 25 or even a 60. Chinese steel?

Where did the good drill bits of yesterday go, and what brand do you buy?

I was all set to buy a Drill Doctor but I just ordered this today:
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=32965&cat=1,43072,43086

Things are looking up for American steel though. The president that most people are brainwashed to hate has re-opened about eight American Steel plants and has put a 25% tarif on steel shipped to China -- thousands of American steel workers are in work again. There's a great rally I heard (probably a video) with a huge crowd of steel workers thanking him.
 

I have acquired two of those drill sharpeners. I bought my father-in-law one about 15 and he gave it back to me before he passed away 5 years ago. I found it in a tool box he gave me.
I acquired another grinder drill sharpener from a friend we help get into a nursing home last year.
When he left his home for good he asked that his doors be left open to his house and shop so anyone in his neighborhood could take what they wanted before the bank took his home place.
And we did and his wishes were done. He's gone now and everybody still misses him for his last selfish action.
 

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