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Cheap Drills - Bosch
T66 - 3/5/12 at 07:14 PM

Thought I was onto a winner, 2x packs of ten Bosch hss drills for my newly purchased rivnut selection......




They are shite, used three drills on one hole in the Fiat. (Made of Italian coffee tins) and blunted them all....




Churchills appear to have folded, as they arent online? - Anyway I have a set of Cobalt drills enroute, Dormer - EEEEEK





Shit drills are a waste of toffee, listen to what the old hands on here say, - Presto/dormer, ......I didnt.

doddy - 3/5/12 at 07:25 PM

i have been looking for some good drill bits where did you get them
i have a couple of engine exhaust studs to drill out and none of mine are doing anything

Stott - 3/5/12 at 08:18 PM

Depends which ones you get though

I use Bosch HSS-G ones as they were clearing them off for 10p for 10 in work (Bosch) - I miss that job lol

They are fantastic, super sharp and keep going for ages, I've put something like 200 4mm holes for rivets through 2x1.5mm stainless panels with one bit and just chucked it back in the box with the new ones as it's still sharp.

ATB
Stott

MakeEverything - 3/5/12 at 09:47 PM

Cobalt all the way. I buy standard cobalt drill bits now, and they are good enough for light and medium duty. Trick is not to go too fast with them so that they get too hot.

PSpirine - 3/5/12 at 10:13 PM

I have a set of Bosch ones (not sure what "model" but they're golden plated?) and they are amazing. They weren't cheap, mind, but they're super sharp and go through anything without blunting.

owelly - 4/5/12 at 10:13 AM

Must be different qualities of Bosch drill bits as I have quite a few left from a set I bought over 15 years ago and they are still usable. On a similar note, I bought a bulk pack of Dewalt drill bits and some are very good and others lose their cutting edge very quickly.

Slimy38 - 4/5/12 at 10:52 AM

To be honest, I've had decent success even with cheap drill bits, as long as you look after them. On the other hand, I've cooked a piranha drill bit that cost me £7 for one, as soon as it overheated it stopped drilling!! I've found Bosch to be a decent balance between cost and quality, and only had problems with them through my own stupidity.

A drop of oil while drilling into metal seems to preserve them quite nicely.

MikeRJ - 4/5/12 at 11:11 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Slimy38
A drop of oil while drilling into metal seems to preserve them quite nicely.


I definitely agree with that; cutting oil (or even just a squirt of engine oil or WD40 at a pinch) helps extend the life of drill bits significantly, and they cut better. I have a big bag of new packs of Bosch drill bits I picked up cheap at an autojumble and they have been fine so far. I've broken of couple of the tiddlers through my own clumsiness, and recently blunted a 10mm one on some ridiculously hard lump of steel I tried to drill through but apart from that kind of abuse they don't seem to be poor quality bits at all.

That said I still have most of a B&Q drill set that my wife bought me many years ago, the one in a big injection molded case that includes hundreds of bits including HSS bits, wood bits, masonry bits and screwdriver bits etc. The masonry bits were made of some kind of soft cheese and failed very quickly but the normal drill bits have lasted way better than I expected.

bi22le - 4/5/12 at 11:55 AM

Cutting liquid of some sort has made my cheap bits last for longer, but not for ever.

I quite often spit on the end of my drill bit before I start, it keeps it cool, cuts neater and the bit lasts for longer!!!

Peteff - 4/5/12 at 12:14 PM

I tried to drill a roll pin out of a stand recently and thought it was going quite well till I noticed it was the bit getting shorter not the pin disappearing . That was a Makita set and they had been good up till then.

Slimy38 - 4/5/12 at 12:42 PM

quote:
Originally posted by bi22le
Cutting liquid of some sort has made my cheap bits last for longer, but not for ever.

I quite often spit on the end of my drill bit before I start, it keeps it cool, cuts neater and the bit lasts for longer!!!


Jeez dude, what's your spit made of?!!!

blakep82 - 4/5/12 at 12:55 PM

can't remember if they're bosch or black and decker, but the bullet ones are awesome i think. 10mm holes cut through 5mm steel plate in seconds, and still working just as good as the day i got it 2 years ago.

only good for drilling new holes though, can't open out existing holes