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Decent metal drill bits



botfch

ClioSport Club Member
  Clio 182
I’m forever going through drill bits even with ct-90.

Anyone recommend anything so far I’ve tried the cheapo screwfix/tool station offerings along with dewalt and Milwaukee.
 

Brigsy

ClioSport Club Member
  T.Turbo
In for replys. Im pretty careful but have been snapping or wearing them out straight away recently even with cutting fluid and slow drilling
 

Jamie86

ClioSport Club Member
  RS175,595,205gti,172
I use the dewalt extreme2 all the time work and in the garage never have any problem with them. Also have a great bit on the end for starting easily.
 

R3k1355

ClioSport Club Member
I found the cobalt bits to be abit better than the normal.

If you're drilling stainless or something tho you've just gotta be patient.
 

JimF

ClioSport Club Member
  Clio 172
Does it only happen when drilling specific materials? E.g, you're always drilling stainless?
Are you currently just using bog standard HSS drills?
Presuming you're on a bench drill, not by hand?
 

Adey.

ClioSport Club Member
I think drill bit gets used, drill bit goes blunt, drill bit gets hot drill bit goes blunt very quickly is more apt. Easy enough to re sharpen a drill bit on a bench grinder or even with an angle grinder if needed. Plenty of vids on you tube on how to re sharpen them. As an apprentice many moons back id be given handfuls of them to do.
 

Clio_fool

ClioSport Club Member
You don't need fancy drill bits, you just need the right speed and feed (pressure). Upto 15mm diameter we use kenndey cobalt drills and they are by no means the best you can buy. But used correctly they'll make lots of holes.
 

Andy_con

ClioSport Club Member
  clio 182
Agreed with above.

On a CNC with the correct speed feed and coolant a bit can drill 100s of holes
 

botfch

ClioSport Club Member
  Clio 182
Does it only happen when drilling specific materials? E.g, you're always drilling stainless?
Are you currently just using bog standard HSS drills?
Presuming you're on a bench drill, not by hand?

Hard to say I’m generally working on farm machinery so the majority of it’s by hand and thick steel plate.
 

Andy_con

ClioSport Club Member
  clio 182
Cutwel do drill bits that suit different materials.

I buy just the ally power ones as I only drill aluminium on my CNC.
 

JimF

ClioSport Club Member
  Clio 172
Hard to say I’m generally working on farm machinery so the majority of it’s by hand and thick steel plate.
As others have said cobalt should be your next port of call (Dormer call it HSSE). Alternatively something with a titanium nitride coating (some variation of TiAlN, TiNAl, AlTiN etc, all just variations of the same gold coating) would help as well.
I sell a lot of Dormer through work, and it’s not cheap (it’s pretty much an industry standard for engineering) but to give you an idea of what to look for:
Dormer A777 is their standard cobalt range.
Dormer A002 is their TiN coated range.

You could look into carbide but generally when using them by hand they cause more issues than they solve (brittle, can’t run them fast enough).
Also if you see drills advertised as 8% cobalt, or M42, that's normal cobalt. If you see then advertised as HM that's carbide.
If you were stuck drilling a 8.5mm hole I’d recommend going and getting the two dormer drills above. But that would probably be £30+. But if you’re wanting a range of drills then a Dormer drill set is eyewateringly expensive.
 

DaveL485

ClioSport Club Member
  21T, 9T, Meglio, V6
I've tried many, many types and the Milwaukee ones for the money are very good, as long as you dont overspeed/overheat. I must have dimpled over a hundred spot welds with my current 2mm Milwaukee bit.

Bosch are also pretty good. As a general rule you get what you pay for.
 
  406 V6, Race Buggy
Slow the drill down, more pressure, touch the edges up any time they dull slightly, and use lube. Bog standard cheap HSS drills will go through almost anything if you stick to that.

Personally I have a few cheap sets of HSS for most jobs and then a set of Clarkson-Osborne drills, tap drills and taps for proper engineering jobs.
I don't use carbide by hand, pillar drill at least, you just can't get rigid enough with enough speed to use them properly.

Most cobalt modified HSS drill bits can stand more heat, yes, but they also have thicker webs, so they need more pressure to feed - which makes them a waste in hand drills.
Always get split-tips for hand drilluse too.
 
  Clio 172 Cup
Pressure is important - without pressure the drill doesn't cut, it rubs and it's the rubbing that introduces all the heat.

Also for large holes in thin stuff I prefer a step drill - they always seem to get better results than trying to use a series of bigger and bigger twist drills.
 

Clio_fool

ClioSport Club Member
I managed to drill a 10mm hole through a chunk of angle iron with a cheap ass b&q drill I've had 20 years. Pilot drilled 4mm and tickled it up on an angle grinder. Ran it slow and used a bit of WD40 for lube and it went through easy. As you can see it cut nicely with no vibration or chatter and didn't blunt or overheat. Expensive drills aren't needed if you do it right.
IMG_20210513_115145.jpg
 


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