A good set of cobalt twist drills??

[Routerman]

Cleveland.

[Wizard of Oz]

I am not going to recommend a bit but a few other things hard won while working in the military

1. when drilling steel slow speed heavy feed.
2. if drilling more then 1/8" use lube to allow the bit to cut better and cooler
3. If you are drilling Aluminum it is high speed light feed

I do not remember the others right now but the first two are the most important for any bits

Also you do not have to buy a whole set just the ones you use all the time and replace them even split tip does not last forever

Been drilling holes for many years (machinist), and Arlin is right on track.

Oz

[Downwindtracker2]

We were supplied with Cleveland drill bits at work, any number, for home I bought a set of Butterfield cobalts.  They tried supplying imports, Chinese?, we would grab a handful for a single hole. They weren't cost effective. Try KBC,

[wingnut]

http://www.montanabrandtools.com/

They have some of their products at Menards. I have had good experience with their products.

[Steve N]

First thing I thought about was Economaki, and his cheap Chinese drill story






For replacement I would advise buying very good bits, but only in sizes you actually use. Everybody has a range they work in, you just need to think about it a minute, and you will know which yours is.

[Arlin Eastman]

First thing I thought about was Economaki, and his cheap Chinese drill story
 
 




For replacement I would advise buying very good bits, but only in sizes you actually use. Everybody has a range they work in, you just need to think about it a minute, and you will know which yours is.

Plus 1 and what I said also.  You do not need a whole drill index if you only use 5 different bits and it is a whole lot more cost effective to.

Back in the military we had the # bits, the fraction bits, the metric bits and decimal bits and I put a suggestion in and even got $100 for suggesting only getting bits we need and not whole index's and waste the rest we never used and kept buying that way for years until I did it.

[AzFred]

I spent 17 years many years ago at various divisions of United Greenfield. That and a buck gets you a cup of Joe. But please look for different results with your choice of drill material when drilling steel and wood. A good cobalt drill is for drilling steel, harder grades of steel usually. Carbon steel is the best for drilling wood. The feeds and speeds are also different. Finally, my choice for material for general purpose drilling of wood is carbide. Carbide almost never has the sharpest edge but carbide stands up in the general purpose category like nothing else. For a wood shop, the H.S.S./ drills that Brian has will serve you well for the cost and general purpose. Carbide really pays on forstner bits..

[Steve N]

. Carbide really pays on forstner bits..

Pretty good on brad points too. The LV bits mentioned here are a good bet if you want Carbide bits.

If I was going to price lower, and go with HSS I'd go with Fisch every day

[ez-duzit]

Have had good service from my Milwaukee set.