Twist Drill Bits Recommendation?

[Stwood_]

I've got bits from Lawson (pricey) to HF bits. Hf usually draws the wood drilling, Lawson for metal

[Bibliophile 13]

Thanks for the pointers, folks!

I’m betting some of my bits have been overheating. I’m not the only one in the house who uses them, and we often have to drill into 100-year-old SYP when doing house repairs. That stuff is hard on bits!

I’m going to try resharpening on the grinder. I have a good tool rest and a nice Norton wheel. Like somebody said, nothing to lose!

Might pick up one of the HF sets, just so the family has cheap bits they can destroy. Eventually I’ll get a nice set of brad-points for myself and hide them in an undisclosed location.

[Gary G™]

https://www.montanabrandtools.com/

And, they say they are Made in the USA

[mike4244]

Barry has a very valid point.  Even a trashy twist drill can be sharpened to work better for longer.  Learning to sharpen by hand on a bench grinder isn't difficult.  It isn't likely that machine shop precision will be achieved, but for wood, it should be fine.  Try.  You haven't got much to lose since the bit isn't satisfactory as is. 

Some cheap twist drill bits aren't straight and don't run true.  Not much can be done for those.  Sometimes they can be bent back but most times they just break.  I've seen a lot of that in the Harbor Freight $10.00 sets.

For some really good info on sharpening and general drill press use, check out this little booklet:

http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/detail.aspx?id=2862

Bob, sometimes it is possible to straighten smaller drills by running the drill up and down in a scrap of hard wood over and over. I have done this often with drills smaller than 1/8". The drill gets hot and will straighten out . I have straightened some drills up to 3/16", these were probably soft to begin with. Any dense and hard wood scrap will do.
mike

[Timberwolf]

What’s your favorite affordable or mid-grade twist bits for general wood drilling?

I’ve not been impressed with the titanium coated ones I’ve been using lately. They get dull way too quickly. I’m hoping to get some that will hold up to more than 20-30 holes before going dull.

..................
Learn to hand sharpen drill bits and your problems are over.......I learned it 73 yrs ago as an apprentice machinist and can still do it. Plenty of good Youtubes out there on the subject..Never a reason for a dull bit..even a cheap one can be made to perform better...Stay away from cheap carbon steel drill bits...HSS only.......once you learn to sharpen them, then you can learn to modify them for special drilling tasks.

[Admiral]

Not to highjack the thread, but I have a Drill Doctor and love it.  If a drill bit starts getting dull, out comes the doctor and in a few minutes is is back to cutting well.  I am not sure the DD is very cost effective -  since drill bits can be pretty cheap,  but it is a real time saver if you are trying to drill something, and you have to stop, go to the store, buy a new bit, and return.

Another vote for Drill Doctor.  Several years ago I got a gift card for Lowes, and really didn't have anything to buy from the big box store in terms of tools, and bought the $50 version of DD, which is all you really need for twist drills.  It is truly excellent, and I sharpened up all my bits (5-6 sets, I throw nothing away) in a few hours.  It comes out every year or so, and I'm never without sharp bits.