what drill bits?

[Dvoigt]

What is the drill bits that most people use? Brad point? I hear that Brads can walk and could offset your hole create some extra heat in the poscess. What about materials: HSS? Carbide? Do you use a different drill bit in a drill press as opposed to those that drill on a lathe?


Also where is your favorite place to get them?

Thanks,
D

 

[Robert Taylor]

i use a combination of both. always use a scrap piece under the blank to help prevent blowouts, or better yet drill slightly deeper than needed then cut the blank close to length, leaving a little stock for squaring.
the most popular drill bit set seems to be the harbor freight 115 piece set. it will get you started but you will need different sizes.
look for posts by daniel for drill bits.

 

[spiritwoodturner]

I'm not a fan of brad points. Some here are, but I've broken the point off of more than one in hard material, then you end up grinding it back to a normal 118 degree point anyway. And I've done that with the Colt bits, and they're supposed to be very good. Also, you definitely can't sharpen brad points on a Drill Doctor, and I'm not driving 45 minutes and paying 10 bucks a bit to have mine sharpened, so that is a non-starter for me.

I have taken Don Ward's good advice and used the feature that came with my Drill Doctor all along (I really love that thing), and that's to make every one of my bits split-pointed. They start cutting immediately, without the split point you have to shove a little to get started. And split points don't wander as much. I'm sold, thanks to Don!

I'd stick with good HSS from someplace other than Home Depot and such. You won't find many sizes you need there anyway, so look for ones that fit your budget. CSUSA and other outlets sell good bits, or you can go with killer German ones from Traditional Woodworker, but be prepared to pay for them.

Hope that helps.

Dale

 

[NewLondon88]

I've been using the DeWalt Extreme bits (pilot point) and they work fine.
Haven't had to sharpen one yet, so I'm not sure what that'll be like..

 

[leehljp]

I recently have started sharpening mine with split point as Dale said. Most of my bits are HSS but I do have the large set of Ti bits from HF that I use when I need a special size outside of normal.

I use normal bits when drilling on the lathe, but recently used some forstners for making a mug. I have used a long wood boring bits (with the screw tip filed down) when I need a long bit such as drilling for a duck call.