Drill Bit Recommendations?

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ghansen4

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I'm thinking it will be more economical to buy a set of drill bits rather than continuing to buy a single bit here and there.
If I already own a Drill Doctor for sharpening bits, what is the benefit to buying a more expensive set compared to a cheaper set?
Do you think there is much of a difference between the sets sold by Grizzly, HF, and a random seller on Amazon? And which would you recommend? (Probably can't afford high end right now.)


I'm leaning towards these: (thanks for the recommendation randyrls)

115 piece drill bit set.
TiN Coated 115 pc. Drill Bit Set | Grizzly Industrial

Metric set.
Metric Drill Bit Set, TiN Coated, 25 pc. | Grizzly Industrial
 
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magpens

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Like Tony, I use the Norseman bits but they might be overkill for just doing pens.

I think the ones you are leaning towards would do you just fine.

I believe in buying more sizes of drills than I think I will need. . My reason ? ....
The pen kit manufacturers recommend a drill size for each kit. . I assume that their recommendation is based on what size might be most readily available to the buyers of their pen kits. . But I often find that a bit which is slightly smaller will give me a closer fit between the brass tube and the blank.

So, in my opinion, it is better to have full sets of drill bits in fractional, metric, lettered, and numbered sizes. . The down side of doing that is that there are some bits which you will never use ... particularly the smaller ones. . But then, you might want to embellish your pens by drilling rows of small holes down the length of the blank and filling those holes with precious stones !!!! .... :biggrin:
 

thewishman

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I bought the HF set and still use many of them. The first set you listed appear to be about the same at twice the HF price.

f you find yourself using some bits quite often, get good bits in those sizes.
 

tonylumps

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I had problems with a set of HF. Type of bits a while back .It seemed half of them were a little out of round .So I stayed away from them doing pens I try to buy what I need in the upper end bits and keep them sharp
 

JimB

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I believe if you sharpen a TiN coated bit with a drill doctor you have then removed the TiN coating from the cutting tip and it no longer has that benefit.

I may be wrong so hopefully and more knowledgeable person will chime in.
 

magpens

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Greg,

I forgot to mention that in that 115 piece set, you will probably NEVER use the numbered bits unless you get into making kitless pens and then you will use only about 6 of them.
You will use about 8 of the fractional bits, and you will use about 5 of the letter bits depending on how big a variety of pen kits you decide to try.

Here is a drill bit chart comparing all sizes commonly available - I use this chart almost every day - I recommend that you keep it readily available:

Drill Size Conversion Table

As an example on my other point .... the recommended drill size for a Sierra style pen (many variants with different names like Zodiac, Virage, Wall Street, Gatsby, .....) is a 27/64" drill bit. Instead of that size bit, I often use a "Z" size bit or a 10.5mm bit (depending on the blank material), both of which give different, but snugger, fits.

One approach to drills is to buy the complete good or high quality fractional set (1/16" to 1/2" in 1/64" increments) for about $60, and then buy the other bits as individuals from a "specialist" tool store.

Out of the letter size bits, you will probably use only the "O" size and larger (up to "Z").

Out of the metric bits, you will need only the following metric sizes:
7, 8, 9, 10, 10.5, 11, 11.5, 12, 12.5, 13

but only if you make a large variety of different kinds of pen kits. .... So the choice is yours, which way to go.
 
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gtriever

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I've used a lot of different drill bits over the years. Possible the best I ever used was from a company called PartsMaster. I have no idea who actually made those bits, but they were very good. I also have the cheap 115-pc. HSS set from Harbor Freight, and they have so far surprised me with how well they work for wood and acrylic.

My advice is to buy the best set that you can justify paying for right now, and replace bits with higher quality ones as they wear out.
 

dogcatcher

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I am a "gadget maker", I like to tinker with ideas of tools and tooling that I can use in my hobbies. Years ago I bought the 115 piece set from Harbor Freight, they were cheap and it allowed me to have all the drill sizes that I may need in the future. A long with a Drill Doctor they have served me well. I have also replaced the most used bits with better ones.
 

Woodster Will

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The problem I've found is that the recommended drill bit sizes are often wrong, normally too big. On a recent kit the bit sizes were supposed to be 10.5 and 12.5 but they were too big on the test pieces I tried. I ended up needing 10.3 and 12.3. I suppose you can fill up the space with more glue but maybe that's where folks have trouble with off centre blanks etc?
I just buy the sizes I need as I require them.
 

Dieseldoc

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drilling acrylic, resin

What is the suggestion for drill other than wood for pen blank, such as Acrylic or Resin.
I have used std jobber drill and braid point and at times have problem with blow out on the end of blank.
 

PatrickR

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What is the suggestion for drill other than wood for pen blank, such as Acrylic or Resin.

I have used std jobber drill and braid point and at times have problem with blow out on the end of blank.



There are plastics specific bits. Look at McMaster-Carr. I'm sure there are a lot of suppliers. I'm thinking of ones that have a point angle of 60*
 

DENO

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I am expira menting with gun drills. used for rifel barrel cheap on ebay, will let you know how it works out. They drill straight is why
 
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