[AT] Drill bits for drilling our old tractor steel and iron.

[rbrooks at hvc.rr.com]

John

 

I am the manufacturing manager at a security integrator.  Prior to my joining the company most of the drill bits and taps were picked up at either Lowes or Home Depot.  Close , convenient and local.  I started buying all the drills and taps from MSC or Fastenal, they last a lot longer and there is not a huge difference in price.  Fastenal being the more expensive but again local, close and we had an account.  We buy an awful lot of stainless hardware from them.

 

Bob

 

From: AT <at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com> On Behalf Of John Hall
Sent: Friday, October 25, 2019 2:34 PM
To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com
Subject: Re: [AT] Drill bits for drilling our old tractor steel and iron.

 


I've been buying all our tooling at work for the last 25 years (I'm in a job shop style machine shop with 20 people).
For drills 1/2" and under we run cobalt--whether its in a hand drill, manual machine, or in our CNC machines. The ones I am stocking now are made by Nachi. I have also used PTD, Greenfield, whatever name brand you can find. I suggest anyone needing drills for the home shop to look at a basic set of jobber length drills from MSC (look them up on line). Their Made in USA grade should be sufficient--the last time I suggested this one of you guys arrogantly suggested of course they would be. Most tooling is NOT produced in the US, don't know why some of you think that only American made cutting tools are the way to go. Having said that, I stay away from no name imports---its junk. Also, you don't need any special coatings for your home grade drill bits. Bright finish or black oxide is fine. Regarding resharpening, its not cost effective on small tools in a paid environment. We toss anything that's under 5/16", gets broke, burnt up, or has a damaged shank. Larger drills we sharpen in house usually--on a floor model drill sharpener. Over 1 5/16 we sharpen by hand.

If you rarely use them, Lowes, Home Depot, Harbor Freight may have something decent, but its a gamble for sure. 

John Hall

On 10/25/2019 3:06 AM, deanvp at att.net <mailto:deanvp at att.net>  wrote:

The closest drill bits I have that I would call decent are a set of reverse direction drill bits made by Irwin that are Cobalt.  I’ve used them for removing broken off bolts, etc. but even those are not worth writing home about.  On grade 5 bolts they are ok but on really hard stuff they don’t cut the mustard. Cobalt drill bits do have a negative and that is they are very brittle. But…  what brand and version of drill bits have you guys found that are better than the average bear and work good on our old iron which seems harder than the current stuff. I’m fed up with my multiple indexes of drill bits that might work in wood if I was patient. On steel a nail might work better. :-) I know its going to cost and I’m prepared for that. What is the “Snap-On” of drill bits?  What have you had a long and successful relationship with.  However, I am convinced that no matter how good they are I will break anything less than 1/8”  So a set from 1/8 to ½” in 1/64th “  increments is about my style. Or as an alternative. What drill bit sharpener do you recommend? I do have a lot of drill bits that could be sharpened. Not sure some of them are worth it though.

 

Dean VP

Snohomish, WA 98290





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