What HSS drills do you guys recommend ?
- Thread starter pidgeon1
- Start date
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Historically, Dormer drills were one of the best.
I find Titan by Toolstation etc perfectly good, and buy the smaller sizes in 10 packs.
John
I find Titan by Toolstation etc perfectly good, and buy the smaller sizes in 10 packs.
John
I've got a couple of sets from Cleveland that are pretty good. Dormer are a bit spendy for me!
I can't say that I've been very impressed by the Titan jobber bits - the small ones snap better than they cut!
I can't say that I've been very impressed by the Titan jobber bits - the small ones snap better than they cut!
So cheap though....a few years ago they would be a couple of quid each!
Theoretically, HSS drills should all perform the same - I've even found Silverline drills to be ok, which must be a first.
John
Theoretically, HSS drills should all perform the same - I've even found Silverline drills to be ok, which must be a first.
John
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Theoretically, HSS drills should all perform the same - I've even found Silverline drills to be ok, which must be a first.
John
Theoretically, specific alloys are what they say on the tin. Realistically, China has other ideas.
I buy drills in packs from UK Drills, they seem to perform adequately, and are pretty cheap.
I've even found Silverline drills to be ok, which must be a first.
John
I'm going to hazard a guess that your occupation involves the drilling of cheese...
Thanks Pinenot, I'd not heard of Presto. The seem reasonably priced too (if you're not paying the list price). Will bear them in mind for the future, particularly since they are made in Sheffield.
I've even found Silverline drills to be ok, which must be a first.
John
I'm going to hazard a guess that your occupation involves the drilling of cheese...
Using pilot drills up to 13mm, they were all fine......no problems at all, no chipping, breaking or losing the edge any more than any others.
Sharpening them up produced the spark formation associated with HSS tools.
Presto make excellent taps and dies too.
John
So cheap though....a few years ago they would be a couple of quid each!
Theoretically, HSS drills should all perform the same - I've even found Silverline drills to be ok, which must be a first.
John
Says who???? don't get that statement at all. HSS is just the type of alloy used, not an indication of straigtness (cheap drills are often bent), tollerance on size (is that 3.5mm drill really cutting a 3.5mm hole), tollerance of angles and releif of the tip etc. All this affects the cutting speed.
I've always used Dormer as my Dad was an engineer and that's what he used and passed on to me. And i buy packs on ebay when I need mroe. Expensive, but if you learn to sharpen them well shoudl last you a long long time...
Having said that if you're just drilling pilot holes in wood it doesn't really matter what you use and if you're drilling steel with a cheaper drill bit, use plenty of cutting fluid and it should be fine.
I just re -tip each time I use them on table grinder, even the cheap perform well just sharpened.
Yes, I've got some of the cheap ones and they're fine. I've just been using them for repairs to the garage door, and they drilled multiple holes through 1-3mm MS with no problem.
As with all tools they need to be sharp to be any use at all, so learning to sharpen drills is worthwhile.
Some really nasty unbranded ones seem to be lacking what I've always called the "land" but which is actually called the "margin" which can make them bind. Some extra nasty old inherited ones seem to be made from HSC. (High Speed Cheese). No they're not carbon steel (before someone says that) I've got some of those as well and they're OK if you treat them as such. The nasty ones seem to be made from MS.
As with all tools they need to be sharp to be any use at all, so learning to sharpen drills is worthwhile.
Some really nasty unbranded ones seem to be lacking what I've always called the "land" but which is actually called the "margin" which can make them bind. Some extra nasty old inherited ones seem to be made from HSC. (High Speed Cheese).
No they're not carbon steel (before someone says that) I've got some of those as well and they're OK if you treat them as such. The nasty ones seem to be made from MS.So cheap though....a few years ago they would be a couple of quid each!
Theoretically, HSS drills should all perform the same - I've even found Silverline drills to be ok, which must be a first.
John
Says who???? don't get that statement at all. HSS is just the type of alloy used, not an indication of straigtness (cheap drills are often bent), tollerance on size (is that 3.5mm drill really cutting a 3.5mm hole), tollerance of angles and releif of the tip etc. All this affects the cutting speed.
I've always used Dormer as my Dad was an engineer and that's what he used and passed on to me. And i buy packs on ebay when I need mroe. Expensive, but if you learn to sharpen them well shoudl last you a long long time...
Having said that if you're just drilling pilot holes in wood it doesn't really matter what you use and if you're drilling steel with a cheaper drill bit, use plenty of cutting fluid and it should be fine.
Who said anything about straightness or size tolerance.....wherever you got that from?
Of course HSS is dependant on its alloy and carbon structure......it's very existence results from the need to machine metals quickly at High Speed.
Naturally the tip and relief angles need to be appropriate for the material being drilled, and if they are, all should be well with the drill lasting well and cutting accurately.
I referred to Dormer in my first post.
John
So cheap though....a few years ago they would be a couple of quid each!
Theoretically, HSS drills should all perform the same - I've even found Silverline drills to be ok, which must be a first.
John
Says who???? don't get that statement at all. HSS is just the type of alloy used, not an indication of straigtness (cheap drills are often bent), tollerance on size (is that 3.5mm drill really cutting a 3.5mm hole), tollerance of angles and releif of the tip etc. All this affects the cutting speed.
I've always used Dormer as my Dad was an engineer and that's what he used and passed on to me. And i buy packs on ebay when I need mroe. Expensive, but if you learn to sharpen them well shoudl last you a long long time...
Having said that if you're just drilling pilot holes in wood it doesn't really matter what you use and if you're drilling steel with a cheaper drill bit, use plenty of cutting fluid and it should be fine.
Who said anything about straightness or size tolerance.....wherever you got that from?
Of course HSS is dependant on its alloy and carbon structure......it's very existence results from the need to machine metals quickly at High Speed.
Naturally the tip and relief angles need to be appropriate for the material being drilled, and if they are, all should be well with the drill lasting well and cutting accurately.
I referred to Dormer in my first post.
John
Just pointing out that it's a very wide seeeping statement to say that theoretically all HSS drill bits should performe the same. The alloy content of the blank makes up just a part of the performance of a drill bit...
...and, that cheap bits i've found are often not straight, or ground well, or finished well etc. all leading to poor performance
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