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Drill Bit Material/Maker

1689 Views 7 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  jschaben
My old bits are taking longer and longer to grind through much of anything. Thought I'd treat myself to a new set. Rockler has a surprisingly limited selection.

Sears offers:

  • Craftsman Cobalt
  • Craftsman Black Oxide
  • Craftsman Titanium Coated
  • DeWalt "Pilot Point" "High Speed Steel"
  • Craftsman Titanium
  • DeWalt "Pilot Point" Cobalt
and a good bit more.

Home Depot:

  • DeWalt Titanium
  • Ryobi Titanium
  • Ryobi Black Oxide
Don't know what Cobalt or Black Oxide are (or any of the others, really). Is Titanium better than Titanium-coated? Can anybody rank materials or recommend a brand?

Thanks.
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I have a set of the dewalt pilot point titanium and they're top notch.
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I have a set of the dewalt pilot point titanium and they're top notch.
Got the same exact set, and I have no complaints.
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Are these for wood only? Or the occasional metal hole as well?
My old bits are taking longer and longer to grind through much of anything. Thought I'd treat myself to a new set. Rockler has a surprisingly limited selection.

Sears offers:

  • Craftsman Cobalt
  • Craftsman Black Oxide
  • Craftsman Titanium Coated
  • DeWalt "Pilot Point" "High Speed Steel"
  • Craftsman Titanium
  • DeWalt "Pilot Point" Cobalt
and a good bit more.

Home Depot:

  • DeWalt Titanium
  • Ryobi Titanium
  • Ryobi Black Oxide
Don't know what Cobalt or Black Oxide are (or any of the others, really). Is Titanium better than Titanium-coated? Can anybody rank materials or recommend a brand?

Thanks.
do a google search for the hardest drill bit's and read, lot's of info their
Are these for wood only? Or the occasional metal hole as well?
Yes, the occasional metal hole, as well.
Drill bits are easy to resharpen. Check youtube for more information. The material for bits does have a wide selection. Stay away from anything marked as "high carbon". HSS, cobalt and titanium more or less interchange for quality and durability, all are HSS (high speed steel). TiN coated, Titanium Nitrate, (the gold colored bits) offer more wear resistance and are great for metal working but overkill for wood. Black oxide is another surface treatment that offers rust resistance. Once you resharpen a bit, you grind away that surface treatment.

I would suggest a good set of HSS brad point bits for wood. Got mine from Grizzly. As far as suppliers, I don't do Sears, personal preference. You can go on line to Lie Nielsen, MSC Direct, Amazon and on and on.

Learning to sharpen a standard 118 deg. bit is just so easy and will benefit you a great deal.
I agree with Roger although I did spring for a Drill Doctor so they are very fast and easy to touch up. I do like the deWalt pilot point but they don't sharpen well in the Drill Doctor. :smile:
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