Drill bit set question.

[JJ1]

Hi,

I'm in need of some new drill bits and was wondering if there is likely to be much difference in quality between the following two sets;

1) Colt


2) Fisch


I've read that the Colt ones are very good but I'd prefer to get the Fisch ones from Axminster if possible, along with some other bits and pieces, to take advantage of the free delivery.

Does anyone have any experience with the Fisch drill bits listed above.


Any help would be much appreciated, thank you.

 

[caroleb]

Have you considered Famag? I have a set of cheapo forstner bits; think they were Axminster, TiN coated but they have trouble cutting anything harder than , well, butter really! I struggled with them for some time - the set cost me about as much as one Famag bit (it is the rather expensive one I have) but, as you would expect they are really chalk and cheese.

About 2/3rds of the set I bought have never been used; the ones that have been used have been used a lot. I guess this means there is little point in my buying another set, rather I should figure out which I need and purchase those individually. Maybe this might be the case with you?

Hope this helps.

Caz

 

[tomm41pvm]

I have a couple of the fisch forstners. I was amazed how good they are compared to budget ones.

 

[MMUK]

The OP isn't asking about forstner bits though.

I've found the Bosch and Makita wood drill bits to be pretty good. I tend to use the Makita on softwood and the Bosch on hardwood as the Bosch are much sharper.

 

[JJ1]

Thanks for the input so far.

I hadn't heard of Famag before and although buying a full set is way out of my budget at this time, it's not quite so painful if I end up buying a few at a time, once, as suggested, I get a better idea of which ones will be used the most.

In the meantime I'll probably end up getting a cheaper set to keep me going. So it's probably going to be between the Colt, Fisch, Bosch and Makita bits so far.


If you were intending to buy a set of wood drills, would your preference be for round shank, hex shank or would you opt for the ones that drill and countersink combined in one bit?


I've often found it a bit of a nuisance constantly changing between pilot hole drill bit, clearance hole drill bit, countersink bit and finally screwdriver bit. I only have the single drill at this time. So, with that in mind, is it a good idea to get everything in hex fitting for convenience? Are there any disadvantages to hex fitting compared to round shanks? What is your preference?

 

[MMUK]

Hex shank is fine. My Makita set have hex shank so I can pop them straight into my impact driver if I want to. It also means that there's no chance of spinning in a normal chuck

 

[JJ1]

Thank you.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

JJ1 - if you're in a workshop, what's wrong with a couple of Stanley hand drills? They can be had at car boots for a couple of quid - just keep one with a good countersink in it and one with 3mm or 4mm bit. Unless you are drilling scores of holes it saves ages.

 

[pip1954]

hi jj1 i have cheap drill bits they are ok but never seem to cut well, as for hex i have some of them to but they wobble in the holder so depends what you are drilling
you know what they say buy the best you can afford :mrgreen:
all the best
pip

 

[JJ1]

JJ1 - if you're in a workshop, what's wrong with a couple of Stanley hand drills? They can be had at car boots for a couple of quid - just keep one with a good countersink in it and one with 3mm or 4mm bit. Unless you are drilling scores of holes it saves ages.

That's a good point and I've got a couple of hand drills knocking around somewhere too. Thanks for the tip.

as for hex i have some of them to but they wobble in the holder so depends what you are drilling
you know what they say buy the best you can afford

It's funny you should say that as that's exactly what I've found when I've tried the odd hex bit I've got, hence, wondering if anyone else had noticed any disadvantages with them.
I thought it might have been a poor quality bit holder that I've been using. I'm intending to buy a decent Wera Bi Torison screwdriver set, so I'll see if the hex bit is 'wobble free' in that holder.

 

[heatherw]

I've got 2 or 3 colt bits, both the lip and spur and the round nose kind of wood bit cut beautifully, much better than the Far Eastern equivalents that I also have.

While we're on the subject of bits, my father bought one of those cases of lip and spur bits from Rutlands sizes 1-12mm in 0.5mm increments - he couldn't resist one of the offers. Then he offloaded most of them on to me, and I will say that while they get you out of trouble sometimes as there are so many sizes that you can't get in the local hardware shop (cos when you need a bit, you need it NOW) I would not recommend them. Many of them are slightly best, and none of them are accurately sized.

Edit : Many of them are slightly best - That should read bent, of course.

 

[JJ1]

Thanks for the recommendation and the pointer on which ones to avoid.