Finds: A 115-Piece Drill Bit Set
By Chuck Cage
If you own a tap and die set — or are planning on doing pretty much any kind of metalworking — you need a 115-piece drill bit set. Why 115 pieces? Thats how many bits it takes to cover all fractional, numbered, and lettered sizes.
The best part? You don’t have to spend a fortune to pick one up.
Before the emails start rolling in telling me how much a $50 set of 115 drill bits suck, let me go ahead and say that in many cases, having the right size is more important than having the best drill bit.
I’d totally agree that you’re getting better bits when you shell out $300 for a 115-piece set, but for the amount of use that these individual bits’ll see in most DIY shops, the $50 sets work fine. Sure, you’ll wear out a bit or two, but you can easily pick up a replacement. And given a $50 budget, I’d rather have the whole set than just one or two good bits — that don’t fit the tap that I need to use.
So, that said… The pictured kit is made in China, is made from high-speed steel, has a titanium nitride coating, and sells (from all sorts of sources) for around $50. I have one, and I’ve had good results with it — though admittedly I’m not using it for any kind of production work.
One bit of cheap-ass-shopper advice, though: Avoid the sets from Harbor Freight. While I’m sure the drills are no worse than the ones I have, the boxes they come in suck. They fall apart virtually instantly.
Street Pricing (115-Piece Drill Bit Set) [Froogle]
December 30th, 2006 at 7:38 pm
As a compromise, I think it’s a good idea to pick up one of these sets and a good USA made fractional set. When the individual bits in the 115 pc. set get used up (ok, it’s hard to use a bit up, but the import drills do wear quickly) replace them with USA drills, those are the sizes you use the most after all…
January 1st, 2007 at 10:24 am
Too bad there isn’t a set of just tap drills and clearance drills… I think around 50 sizes or so would cover #0 thru 1/2″ in tap, close fit and free fit clearance sizes. I’d rather buy two of those sets than then whole 115 pc set. I just know I’ll never use a lot of those odd-sized drills in my big set.
January 1st, 2007 at 11:35 am
You can just buy sizes as you need them from most industrial suppliers, and buy quality. Ebay is a great place to stock up on new drills in single sizes.
What I also have is a good selection of metric drills (bought at an auction) in steps of about .1mm - very handy.
Then of course you need reamers in fractional sizes and over and under sizes…and center drills…and countersinks…and counterbores..oh and S&D 1/2″ shank drills up to 1″
Once you start doing machine work you end up with many bits of tooling.
A good drill sharpener is useful as well - although with practice you can certainly sharpen drills by hand on a bench grinder, I love my Lisle drill grinder - nothing like having a dead sharp and even cutting drill, plus it saves a lot of money.
January 1st, 2007 at 12:43 pm
I have the 115 piece (the nicer of the two offered) from Harbor Freight and both the drill and the box have held up to anything and everything I’ve thrown at them. No, they are not as nice as my USA made drills, but they do make the proper sized holes without complaint.