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Drill bits?

I

iwannadie

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Gilbert, Az
I've been reading and searching but still want to ask.

What type of drill bits would I need for drilling on the jeep for stuff like broken rear shock bolts? I was reading Cobalt is good for steel, should I get something coated or go with the HSS instead of cobalt? There's so many choices I get overwhelmed easy. I don't need to drill wood or plastic, they will just be for metal.

Do I need to worry about drilling fast with certain bits or use fluids?
I'm such a drill newb.

I also do not shop at harbor freight so please no suggestions to go there ha.
 
on small drill bits like that... who cares. drill bit's are cheap.

cobalt bits are nice, but not nessasary. if you mess up a couple 1/4" bits, who cares! theyre like $2. at work, if im buying bits, its regular ones. if the boss is buying, i ask for cobalt! but they both work... one just lasts a little bit longer (but doesnt resist bending anymore than regular, which is how i ruin most my bits at work--lots of ladder work up high--)
 
Rule of thumb....the harder the metal you are trying to cut, the slower you should go. Never drill without cutting oil. The large diameter the drill, the slower as well.

Common mistake a lot of people make is to use titanium nitride on aluminum. It tends to gall and clog the bit.
 
Well, I'd like to buy a bigger set with a bunch of sizes to have on hand. I'd rather not buy individual bits. So, I'd like to buy a good set up front that will last me a while.
 
For anything larger than 1/2" I haven't seen drill bit sets that include them.

For the smaller bits I swear by Milwaukee. I've used Skill and Dewalt and numerous other brands and none work as well. The Milwaukee bits seem to stay sharp a lot longer and cut through steel better.

As someone else stated, always use cutting oil and the slower you go the better. Slow and steady with constant pressure is the way to go when drilling steel.
 
Look through an industrial supply catalog. There was a Morse set 1/16 - 1/2 by 16ths set that my students used that we had good luck with. I believe they were HSS and surface treated.
 
I'm a fan of black oxide coated HSS bits. I've abused the hell out of mine (Ryobi and a few other good brands) and they still cut great. My titanium nitride bits on the other hand usually chip really quickly no matter what I do with them... I wrecked a DeWalt set, a Ryobi set, and a few others before switching to oxide coated.
 
I have had the best luck with milwaukee thunderbolt bits.
They seem to stay sharp and resist bending better than anything else I have used. twice now I have had one bend about 45 degrees, and have been able to hammer it straight, and keep drilling with it. One broke after about 30 holes in 3/8 steel, the other I still have, and its been used quite a bit.
http://www.milwaukeetool.com/access...ng/thunderboltblack-oxide-drill-bits-and-sets
As for small bits, I usually grab the 20 packs of double sided 1/8" bits at swap meets whenever I need some. Some just dont cut, but a quick sharpening on the bench grinder fixes that, and they are cheap enough that I dont care when they break.
 
austinaubinoe said:
http://www.harborfreight.com/115-piece-high-speed-drill-bit-set-with-index-528.html


That is the best deal out there by far. All bits are pretty much made in china anyways. HF also has a titanium version, but Id rather buy 2 sets of black coated ones for $10 more.
Click to expand...
On a whim... I purchased this set. I figured worst case scenario was that I threw $30 down the drain, best case was that I had a good set of drill bits cheap. These drill bits are practically softer than my fingernail. If you only ever drill wood, sure, get them. If you drill metal, spend your $$ elsewhere. My Milwaukee bits are serving me wonderfully.
 
austinaubinoe said:
http://www.harborfreight.com/115-piece-high-speed-drill-bit-set-with-index-528.html All bits are pretty much made in china anyways.
Click to expand...
Thankfully this is far from true.
Pretty much all cheap drill sets are made in the Asian countries.

All you folks raving about HF, Ryobi, or chain store special drill bits need to try out some genuine USA made drills. It is one of those things you don't know what you are missing until you try 'em.

Now I'm not saying that you need to run out and drop $140 on a 29-peice set. Surely if all you are using them for is once and awhile and/or you use them like a post hole digger than you are probably better off with a $30 set.

The biggest thing that will make any bit last longer is proper use.
 
^^^ what he said. Let the bit do the work, don't go at it like you're trying to shove the bit through whatever you're drilling into.

Also, try to make sure whatever you're drilling is clamped down nice and tight. Metal (and sometimes wood) likes to turn into a spinning fan blade as soon as the bit breaks through to the other side if it's not securely mounted.
 
If you're drilling out bolts, order yourself a proper set of left hand twist drills. If you're lucking, the drill will "grab" the bolt and back it out of the hole for you. If you're not, you can try an ez out. Screw machine length drills will usually work better for this than standard jobber length, and, as a side bonus they flex less and are easier to keep on center.

Forget hardware store drills. Most places carry cheap junk made of cheap steel that is not properly heat treated because the typical consumer doesn't know the difference. A quality cobalt alloy drill is worth the price depending on what you're drilling into. You may also need a drill with a 135 degree point angle instead of the more common 118 degree if you're drilling hard material, like a grade 8 bolt.

Speed = heat. Running too fast, or with no cutting oil kills more drills than anything else. Softer material can be cut at a higher rpm than hard material with the same drill size. For mild steel, a .375" drill should be running in the neighborhood of 500 rpm not the 1800+ rpm that most 3/8" chuck corded hand drills are capable of. Use some real cutting oil, not motor oil, trans fluid, or WD40(wd40 is acceptable on aluminum, but not optimal). I'm pretty partial to the old nasty sulfurized cutting oil for most stuff.

Good cutting tools come from machinists supply houses like http://www1.mscdirect.com or one of the many others out there. You can obtain real cutting oil from the same places. You'll also be surprised to find that quality drills are cheaper than hardware store drills, although you may have to order several of the same size.
 
Milwaukee thunderbolt drill bit set from home depot and CRC cutting oil in the spray can at HF have served me well for the past 7 months of my build.

You dont need to go crazy on tooling.
 
I find that I get a ton of usage from my Drill Dr. It is a sharpening tool for drill bits... If I burn one up I can just sharpen it... Saves me a ton of trips to the hardware store for new ones.
 
i got my bits from fastenal the $100 set that goes from really really small to 3/8 in 1/64. i know i should have gotten all the way up to 1/2 but ill live.

ive had them for about a yr now and none need sharpening yet. with pretty regular use on the common sizes
 
bert01xj said:
all i have to say is if it is the top mounts one the shock you just use a bfh and a punch the weld will break out with no drilling
Click to expand...

I've already gone through that a few years ago and I had no luck at all punching them out. I used a 3lb sledge and hitting it with everything I had and they didn't budge. I cut access holes in the trunk floor and found the nuts were not only spot welded in place. They had a slag of weld around a large portion of the nut. Not beating was going to break that weld, I had to cut the nuts off. I posted pictures of them in a thread back when I went through it and it was not the same as others I've seen that just had a few spot welds.
 
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