Good drill bits?

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hopesanddreams

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I have a set of Mac drill bits right now. They have lasted a few years but, I recently started a mechanic job working on semis and trailers. I've used my drill bits more in the last 3 months then i have in the last 3 years. That being said, I'm running out of drill bits due to most of them breaking. What is a good brand of strong longer lasting drill bits to buy?
 
I have mediocre bits and a Drill Doctor. Screw expensive bits. I'd rather have a newly sharpened one every time I use it. It takes seconds to dress one up that isn't broken.
 
My bits usually stay sharp for a while. All of my small ones have broken and the smallest one i have left is a 3/8". So i need to buy something.
 
I've had a set of mechanics length bits from Fastenal for 5 or so years and in real happy with them. I think they're Norsemen brand
 
hopesanddreams said:
I have a set of Mac drill bits right now. They have lasted a few years but, I recently started a mechanic job working on semis and trailers. I've used my drill bits more in the last 3 months then i have in the last 3 years. That being said, I'm running out of drill bits due to most of them breaking. What is a good brand of strong longer lasting drill bits to buy?
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Mac have a lifetime warranty ....
 
i know. I'd rather buy something that doesn't break the first time i use it. Thats using lubrication and making sure I'm drilling as straight as i can.
 
Medium priced go with Precision twist. Truly high end bits and just about all I use now, Nachi. Just like quality taps the Japanese are far superior to anything coming out of America. The cheap bits and a sharpener comments are just plain stupid. It's like saying carry a $5 knife and a stone. No thanks, I will use quality tools and sharpen 5% as much and have cleaner more accurate holes on every cut.
 
I had good luck with the nachi bits when I used to drill 1/8 holes in aluminum all day. They really aren't that expensive either.

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JoeySlushr said:
I've had a set of mechanics length bits from Fastenal for 5 or so years and in real happy with them. I think they're Norsemen brand
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I bought a set of bits from fastenal up to 1/2", im 1/16" increaments but havent used any of them yet.. Fail


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SINNER said:
Medium priced go with Precision twist. Truly high end bits and just about all I use now, Nachi. Just like quality taps the Japanese are far superior to anything coming out of America. The cheap bits and a sharpener comments are just plain stupid. It's like saying carry a $5 knife and a stone. No thanks, I will use quality tools and sharpen 5% as much and have cleaner more accurate holes on every cut.
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Yep!
 
We've had great luck with our Mac bits. We've had some break but it sounds like you have some made of glass.
 
Drill Dr? We cannot get ours to sharpen correctly at all. It's hit and miss if it will sharpen correctly. Hell I can sharpen with more accuracy by hand anything larger than a 1/4".

If we need to drill a lot of holes of a certain size, my boss bought some from McMaster Carr that outlasted Larson mechanic bits we have at work. I drilled 30k 1/4" holes through 1/2" TWC on 2 sets of bits. The first 2k I drilled I used 8 sets Larson products mechanic bits and had to resharpen every 10 holes. The McMaster ones were a high carbon.
 
I'm for Mac. They can break as many times as they want as long as I can walk onto that truck with a broken one and walk off with a new one


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oldestof11 said:
Drill Dr? We cannot get ours to sharpen correctly at all. It's hit and miss if it will sharpen correctly. Hell I can sharpen with more accuracy by hand anything larger than a 1/4".

If we need to drill a lot of holes of a certain size, my boss bought some from McMaster Carr that outlasted Larson mechanic bits we have at work. I drilled 30k 1/4" holes through 1/2" TWC on 2 sets of bits. The first 2k I drilled I used 8 sets Larson products mechanic bits and had to resharpen every 10 holes. The McMaster ones were a high carbon.
Click to expand...

A lot of MMC's drill bits used to come in a Precision twist package. Now they seem more protective of who supplies their toolings.
 
I've got Lawson Products drill bits and have had them for years. Any type of metal hasn't been a problem so far. I've even been able to drill thru welds.
 
Where can the Nachi or Lawson Products be purchased?

My Mac bits seem to dull extremely fast, and or break. I work as a fleet mechanic for soft drink company. For some reason they will not allow tool trucks on the property. The dealer i bought a bunch of my Mac stuff from when i went to school no longer sells tools. I also had some previous co workers try to mail broken sockets and what not to Mac and they never sent new ones back. I've also broken multiple Mac sockets. Snap on man was the only truck that came to my last job so I just started replacing broken stuff with Snap On tools and have bought from him since, and have been much happier with their quality.
 
I'm a dealer for KnKut bits, and I'm very happy with them. I have some Mac bits as well, since my Mac dealer is great, and they are fine as well. I keep those away from most of my guys then the shop since lost bits have no warranty.

The shop gets Kimball Midwest bits, since he buys me $500 of "free" bits every year for the business I do with him. I know they're not free, but for what I spend with him for hardware and hydraulic hose and fittings every year, oh well.

The KnKuts stay sharp for as long as a good operator is using them, and can be sharpened. Way better than the cheap bits that break all the time. No fun when a 1/2" bit breaks off at eye level.

Chris
 
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