Review: Milwaukee Shockwave Step Drill

[Bernmc]

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I had a couple of awkward holes to drill in the bottom of my Hammer A3 jointer to fit some levelling castors. I don't have a hoist or pallet jack, so I had to jack the thing up a bit at a time, and block it up gradually. Getting it up to a height to fit a normal drill and 12mm twist drill in was looking pretty scary, so I started looking for an alternative.

I came across Milwaukee's range of 'Shockwave' step drill bits. They're designed to be used in an impact driver - and as impact drivers tend to be quite a bit shorter than drills, and the step drill itself is a whole lot shorter than a 12mm twist drill, the setup was much shorter overall, and meant I didn't need to lift the machine nearly as high to get underneath.

I haven't used step drills before, and I was a bit sceptical about how easy it was going to be to get this bit to drill through a chunk of steel in a less than optimal upside-down position. I needn't have worried - it went through like a hot knife through butter! I've never drilled through steel as quickly or as easily. This bit does what it says on the box.

The bit is Titanium Aluminium Nitride coated, so eventually this will wear off. At just over $50 for the 4-12mm bit I bought, its an expensive consumable, but the ease of use and the time it saves make it well worth it in my book. It's around $5 more than Milwaukee's non shockwave/non-TiAIN coated bit.

Highly recommended.

Available from the big tools stores - Sydney Tools/Total Tools etc.

Price at the time of writing: Milwaukee 48899261 Shockwave Metric 4-12mm 9 Hole Step Drill Bit - $53

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[Potts]

Sold step drills for 30 plus years (Irwin Unibit) they are exceptionally good value if used properly. Dependent on tip type they will not wander on start up, give a perfectly round hole, are great for enlarging existing holes, ideal in sheet materials including Perspex sheeting, tend to leave a burr free hole. The major problem with longevity is people using them at the wrong speed, as you step up each graduation rpm’s should lower, exactly as you should with a twist drill.
9 sizes for $53, buy individual drill bits and you would probably spend more than that.
Thanks for your review.

[Handyjack]

Until recently I had also not used a step drill, but had a job where I needed to attach square tube to a brick wall. Used a step drill to make the holes, one side to clear the bolt heads.
The money I spent ($99 for a set of three, the only ones the shop had) was well worth it. I have since used the step drill on other jobs.

[BobL]

I bought a cheap chinese 3 set metric step drill bits about 10 years ago. Can't remember exactly what I paid for them but it was <$20. I still have them and they still work fine.

In 2017 when I set up the old study in the house as an electronics shop I bought a second set of metrics and a set of imperials to save me 2 walking back and for the to the shed. I just found the ebay payment email for these, $15.06 for each set.
The imperials are handy because some of the switches and connectors I have are imperially sized so generating the right size hole in ABS project boxes is handy.

They bits are nit being used much these days as I've started to 3D print the project boxes with the exact size holes holes in them

[AJ.]

I have a number of step drills I have been using for more than a decade, even the cheap ones are very good, and not just for thin material. I wouldn’t be without them.

Cheers Andrew

[Handyjack]

Not all step bits are equal. Watch this video. Best Step Drill Bit? Let&#39;s find out! DeWalt, Milwaukee, Bosch, Irwin, Diablo, Makita, Bauer, TEMO - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGbMQul6_Bc)
Unfortunately most of the bits are not available in Australia.

[Bernmc]

Good vid - he's always pretty thorough

Would have been interesting to see what a difference an impact driver made to the impact rated bits, but difficult to standardise I guess.

[John Saxton]

and the winner is....DeWalt.

[Bernmc]

I'll try the DW's if I wear the MW out.

Put it in the drill press and through a bunch of 8mm steel plates yesterday, and it made 12mm holes without trouble. The added impacts in the driver definitely improve the performance though.

[BobL]

I'll try the DW's if I wear the MW out.

Put it in the drill press and through a bunch of 8mm steel plates yesterday, and it made 12mm holes without trouble. The added impacts in the driver definitely improve the performance though.

Based on the diameter of any one step the length of each step on that bit looks like it's only about 4mm?
To drill a smooth sided hole in 8mm plate it looks like the workpiece would need to be flipped?

I do have a set of step drills that have 1/4" long steps but I only use these on plastic.

[Bernmc]

Max diameter on the bit is 12mm and I was making 12mm holes, so it was all from one side.
They do another flavour with fewer and larger steps if you planned on making lots of smaller holes in a thicker plate.

The impact driver plows through thinner steel so quickly with this bit that you have to be quite careful to stop at the correct diameter - again this would be easier with the bit with fewer steps. Providing one of those steps was the right diameter.

Or as suggested you can drill from both sides. The holes are so clean that it’s easy to centre the bit in the hole when you flip the work.

[BobL]

It would be interesting to know how accurately sized the holes are. It depends what it is but for many mw things especially those that need close fitting holes and things that involve bearings and shafts etc,I, I’ll rarely use metric integer holes Mx (x being 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 etc) even for many fasteners. I’ll drill x-0.1 or 0.2 mm and then ream the holes to fit the fasteners. For loose fit holes to allow for adjustment I’ll drill at x+0.1 or 0.2 or even 0.5mm. Also I drill loads of blind holes and holes that are to be threaded which are all odd drill sizes. My 1 to 10mm twist drill set get used for all these sorts of things.