Brad point drills

[Mobyturns]

Correct.




Agreed. Hard to imagine someone who is disappointed with HSS being happy with high carbon steel.

Bunnings only stocks a part range in most Sutton products. Very limited range of fractional sizes in imperial twist bits etc.

[doug3030]

Bunnings only stocks a part range in most Sutton products. Very limited range of fractional sizes in imperial twist bits etc.

Yes, in a lot of their boxed drill sets sold at Bunnings you can't get individual drills to match every drill in the set, and guess which ones you always break

Luckily Total tools is only 500 metres further down the road in my case, and the staff are more knowledgeable and helpful as well.

And I get invited to their "trade nights" where they give me pizza and beer.

[rwbuild]

Main screen has an animated screen - about 6 screens it rolls through. Here’s some examples for the impatient

Attachment 464570 Attachment 464571 Attachment 464572

I was referring to intended use :all wood and timber........ didn't know they were 2 different entities.

[Itms]

I think what Doug means is that Bunnings don't stock the Sutton brad point bits, he wasn't saying that they don't stock Sutton tools. If you weren't happy with the Frost HSS bits I'd be very surprised if you're going to be happy with the 'carbon steel' Smith and Arrow ones. Have a look around locally for some Sutton ones or order on line if not available locally. Only problem




Agreed. Hard to imagine someone who is disappointed with HSS being happy with high carbon steel.

Frost 3-10mm Brad Point Drill Bit Set - 8 Piece | Total Tools

This is set i refer to. They are carbon steel

https://www.bolt.com.au/drill-set-pc-wood-p-101996.html

Another link for the frost ones

[Lappa]

Seeing brads are used to drill wood and not steel, carbon steel is not really a disadvantage IMO. As long as they are sharp and you don’t overheat the tips (we a speaking above 300 degrees C) I cant see a problem.

I’ve had to drill some very precise holes in hardwoods and softwoods, which they did beautifully, and they are still cutting fine. One job was 48 holes with the same bit.

As always JMO.

[Itms]

Seeing brads are used to drill wood and not steel, carbon steel is not really a disadvantage IMO. As long as they are sharp and you don’t overheat the tips (we a speaking above 300 degrees C) I cant see a problem.

I’ve had to drill some very precise holes in hardwoods and softwoods, which they did beautifully, and they are still cutting fine. One job was 48 holes with the same bit.

As always JMO.

I agree, only require hss for metal, wood proper high carbon is fine. I use a set of very exxy 8% m45 colbalt drills for metal. I have a main set and backup. They are overkill for wood. I think is normal twist bits i have 7 full sets and alot of loose bits

[Chief Tiff]

If you have spare HSS twist drill sets then consider grinding them into brad points. Forum member elanjacobs posted how to do this using a normal bench grinder fitted with a skinny wheel from an angle grinder, right now I’m travelling home and using an Ipad so I can’t do a search and add a link to it but I will endeavour to do so tomorrow.

[elanjacobs]

Not an angle grinder wheel, just a narrow (1/4") white wheel (although you could probably do it with a grinder wheel), previous thread is here Advice on sourcing decent drill bits...

I'm going to do a proper tutorial thread with more pics, I'll post the link when I have it.

As an aside, the Frost carbon steel bits are junk; we bought a set at my old work and some of them weren't even ground on centre. I don't just mean the centre point was off centre, the flutes weren't made to an even depth, so they weren't even salvageable

[elanjacobs]

Tutorial here: How to grind brad point bits by hand

[Smith&ARROW]

Thanks for the kind words Lappa. Cheers

I bought a selection from this company. Excellent drills (IMO) and excellent service

Woodworking Bits -- Brad Point, Carbon Steel, Boring Bits | Smith & ARROW

[CgT]

These are at least equivalent to Colt and possibly better as I have used both Fisch FSF-364740 Metric Brad Pt. Drill Bit Set: Amazon.com.au: Home Improvement

The Star M drills are like looking at a piece of jewellery but they are damned exy. If I did not have several sets of Colt bits I would buy the Fisch in a heartbeat because it is in .5mm increments and they simply work well.

+1 Fisch are quality bits

[RossM]

The Japanese Star-M brand are worth considering.

Super Clean Cut Drill by STAR-M – Japanese Tools Australia

I just bought a metric set from Carbatec. They're okay, but they are nothing special either. If I had seen the Star-M ones before I bought the set from Carbatec, I would have bought them.

The best I've used!!!!

[crowie]

I have some Colt Brad Point Drill Bits from a forum group buy a number of years back; first class!

PLUS I have a Metric & Imperial Made in USA sets from W.L. Fuller which are equally as good as Colt.

W.L. Fuller Inc.

Cheers, crowie

[Neil T]

These are at least equivalent to Colt and possibly better as I have used both Fisch FSF-364740 Metric Brad Pt. Drill Bit Set: Amazon.com.au: Home Improvement

The Star M drills are like looking at a piece of jewellery but they are damned exy. If I did not have several sets of Colt bits I would buy the Fisch in a heartbeat because it is in .5mm increments and they simply work well.

+1 Fisch are quality bits

Check the reviews on the Amazon site for that Fisch set. All may not be as it seems. Dare I say, something Fisch-y going on