Cheap Drill Bits

[shvl73]

I bought these HF drill bits with a bit of skepticism but, they worked well. I was drilling 3/4" steel plate and using some penetrating oil as I drilled.
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[weldingisfun]

You obviously have a press with the variable speeds. I have been looking at a HF floor press with a low rpm of 200 and high of 3020. The table press I'm using now has a low speed of 620, which is too fast for anything over 1/2inch. What size drill were you using on that 3/4 inch plate and what rpm were you using?

 

[shvl73]

I was using my cheapo TSC drill press. The lowest speed is 260rpm. I used a small 1/4" pilot drill, then stepped up in increments to 15/16". The press has a small amount of run-out and when I tried drilling the large holes in one step, they ended up off and I had to weld them solid again. Starting small and stepping up seemed to keep better accuracy. For $139.00, the press works well. The spindle loosened up a couple of times and when I tried to set it using the table with a block of wood with down pressure (per directions) the table mount broke. The manager at TSC replaced it with a part from his floor model on the spot. I thought that was good of him. I then used a block of wood and a 3lb hammer and tapped it up into place. It seems to hold better that way.

 

[Skyco]

I've got the same HF set and it is ok. But- I found a hole saw works amazingly well when I needed some 1" holes in 3/8 plate! I was quite pleasantly surprised how well it cut when kept lubed up with dark cutting oil.

 

[bobodu]

I bought the same set and love them.They've been through a lot of steel.

 

[Kernopelli]

I've got the same HF set and it is ok. But- I found a hole saw works amazingly well when I needed some 1" holes in 3/8 plate! I was quite pleasantly surprised how well it cut when kept lubed up with dark cutting oil.

I have been looking at the HF bits recently and figured I'd give them a try- glad to see the comments about them. I have to agree about hole saws though. When building my loader I started using the bi-metal hole saws for boring larger holes in thick metal and have had fantastic use out of them using slow speeds and lots of oil.

 

[BWBrown]

I have a bunch of Harbor Freight hand tools, but not the drill bits. I just wanted to echo the hole saw comment above.

Tip: get some aircraft or other good quality grade 3/4" plywood, drill the hole in the plywood. Then clamp it to the workpiece. (I use the aircraft rade because it is tougher, with thinner laminations.)
It:
1) serves as a failproof guide - much better than relying on that 1/4 " center drill
2) minimises chatter
3)keeps cutting oil in the groove

Bob

 

[psj12]

I've had very good luck with HF's smaller drill bits but am disappointed with the Silver & Demming bits. I have two sets. One came in a wood box and have broken the cutting tip-corners off. The other set came in a cheap plastic roll and seem to be far more durable.

 

[shvl73]

I've had very good luck with HF's smaller drill bits but am disappointed with the Silver & Demming bits. I have two sets. One came in a wood box and have broken the cutting tip-corners off. The other set came in a cheap plastic roll and seem to be far more durable.

The set I have is the one in the box. They worked well for me. It may indicate hit / miss quality control. I took a chance because they have a new store in New England and I would have the opportunity to return them if they didn't work out.

 

[Soundguy]

I've got the same HF set and it is ok. But- I found a hole saw works amazingly well when I needed some 1" holes in 3/8 plate! I was quite pleasantly surprised how well it cut when kept lubed up with dark cutting oil.

Yep.. for light to medium cutting I've also used hole saws.. even on thin stainless.

Soundguy

 

[Pooh_Bear]

I have that same set of bits in a wood box.
They work fine except the grabbing.
And you need to use plenty of oil.

And if you got a lot of holes to drill use bi metal hole saws.
I drilled about 30 one inch holes so far in 1/4 and 3/8 plate so far.
And the bit shows no signs of dulling yet. I use plenty of oil.

I got a nice set of TiN bits from walmart for $17.
1/16 to 1/2 with 3/8 reduced shanks all in a nice case.

Pooh Bear

 

[JSharp]

I was using my cheapo TSC drill press. The lowest speed is 260rpm. I used a small 1/4" pilot drill, then stepped up in increments to 15/16". The press has a small amount of run-out and when I tried drilling the large holes in one step, they ended up off and I had to weld them solid again. Starting small and stepping up seemed to keep better accuracy. For $139.00, the press works well. The spindle loosened up a couple of times and when I tried to set it using the table with a block of wood with down pressure (per directions) the table mount broke. The manager at TSC replaced it with a part from his floor model on the spot. I thought that was good of him. I then used a block of wood and a 3lb hammer and tapped it up into place. It seems to hold better that way.

When it falls out again and it will, try cleaning the tapers with brake cleaner or another good degreaser, then using some medium strength Loctite.

I also bought a set of the cheap S&D drills from Harbor. I have the set in the wood case. So far I've drilled one 3/4" hole in a piece of 1/2 mild steel and it was fine.

 

[have_blue]

I bought these HF drill bits with a bit of skepticism but, they worked well. I was drilling 3/4" steel plate and using some penetrating oil as I drilled.
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices[/FONT]

Yes, those are good drills at a great price. I've used them, and they cut and last just great.

Their cobalt drill set (1/32-1/2") is also fantastic, as is their "grab bag" of seconds. I rather use a fine quality drill that is .002 out of spec than a crummy drill that is exactly right.

What you have to watch is "alloy" drills and sorry drills with titanium nitride (gold color) plating. Putting TiN plating on a sorry drill will not make it work or last a bit longer. You can't put lipstick on a pig.

 

[tommu56]

I bought these
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90029

2 of them twisted up like a pretzel trying to drill through a peice of osb board they had no temper in them were the bit was ground

I didnt try the larger ones though

tom

 

[SPYDERLK]

When it falls out again and it will, try cleaning the tapers with brake cleaner or another good degreaser, then using some medium strength Loctite.

Good advice. If you use Loctite be very careful and apply to only a small area on the big end of the taper since a broad coverage area of, even weak, Loctite may make it very difficult to remove if you ever want to. The taper is self locking and should actually be adequate w/o the augmentation. You will need a sharp blow to set it tho - more like what would tranfer thru a piece of regular steel shielding the chuck from the direct hammer blow. Wood gives too much cushion and prevents a good set.
larry

 

[shvl73]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll use it when the chuck/spindle loosens again.

 

[3RRL]

Larry is right.
However personally, I would not use any loctite.
I would make sure the tapers are free of burrs or bumps by running some Emory cloth or even a file while chucked up in the lathe just get rid of the bumps or burrs. Then use acetone to clean both male and female tapers. Those tapers are locking tapers and should not disengage through normal use. The need to fit perfectly all around.
I set mine against a piece of mild steel with the jaws completely retracted. Then I take the quill while the chuck is running and tap the drill chuck into the mild steel with a "snap" to it. That is like a sharp blow to seating it. I do that a couple times to be sure it is set squarely with no run out. It should take a similar sharp blow in the opposite direction to unseat it.
Just my two cents...

 

[JSharp]

I'd agree on the Loctite if these weren't low cost imported machine tools we were talking about. The tapers should be locking dry.

But I tried everything else. Cleaning, deburring, setting repeatedly with a deadblow, etc. All the things that would have worked on something with properly sized and cut tapers didn't work on mine. The Loctite finally did.

I suppose there's a reason I could buy a 16 speed floor standing drill press with a decent 5/8" chuck and a lowest speed of 195 RPM, all for $129. Quality and precision probably aren't on the list...

Mine's Ok though. It's solid enough and even with the taper issues the spindle runout is acceptable.

 

[3RRL]

Well, I suppose you're right about that as a last ditch effort.
The important thing is to get it working after all, so whatever ends up working is a good thing, right? I've had to do some tweaking on the cheap stuff I bought too...just to male it work. The quality is just not there in those low price items.
Sometimes it's perfect and sometimes it's a POS.