Best grade steel for conventional and forstner wood drill bits

[scott vroom]

I need a refresher on the "best" steel for conventional twist bits and forstner bits. I'm ready to buy top quality sets of both types, in both standard and metric. I see High Speed Steel, Titanium, and Carbide Steel out there.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Scott, what kind of materials are you going to be drilling?

regards, Rod.

[glenn bradley]

Well, for woodworking I rarely use conventional bits. Brad point bits are the rule for best results in wood and if they are kept sharp, I have found HSS to be fine. I use Lee Valley's lipped bits which make a really clean entrance and exit hole but, are less aggressive than a more general purpose geometry brad point. I am not doing production runs so the advantages of the lipped bits outweigh the disadvantages for me. HSS obviously comes in many flavors as I have HSS forstners from Freud that I have run for years and never even touched up. I have some cheap sets from Woodcraft and Rockler that I bought on sale just to have the sizes (I buy better quality versions of the ones I use most) and they require frequent touch-ups although all qualify to wear the badge HSS. I have some conventional bits that are Titanium coated and I must say that they hold an edge for a very long time even though I use them primarily for metal work. There are high end Forstner bits from FAMAG and others. Here's some good data on steels: http://www.wlfuller.com/html/steel_types.html

[Mike Henderson]

I'm no metallurgist, but I stayed in a Holiday Inn last night so I'll give you my opinion. Drill bits can get hot so you want something like high speed steel (HSS), rather than regular steel, because the heat can temper (soften) regular steel. High speed steel will take more heat before losing it's hardness.

I don't know much about titanium except that it will tolerate a lot of heat, a lot more than you'd ever generate drilling wood, so I have some doubts about the value of it in a drill bit.

Carbide is very hard but brittle. On Forstner bits, the cutting edges may be inserts of carbide, same as on router bits. They would stay sharp much longer than HSS, but probably cost a lot more than HSS.

My choice, based on my usage of drill bits and especially Forstner bits, was HSS - for the best bang for the buck. Your situation may be different, especially if you're going to drill a lot of holes in hard wood on a regular basis.

Mike

[scott vroom]

My initial foray into woodworking has been in the area of cabinet making. I'm using a 35MM forstner for door hinge cups and other metric bits for shelve peg holes, Blum Tandem undermount sliders (I use the metric Blum jig for the slider locks on the drawer bottoms), Blum Inserta hinges (I use the metric Blum jig for hinge alignment pin holes). In addition, I need a good quality drilling & countersink set for general purpose work where I want to a woodscrew head to be flush with the wood surface. I also want to buy metric and standard twist bits......not sure what tips are best. I also need a set of metric and standard stop collars.

Rod, to answer your qustion I'm primarily working with hardwood and rarely drill metal. I want to avoid using the same drill bits for wood and steel ( I want to keep my wood bits sharp) so I guess I'll need to purchase a separate set for steel.

Fuller seems to get high marks for quality. Not so sure about Freud and the others. There seem to be some garbage bits out there from "quality" manufacturers.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Scott, for metal drilling I normally purchase a set from an industrial supplier, in the "Jobber" length.

I have a couple sets from Cleveland, they are very nice.

For wood I use HSS Lipped Brad points, either Lee Valley or Dimar depending upon who is closer, or forstener bits, once again HSS from LV or Dimar.

My tapered drills with countersinks for use with wood screws, I purchased at Lee Valley..........I only own one carbide tipped woos drill, a 35mm bit for hinges, made by Dimar.

regards, Rod.

[scott vroom]

Hi Scott, for metal drilling I normally purchase a set from an industrial supplier, in the "Jobber" length.

I have a couple sets from Cleveland, they are very nice.

For wood I use HSS Lipped Brad points, either Lee Valley or Dimar depending upon who is closer, or forstener bits, once again HSS from LV or Dimar.

My tapered drills with countersinks for use with wood screws, I purchased at Lee Valley..........I only own one carbide tipped woos drill, a 35mm bit for hinges, made by Dimar.

regards, Rod.

Hi Rod,

Looks like Dimar is available only in Canada?

[Jim German]

High Speed Steel is a fairly generic term that covers lots of different types of steel, and is pretty much the default for any tool steel. Not all HSS is the same though, so an HSS bit from someone like Lee Valley wouldn't be the same as say a Black and Decker HSS bit. Titanium actually refers to Titanium Nitride, a coating on the bit, the base material would still be HSS. The coating is supposed to extend the life of the bit. Carbide is actually tungsten carbide, a significantly harder material, and it will therefore keep an edge much longer. McMaster Carr has an excellent summary of the different types of drill bits on their catalog. http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/117/2414/=f5c375

I wouldn't worry so much about the material, I'd concentrate on getting a quality set from a reputable manufacturer.

[Greg Portland]

My favorites:

Milwaukee twist drill set (http://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-48-89-0020-16-Inch-2-Inch-Assortment/dp/B0001OL590/ref=sr_1_8?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1322608792&sr=1-8). I have the larger set... great for metal & general purpose work.

Brad Points and Forstners I get from Lee Valley (HSS versions). I do have some carbide bits but only for Euro hinge work (35mm, etc.). I also got these from Lee Valley.

[Robert Chapman]

If you work with hardwoods like I do I really recommend carbide for Forstner bits. My experience with other metals is that they just do not last. Spend a little more and you will have good bits that last a long time. I have a set of carbide Forstners that I have used for over 10 years.