So I bought a drill press ...

[Daniel Smith]

My local Rockler is closing out their stock of Delta 18-900L drill presses for $749. Add in the $100 rebate that Delta is currently offering and the deal became too good to pass up. So now that I've got the beast down to the basement and set up, I need to think about a decent set of bits. Can anyone suggest a good brand of brad point and forstner bits?

[Myk Rian]

Freud Forstner bits.

[Gary Herrmann]

Fuller brad points. Lee Valley sells them among others. Best brad points I've ever used. For forstners you could go all out with Famag or the other German brand, but I've found the Freuds work just fine.

[Van Huskey]

Forstners, #1 Colt Maxicut by far the best, #2 Famag Bormax
Brad points #1 Forrest City Tool #2 the lipped brad points Lee valley sales for a bargain quality set Colt Twinland

All the above are either US, Candian or German and all are exceptional, the Maxicut forstners may be my favorite boring tooling ever.

[ian maybury]

Famag Bormax for the forstners, and HSS-G for brad point drills based on my limited experience. http://www.fine-tools.com/bohr.html The drills especially are magic - the cleanliness and ease with which they cut is amazing. Colt seem very good too. None are cheap though.

There's probably decent stuff around much more cheaply, but not being able to get access to pieces to try here (in Ireland) i decided to push the boat out a bit....

ian

[Bruce Wrenn]

My thought on forsteners is to buy a cheap set. Put an index card in box, and every time you use a bit, write it down. Replace the most used ones with better bits. As a side note, I bought a set of Columbians from Woodcraft several years ago. I have used the 1" bit to bore over two thousand window holes in my Toys for Tots cars, whose bodies are made from 2 X 4's. Paid about $20 for the set.

[Michael Mayo]

My thought on forsteners is to buy a cheap set. Put an index card in box, and every time you use a bit, write it down. Replace the most used ones with better bits. As a side note, I bought a set of Columbians from Woodcraft several years ago. I have used the 1" bit to bore over two thousand window holes in my Toys for Tots cars, whose bodies are made from 2 X 4's. Paid about $20 for the set.


I would have to agree. I bought a cheap set of Ryobi forstner bits that came in a plastic box that i can hang up and it has 1/4"-2" bits and they cut plenty fine for me. If and when they dull I will replace a few at a time with nice bits as i am a sucker for really nice tools but sometimes you have to pull back on the reigns and just get what you can afford at the time. The Famags look awesome but I am sure they cost about 10 times what i paid for my cheap set. The seem to cut perfect holes so what more can i ask.

[Mike Heidrick]

Dan awesome deal on a great press!!

I actually really like my Dewalt drill bits. I have drilled a ton of wood, steel and alum with them. I know it is crazy sounding but I like them and they are just the gold coated 29-piece set - $59 or less most places. I may try their cobalt ones next.

I also have the cheaper porter cable forstner bit set from lowes and then the 9 piece freud forstner bit set (has an 1/8" forstner bit in it). Between those two they have done everything I have asked of them.

Some day I will buy nicer ones but I abuse my bits and would not want to ruin a $50-$100 bit.

[glenn bradley]

For the price I love the Lee Valley lipped Brad Point bits. When drilling multiple pieces of material, the same feature that allows them a very clean exit hole can stall your drilling as they literally cut a disc out at the exit point and this becomes an impediment to starting the cut into the next layer. Not a problem in laminates like plywood but, for stack cutting I have bits with a different geometry. Choose your bits for the type of work you will do. I have a couple budget sets of Forstners and replaced the often used one's with Freuds way back when. I see others beat the Freuds out in recent tests so I don't know if that is a quality slip on Freud's part or a technology jump by the other guys. Mine are still going strong with the occasional touch-up. If I was going to do something where I would drill a large amount of holes requiring Forstners I would be looking at the Famag or the Colt Maxicut.

[Carroll Courtney]

Daniel,I like to add to your question if I may and ask-For drilling mild steel, what is the best drill bit?I know that the tip of bits comes in different angles(I don't know why)maybe to help keep the bit from wondering
Good question Daniel,and lots of good answers----Carroll

[Jim Foster]

I've recently bought a couple Femag's at Woodcraft. Our local Woodcraft has three price levels, the house brand and two different price points for Femag's. I picked the least expensive Femag ($18.99 for a 1") and have found them to cut very clean holes. I've cut about 20 holes in White Oak so far. Because the price is not pocket change, I'm getting them as I need them. If I had a project that required lots of holes, I'd probably try the more expensive Femag, but for the limited use I've seen so far the ones I'm collecting seem pretty good. One other note, they are a little longer than the Freud Diablo's I've seen at the big box stores.

[Thomas Canfield]

I would also advise getting a cheaper set of 1/4 to 2 1/4 by 1/8 Forstner bits, and be on the watch for a cheap set of similar bits that are the 16ths. They are not as readily available, but do fill a need from time to time. Now you have a drill press that needs to have bits available. I am still using a cheap set of brad points bits by 64ths that only has a couple of bits that need replacing, and I bought a replacement set from Rockler on sale some time back if I want a really clean cut instead of using the old set. I still have the 7/8" Bosch Forstner bit that I paid about the same as what the 24 piece set cost, but it was used for only 4 holes for a stool for first grandson, and worth the price.

[Daniel Smith]

Thanks for all of the replies. While I'm not entirely sold on a set of Forstners right now, I think a decent set of brad points is a necessity. It looks like there are plenty to choose from.

[Randy Rose]

Bought a cheap set of Forstners from Hartville Hardware boxed as "Hickory", very satisfied for the price.

[Gregory King]

Daniel, you made a great choice. Hope you like it as well as I do mine. I bought the 'Hickory" set from Home Depot the same as Randy. Price was great and works super so far. I want to touch quickly on one accessory that you probably should not buy. I bought the mortising attachment [ I know, a no-no on this site] and used it this past week-end for a chair repair. It does take a far bit of force to make that first plunge and my chisels are sharp. Over time this is hard on the quill gears. At work we have the Delta mortiser and it really is the way to go. I have enjoyed the little bit of chair construction so far and I just may sell my attachment for the real deal. Live and learn, I guess. We are never too old for that, are we gang. Greg