Vix bits from S.E. Vick Co

[Lloyd McKinlay]

Time for a new set of vix bits. Previously I had decided on bits from SE Vick Co., the company that invented to bit and still rated as producing a high quality product manufactured in the USA.

After briefly considering bits from Snappy Tool and Whiteside I decided to stay with my original decision and get the SE Vick set thru Amazon and that is when questions began to arise. I noticed the seller (guangzhouxinmingshangmaoyouxiangongsi8) appears to based overseas. Why doesn't the seller of an American made product have an American address? Is this listing a Chinese knockoff? Is SE Vick offshoring production?

I tried to contact SE Vick Co for answers but then don't have a website nor do they answer the phone number listed. Does anyone know the actual story of this product now or should I consider an alternative brand? I got my current vix bit set from Lee Valley 10+ years ago but I'm just not impressed.

[Michael Burnside]

Not sure. I bought mine from Acme Tools (https://www.acmetools.com/se-vick/all/) but I also have a set of Bosch which are my "not for fine furniture" versions which are also pretty good. I just abuse them a bit more :)

[Paul F Franklin]

You might try contacting these folks: https://hardwickandsons.com/products/self-centering-vix-drill-bit-7-7-64

Their bits are marked as made in USA and they reference the SE VICK company without really saying if the bits are actually made by them.

[Brian Gumpper]

That's just Amazon, third party sellers can do whatever they want until reported. Amazon commingles inventory too so if one seller sends the real made in USA bits to Amazon to inventory and another seller who sells off of the same listing sends Chinese knockoffs they inventory gets mixed together. I had Amazon return some Whiteside bits that were overstocked and the ones I received were Clearly not what I sent them. Commingling of inventory has been an issue including last time I looked at reviews on Duracell batteries.

[Lloyd McKinlay]

Brian, thank you, for me another reason to resist purchasing from Amazon.

Do you have any experience with the Whiteside vix bits? Comparable to the SE Vick product? I'm not finding any reviews and didn't see them listed on your website when I checked the other day. I'm a big fan of Whteside router bits.

[John Kananis]

I really, really dislike the Bosch. I like both the vix (original) brand and the snappy. I haven't tried the whiteside but would since I feel confident in them.


Not sure. I bought mine from Acme Tools (https://www.acmetools.com/se-vick/all/) but I also have a set of Bosch which are my "not for fine furniture" versions which are also pretty good. I just abuse them a bit more :)

[Brian Gumpper]

Lloyd, it's one of those products I can never remember to put on the shelf but this will hopefully prompt me to act. So I don't have any direct experience with them. What I was told by Whiteside is that they are made in USA but not by Whiteside so we can speculate but I don't know for sure who makes them.

[Jerome Stanek]

I have a dewalt set that I got back in 1992

[Lloyd McKinlay]

Lloyd, it's one of those products I can never remember to put on the shelf but this will hopefully prompt me to act. So I don't have any direct experience with them. What I was told by Whiteside is that they are made in USA but not by Whiteside so we can speculate but I don't know for sure who makes them.

I just checked with Whiteside---manufactured by S.E. Vick. When will you have a price so I can order?

[Rod Sheridan]

I have the Lee Valley set.............Regards, Rod.

[Brian Gumpper]

I just sent an email, we can communicate that way or give a call.

[glenn bradley]

I got burned buying some product that was "made in Tennessee". They had pictures of the shop, offices and so forth. All nonsense. It was cheap junk shipped from China. I am normally a very careful shopper. This experience just cranked my caution level up another notch. It's nothing new. Advertisers have stretched the truth since advertising began.

[Bill Dufour]

My old one was made by Vix in Canada. Not USA
Bill D.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I have set of three I got from Rockler, made by Insty-Drive.
They've been fine. I have no complaints.

I also have a Ryobi I picked up at Home Depot. It's junk. It clogs nearly all the time with the drill bit sticking out. You have to give it a little twist to free the bit, then tighten it back up again.