I buy from two local suppliers. One sells primarily Champion and Triumph, the other Fuller and Norseman. All excellent bits. Drilling in steel quickly separates the average from great.
I picked up a few quarter inch bits recently to drill 250 holes in 1/8” wall aluminum. I was surprised I only used 1 bit. It might have been Norseman and I honestly don’t know which steel they gave me. That’s the beauty of good suppliers. Tell them the application and they sell you what you need. A dying skill, unfortunately.
In wood, a sharp tip is most important for my purposes. I do a lot of freehand, unguided drilling as opposed to time on the drill press. I think HSS tends to be sharper initially than other metals, but this could just be perception. Certainly, nothing more is needed for drilling wood, right?
For drilling strictly wood, my go to bits are Fuller taper bits with counter bore. Nice sharp point, long lasting.
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Originally Posted by Mitchell Ristine
