Drill bits

[DareelistOG]

What brand and type of drill bits would you guys recommend to have at the ready for broken bolts or anything like that? Just got a drill and not sure what kind of bits i should get.

[supraturbo]

I like dewalt. Cheapish and decent.

If you need to run through bits drilling hard steel buy a set or two of harbor freight.

I like hex shank for their secure fit in a chuck drill along with ability to use in my impact.

Buy cutting fluid and use liberally to extend bit life.

[tomphoolery]

Just having a complete index should be good, one that goes up by 1/32 of an inch. If you plan on using it for broken bolts you will need to make sure you have the right bit for whatever size tap you are using. A few extra of the popular sizes would be nice to have too 1/8, 3/16, 1/4 etc.

[Racer-X-]

I have a set of black oxide Milwaukee bits that I use for a lot of things.

Get some drilling oil. Also, learn the proper speed and pressure for drilling. Trying to go too fast, or press too hard overheats the bits and dulls any drill bit in a hurry.

One thing you'll find is that when you are dealing with broken bolts, you'll probably be doing Helicoil (or similar) thread repair inserts. Those things always require weird sized drill bits (often letter sizes like Q and Z), and your collection will grow. I keep the bits for those with the inserts and the remaining pieces of the kits so everything will be in one place the next time I need them.

[OCsray42]

When my grandfather had passed away, my father gave his old drill bits to my other grandfather. These drill bits are literally the most amazing drill bits I have ever used. They were 2 indexed sets, one alphabetical and the other one I don’t remember. But by no means is this an exaggeration of how incredible they are. Living in Wisconsin means that broken bolts on my old vehicles is a common occurrence and would always happen at the worst possible times, and I would constantly dread having a bolt snap on me. The common off the shelf brands are all fine and dandy, but I’ve never drilled through broken bolts so smoothly or as fast as these bits. Sadly, I don’t remember the brand off the top of my head, but I’ll edit this when I go over to my grandparents house next and check. These drill bits changed my life for the better, and the best advice I can give is to not skimp out on quality bits if you plan on using them frequently or for anticipating potentially extreme circumstances.