Drill bit problem

[Robert G]

I am a great believer in quality especially when it comes to drill bits. I teach high school Mechanics and have the students do a drill & tap project to learn about threads, thread maintenance, repair, torque, etc. I have always said, "If you want to see how well something will stand up, let a bunch of students work with it and you will get your answer fast". I swear by cobalt drill bits and upper-end quality taps. I have some cobalt bits that must have drilled hundreds of holes and are still going (with a bit of shoddy touch-ups). Sometimes the supplier will substitute a lesser item and it fails in no time. It is true that you pay for what you get.

[Robert G]

I am a great believer in quality especially when it comes to drill bits. I teach high school Mechanics and have the students do a drill & tap project to learn about threads, thread maintenance, repair, torque, etc. I have always said, "If you want to see how well something will stand up, let a bunch of students work with it and you will get your answer fast". I swear by cobalt drill bits and upper-end quality taps. I have some cobalt bits that must have drilled hundreds of holes and are still going (with a bit of shoddy touch-ups). Sometimes the supplier will substitute a lesser item and it fails in no time. It is true that you pay for what you get.

[HackMax]

Originally Posted by Robert G I am a great believer in quality especially when it comes to drill bits. I teach high school Mechanics and have the students do a drill & tap project to learn about threads, thread maintenance, repair, torque, etc. I have always said, "If you want to see how well something will stand up, let a bunch of students work with it and you will get your answer fast". I swear by cobalt drill bits and upper-end quality taps. I have some cobalt bits that must have drilled hundreds of holes and are still going (with a bit of shoddy touch-ups). Sometimes the supplier will substitute a lesser item and it fails in no time. It is true that you pay for what you get.

I use my cobalt drill bits all the time and they cut through the aluminum with no issues. I got 26 bit set from eBay for less than $15 new and figured it would be a few time use set and then I would get quality bits in the ranges I use most often but this set has giving me more than a few times use and still going strong. What I worry about is me making a mistake and snapping the bit and not having a backup. I could just go to the store and get one but because it's retail you usually pay 3 times what you can get from the web and still have to pay for transportation to get it but that's what you pay when you need something right now. Enco usually gets the tools to me in 1 day though and since they do that they get most of my business. Only thing is, to offset the shipping cost, I have to build up a list of needs and place the order when I can't hold out anymore. Sure would be nice to have an Enco outlet (if there is such a thing) around here.

Rick