Six Most-Useful Fractional Drill Bits?

I have the huot drawer based system. I originally put 1 or 2 in each slot with some empty that I did not have. periodically, I will go through and re-order sizes that only have 1 (or zero). for smaller sizes, I order 5 or more at a time. Larger, just to get back having two of each size. I find that very rarely do I need a bit that I do not have.
 
Where are you finding good small drill bits in quantities of 5 or less for a decent price?
 
Where are you finding good small drill bits in quantities of 5 or less for a decent price?

suncoasttools.com did me right for some drills & center drills lately:


I have bought quite a lot of stuff from them, and I’ve never had a problem. They have the lowest prices as far as I can see (and I Google prices a great deal), & fast service. I bought Made in USA solid carbide drills & center drills.

Drills, etc.:

For the drills I needed for a certain job, I ordered all at once from one place so I wasn’t paying shipping again and again.
 
Last edited:
Where are you finding good small drill bits in quantities of 5 or less for a decent price?
Everyone's definition of a "decent price" is different so your mileage may vary. I have been almost exclusively buying my drill bits from McMaster-Carr. when I can, I tend to buy the stubby or short versions. I almost never need to drill deep holes and these have a lot less tendency to wander in the event that I get lazy and don't center punch or I have a poorly defined center punch.
 
Yes, buy the 119 drill bet set (Cobalt $100 at Harbor Freight) and 6 replacements of the ones you use most often.

For the things I do, I standardized on just 2:: 4-40 and ¼-20 with drills, taps and dies for each.
 
I bought the $35 set at Harbor Freight a long time ago, and it has been really useful. But what do you do when you break Harbor Freight bits?

I think the HF set is now like $65. Perhaps someone will check. People knock it, but the steel seems fine, and if the tips aren't right when you buy them, they will be the first time you sharpen them.
 
From the late '60s, on my first ship, any drill 1/4 inch and smaller was considered expendable. It needn't be accounted for once the job was done. As an electrician, the shop had their own drill motors, no need to hang a tag for one. The point is that I have a few drills that date back to those days. And have added to my "collection" in the years following. When I started buying "sets", most of the smaller sizes had plenty of spares. It's hard to say "get this, don't bother with that." When I need a particular size, I go whole hog and get a set of that series. Some have never been used, but one never knows when. . . The one exception to this philosophy is the "jet" boring drills. 61-80. I use those on my models, and they get bent, broken, and lost very easily. I keep 3 or 4 sets as backups, new in the package. A Nr 60, the smallest in a number set, is ~1mm, 0.040 thou. It's rare when a person needs a drill smaller than 3/64.

Look at what you do, and buy appropriately. If there is lots of wood work, a cheap set of fractional and augers for larger sizes will suffice. For general mechanical work, a set of 1/16 to 1/2 fractional, of better quality than the wood bits. For machine work, a set of number and letter sizes is actually better than a fractional set. And if much metric work is done, a set of 1-13mm is handy to have on hand. For those last couple of sets, machinist and metric, you want the best you can swing. Cobalt drills are nice for harder steels, but will be overkill for general shop use. Get them when/if you can, but not as priority one.

Then there are the "esoteric" drills that are never needed until they are. Such as the size for a 3/16 pop rivet. There is no "standard" size for that. 0.1875 or 3/16 is the closest. A pop rivet hole needs to be a couple thou oversized. In the aircraft industry, there is a 0.189 inch drill specificaly for 3/16 rivets. It is of no common set, but is handy if you stumble over some in a salvage operation like I did. They were cheap, dollar a dozen cheap. And I stashed them away "just in case". Years later while working on an aluminium trailer, 3/16 rivets were needed. The 1/8 rivets had wallowed out the holes (Nr 30) and needed to be refitted with 3/16. I just happened to have on hand the right size drill. . . Or those (obsolete) "bell hanger" bits. A wood bit, 1/4 dia and 2 plus feet long. Rare but handy if you happen to have need of one.

.
 
Back
Top