What drill bits R U using?

[FireRob]

After many years of dependable use my incredably cheep no-name drill bits have all finially craped out on me.

I am looking for some replacment small drill bits to use in my fret work. I am a big fan of the numbered bits in the 50 to 60 range.

not sure if the link is gonna work this way but I have been eyeing these kind of bits on ebay and wondering if any one has used anything like these?

http://i4.ebayimg.com/03/i/07/40/b2/18_1.JPG

Just in case the pic does not show up here is a link to the ebay auction.

http://cgi.ebay.com/50-Micro-Carbide...QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks,

Robert

[JohnB]

G'day Rob,
I've not used any of the bits mentioned, but the length would concern me.
The bloke says they are 1 1/2" long, he also states that they have a 1/8" shaft.
Now if the 1 1/2" includes the shaft, it doesn't leave much to drill the hole.

Just my thoughts

[Rolf]

Those drills are used in the PC Board drilling industry and are solid carbide.
Therefore they are very brittle. They should be used in a drill press. I get the used ones from work and I suspect the ones for sale on e-bay are used and I doubt that they have been re-sharpened.The fact that he says they have been ultrasonicaly cleaned tells me that they are used(I may be wrong) The other problem with them is that they are stubby limiting your hole depth.(~3/8)
You would be better off buying good quality HS steel bits from MSC or Mc Master

[lucky788scroller]

I have my wire size drillbits that I purchased either from sloanswoodshop.com or from mikesworkshop.com . In fact, I can drill thousands of holes with just one of those little drillbits (hardwoods, plywoods, ect up to about 7/8th inch thick)without breaking one. My wife on the other hand.... I'm lucky if one of those bits lasts her a handful of holes...sighhhhhhhhhh Dale

[Barefoot1]

I use a little bit set from Dremel. I think there are 5 or 6 bits and the smallest one is small enough that I have trouble threading blades through! Great for single line viens though they did not cost much so when I replace them I replace the set and don't feel bad about it.

[unixpro]

I bought my small bits from Mike's workshop. I don't use them unless I really have to, though, since they require an adapter for my drill press. I usually use the smallest brad point bit I can find. I think the brad points are much easier to use than regular bits.

[Minnesota scroller]

I've bought my tiny ones from www.bensscrollsaw.com. and had good luck with them.

[William Young]

Mike
That is where I get my mini bits also. I find them to be better quality than the ones I used previously and the Mini Chuck from the same source is much better because it uses a collet tightening system which gives it better accuracy from wobbling like some of the cheaper ones.
W.Y.

[FireRob]

Rolf,

There are several people on ebay selling these and all appear to be used. Some of them clain to be factory resharpened (take that with a grain of salt) I was not aware of the cutting depth being only 3/8" deep, (that wont work for me, thanks for bringing that to my attention)

I like the idea of being solid carbide. The brittleness is not a problem since all my drilling is in the drill press. The carbide will stay sharper longer and to me that is a good thing.

Barefoot1,

I have not looked in to the dremel bits, sounds good, I'll have to check them out.


Rant/story-

I have bought the set of tiny bits Woodcraft sells with the collet system. Honestly it sucked. (personal opinion) It comes with three different sized collets, and I could not get any of them to hold the bit tight enough. One of them I got so frustrated with it sliping loose I tried to tighten it with a pair of plyers and ended up ruining the collet. (twisted it) The other problem I had was the shaft/rod that went in to the chuck was not straight. Chucked it up and has a terriable woble when the drill press was turned on. I trimed the little 1/8" rod off with a hack saw and was able to get the collet to run true enough for drilling but had the problem with the collets not holding on to the bits.

I finiall fixed the problem by chunking the collet system and using the bits in the drill chuck with no collet. (it worked!)

So long story short Im still looking for the right bits for me. Ill go to some of the links yall provided and check em out.

Thanks,

Robert