[crazy_ratchet]

ok, this is not exactly to topic, but this was the closes thread that i found that was still open. what would be the best aloy for drill bits for our aplications (Al aloys and steel). i'm not too clear on the differences in all thouse carbide tungdsten molly... alloys and how it translates to drill between sharpening and drill bit strength, as well as likelyhood of breaking. Could someone wiith machine shop experience please tell me. i was thinkinh of maybe m42 steel drill bits set. 115 bits 1/16"-1/2" by 1/64"th fractions, and then by 1/32" to 1". basicly something that we could buy this year and not replace anything other then maybe the wire gage bits for several years, with minimal or no sharpening. also does bit coating really matter if you end up sharpening them, might as well get something that would not really require sharpening. as far as i get it, coatings are used to reduce friction more then anything else. thanks i really apreciated. the backgrouond is that all of or bits from previous years are worn/dull/broken/bent we also wanted to get a drill press, which i hope we do, and in that case i think we would not have to worry about snaping bits. thank you all in advance.