Best Type of Drill Bits from McMaster or Otherwise?

[JamesCH95]

To dreictly answer the OP - high speed steel jobbers bits are great for 90%+ of FRC applications. If you do a lot of wood drilling look into these bits: http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-drill-bits/=whoexm and if you do a lot of plastic drilling, particularly in brittle plastics, check out these bits: http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-drill-bits/=whof9y and for sheet metal and thin materials I like to use dedicated sheet-metal bits and/or step drills. Still, all of that said, it's hard to go wrong with high speed steel jobber bits for everything.

I would like to second the drill doctor. It can do a great job of keeping drill bits in good shape for a long time.

As with anything else in the shop: drill bits will treat you the way you treat them. Here are some rules that our team uses to keep drill bits functioning well. This is in addition to the good practice of looking up feeds and speeds for bit sizes and materials!

Rule 1: When drilling by hand use 1st gear for steel and 2nd (or 3rd) for aluminum. Overheating (usually when drilling steel) is the #1 cause of dead drill bits in my experience. Heating softens the drill bit material, causing it to dull very quickly. Dull bits heat up faster... it's a nasty cycle.

Rule 2: When drilling metals use a cutting fluid. There are numerous fluids that can be used for this, and you can spend a lot of money on them, but almost any oil will be better than nothing! In my garage I use whatever engine oil is handy, on the robotics team our shop has dedicated cutting oil. Just a bad will do ya. If this oil smokes, slow down and/or stop for a while (see Rule #1).

Rule 3: Pilot drill (almost) everything! The center part of most drill bits (the chisel) doesn't actually cut material, it pushed material out of the way. Pilot drills are usually sized just a little bit larger than the chisel of the bigger bit. Thus pilot drilling keeps larger bits cutting efficiently and reduces heat buildup. This is especially important when drilling by hand, when a person can't exert enough force to let the bit cut effectively if the chisel is engaged.

Rule 4: If the bit slips in the chuck get a coach or someone stronger to tighten the bit, and if you see damage from slippage file it down. This keeps bits spinning true. A wobbling bit is a sad bit.

Rule 5: Hand drills are always set down on their sides. I've seen many bits snapped off from a drill that tipped over. This can also knock the chuck off-center, which will cause issues when drilling.

Hope this helps!