Brad Point Bits

The only cons I can think of are:

1. The greater expense upfront to purchase quality HSS brad-point bits

2. They are a bit more work to sharpen.. but I heard from a fellow woodworker that a higher end BitDoctor tool can sharpen them.. I haven’t verified that yet..

As for the pros: 1. No tear out… entering or exiting..

-- Scott, Colorado

Higher cost of production due to more difficulty in sharpening.

Brad point bits are also not particularly strong when cutting very hard materials like Steel.

For woodworking applications, they rock. I have a set on my wish list, for metal working, I wouldn’t use them.

The advantages of course, no skating, no tear out etc… make them well worth the investment.

-- Trying to follow the example of the master.

Another question in the same vein. I’ve just coughed up a fair amount of money (over $200 equivalent) to Dieter Schmid Fine Tools in Germany for a set of Famag HSS-G brad point bits from 1mm to 16mm – on the basis that i wanted to be able to drill consistently clean holes without problems and wasn’t wild about the performance of cheaper hardware store types I’d bought locally.

They’ve just arrived and i’ve not tried them yet, but they look and feel absolutely beautiful, are very precisely ground and seem razor sharp.

But i can’t help wondering what if anything paying this much buys when i see some of the big US tool houses offering something nominally similar at a fraction of the price. (trouble is they are in imperial sizes which is a bit of an issue for me too)

Similar questions arise in buying Forstner bits – a set of 15 metric Famag Bormaxes rated for use in hardwood comes in at around $350 – but again you see ‘HSS’ Forstner’s for sale for a fraction of that.

On the other hand my current set of cheap Forstners is a pain – many wouldn’t even drill without considerable reworking as the angles were ground all wrong, and even then they seemed to be made of cheese…

I’ve not worked up the courage to plump for the Forstners yet, but i’m very tempted by the idea (if it’s true) of buying good stuff once as i hate junk tools :-)

Thoughts???

ian

-- Late awakener....

The biggest advantage I have found for twist drills is if you need to resize a hole. Brad point and forster bits won’t find center but twist drill bits will.

JMK

-- JMK

I think that both brad points and twist drills have their place. I don’t see it as an either/or situation.

-- Build for the joy of it!