# Lee Valley Short shank Drill bits A handy accessory



## degoose

I would love to live near a Lee Valley store. As it is … I order and then wait a few weeks for the boat to arrive…
The Joys of living in the land downunder…
This set of drill bits look very useful.. thanks for all your posts..


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## NBeener

Neat.

There's always just a BIT of suction, coming FROM Lee Valley and pulling ON my wallet.

If I EVER win the Lotto … Lee Valley is going to be very happy


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## Karson

Bob Nice review.


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## TheDane

Bob … Your review is right on. I bought these bits a few weeks ago, and they are terrific.


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## randi

Good review.
For those of us that fight the Lee Valley suction every day there are other solutions as well.

For brad point bits one could shorten the shank.

For twist bits, I prefer to save any broken ones and put new points on them.
I start mine on a grinder.
http://www.ehow.com/how_6028053_angle-bits-sharpening-bench-grinder.html
Then finish them on the drill doctor.

Drill doctor is one of THE best tools I have ever purchased.


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## boboswin

11 drills with hex shafts for non slip performance in my drill - $19.95= $1.80 a piece.
Doe yur drill doctor do Brad points too?


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## randi

Bob2, are you saying your bits slip in the chuck of your drill?
I haven't had that issue since I was a child personally.
And this is doing serious metal fab drilling in steel and other metals, never even came close to spinning one in a chuck in wood.
I would guess you need a new chuck for the suspect drill or to review your tightening technique.
Heck, even my cordless drills with hand tightening chucks don't slip.

My drill doctor does not sharpen brad points, but my bench grinder, and a narrow wheel does, along with me…the original drill doctor. 

Like you eluded to, drill bits are cheap, i'd bet some of the ones I have cut down over the years were half that $1.80 a piece price if you really want to get down to it.

My issue with the hex bits really doesn't apply to woodworking useage but if you were using those in situations like drilling steel, that transition from the drill shank to the hex shank is a huge stress riser, and a definite point of failure.


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## boboswin

Yes the drills slip on occasion when, as you say, I haven't tightened the chuck sufficiently. I also use a hammer drill that will only take hex bits so having two sets with me is a rather poor option.
I don't think waiting until I have a complete set of broken drills to refurbish is a really good option for me as I have a tendency to buy a half dozen of my most used sizes at a crack to save me time on a job.
I will rarely drill steel without using a tapping fluid which, incidentally, is also an added expense but greatly improves the life of my bits.
Lastly, $1.80 a bit does not seem a lot of money to me but then perhaps my income may be different than yours.


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## randi

No it's not a bad price, in my original post I was simply offering alternatives in frugal Yankee style.

We are such a throwaway society, and your average person doesnt think like people used to about reusing and re-purposing.

Example one could probably go to yard sales, put together a few sets of bits and sharpen them by hand or using a machine for less than one set of these new ones.

Do you mean you have an impact driver and you are drilling with it?


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## boboswin

Concrete fasteners.


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