Titanium vs Cobalt Drill Bit Review

TITANIUM vs COBALT drill bits and finding real titanium or cobalt bits is not so easy as ost to me looks good but looks don't cut it like the real thing.



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[JP-ecrl]

I'm a trucking company fleet mechanic.
I've got a $300 bit set. Yes they hold an edge well against steel but they're brittle and extremely easy to break. Everything is a tradeoff.
Buy cheap or reasonably priced bits and learn to use a drill doctor, especially if your employer is paying for your time but doesn't want to buy the bits necessary to repair their equipment.
99% of bit longevity is keeping the bit lubricated and keeping the speed down to maintain a reasonable temperature.

[plymouth]

I've just completed making a modeller's Photo Etch bender gizmo constructed from a 1.5mm stainless steel ruler. I had to drill fairly large holes to take some M5 bolts and slightly larger ones for compression springs and the HSS drills were worn down flat in minutes with little impression on the steel! In the end I sent off for a 16 piece set of drill bits called "Drill All" 3.0mm up to 10mm in half mm sizes (demonstrated on the Ideal World TV shopping channel - go through wood, metal, toughened glass, concrete, brick and stone in one operation!) Not cheap! The 16 set in a nice metal box cost just under £50 but they are guaranteed not to blunt, chip, bend or break for ten years with free replacements if they do. The drill went through that stainless steel in about ten seconds in the bench drill - expensive but worth every penny!

[johngibson]

Luckily I purchased my drill bit about 40 years ago so they are pretty decent. The newer ones don’t seem as good. Machinists are the best guy to ask about drill bits they spend big bucks on their bits. Great video.

[tbochette]

Cheap drill bits are terrible in anything harder than cheese. They always go about 1/3 of the way through steel and convert themselves to divot polishers.

[docthompson]

Titanium bits are coatings. If you sharpen them you get rid of the coating. Cobalt should be all the way through and can be sharpen.

[RichardsWorld]

Cobalt bits are awesome. Especially if you want to drill in to stainless steel. I think Molybdenum bits are a small step up from Cobalt bits though. Trying to find Molybdenum bits is a store would be tough, but you can buy them online.

[felixf]

To answer your question, I do buy inexpensive, disposable drills on occasion. I drill and thread metal daily and own multiples of the standard four indexes - fractional, metric, letter, wire gauge - along with 6/12-packs of specific sizes. Most folks wouldn't recognize the manufacturers; this tooling isn't sold in hardware stores. As far as commonly found drills go, I was impressed with (straight shank) Milwaukee Cobalt drills and would recommend them.

This being said, most of the time, the technique and a good press will make a bigger difference than the drill, itself. Folks should also keep in mind that Titanium Nitride is a coating that is meant to increase wear resistance and Cobalt is indicative of an alloy, a type of steel. A Cobalt drill can have a Titanium coating; the two are not mutually exclusive and neither factor is indicative of the quality of the base metal and the drill, itself. Same goes for Black Oxide. It's a name of a coating. That's all it is. Just a name. Good luck.

[FromSteelToWood]

I guess we get what we pay for, on maybe less! As you said, the average user may not see the difference. I buy the MasterCrap brand, on sale, but my expectations are limited. I usually get a few dozens of holes from a bit. And I move to the next one without hesitation! But I always work in mild steel, under the ideal conditions. Thanks!

[shovelhead]

Cobalt is right into the alloy of the steel. Titanium is just a coating on the outside that looks pretty. You get what you pay for. Thank you for the discussion, Steve

[freddaniali]

Steve, great video! I have a combination of high speed titanium, cobalt, and carbide. When I buy the high speed, I usually stick to Dewalt, Irwin, or Milwaukee. I do a lot of body work and sometimes the new panels are boron steel that chew through regular bits just like spring steel.

[jimsperlakis]

Steve, I'm a retired mfg engineer who's bought and used thousands of cutting tools. Drill Titanium is not what people think. Technically it's a titanium carbo-nitride coating, nicknamed TiC. It was developed to add lubricity. TiN, titanium nitride, was the other coating. Both were initially designed for carbide cutting tools. Today it's almost impossible to buy carbide tools without it but it's just a gimmick name for the cheap junk now. If you really want quality drills buy 8% Cobalt.

[georgecarra]

you sound like an honest bloke Steve, right down to earth. For me, I prefer to buy quality. I'm fed up with cheap drill bits that brake, snap, or wear out. Where there made? It not something that I trouble myself with. Really enjoy your videos, Cheers mate!

[wyattoneable]

I buy the bulk drill bits because I've never found a manufacture that I know are good. I see from the comments that a lot of guys like the colbalt bits so I'll have to consider those the next time I'm shopping. Thanks Steve.

[MFEeee]

I have 5 types of drill bits. HSS, Gold oxide, black oxide, gold/black oxide and a cobalt set. Pretty much one set dedicated to a specific material. They range from average brand to dewalt brand. I’ve had them for years and just grind them when they get dull. I use cutting oil when drilling. I have not had any issues. I’ve snapped perhaps five drill bits my whole life

[Pidalin]

Short version - "titanium" bits are only titanium coated, so when you want to sharp them, you destroy titanium layer on top, but cobalt is not coated, it's just hard cobalt steel so you can sharp them again. That's why proffesionals prefer cobalt. But you can buy titanium for small diameters (like 1-2 mm) because you probably break them before you blunt them.
BTW use left drill for removing screws sounds like good idea.

[vince]

I'm looking at purchasing a 14 piece Dewalt industrial cobalt drill bit set at Lowes for $60. I guess that's a good price. Thank you. You answered my question: titanium vs cobalt.

[AutobahnDan]

You probably seen my post on the Matco hyper step drill bits. I couldn’t find anything similar online, so I had to see what these were all about. They are definitely time savers! No more switching from a pilot hole drill bit to a large! It’s all in one. I was still pretty hesitant on buying them because of the hefty price tag. But my Matco dealer told me he would warranty the sizes smaller than 1/4 to sweeten up the deal. They’re China made, but they work very well so far. I see many people rave about them and my dealer sells a bunch of them. I can’t recommend them too much to people who don’t have a dealer, but worth a shot for people who are sick of drilling a pilot hole! Lol

[LifeWithChase]

Cobalt is all I buy, last several times longer. there is a local place that sells the irwin brand cobalt bits in the individual packages so if i'm drilling 3/8 holes I can buy 2-3 bits cause i'm likely to break one at some point. I don't really have an organized set.

[AnnieFarmerFarm]

That good advice buying cheap! I don't know if saw bits are similar but the cheap ones bend easy! Nice little collection your so organized I'm impressed !

[zoeycatt]

We do alot of professional work, and I still enjoy my cobalt bits with pilot start from lowes... I Don't sharpen anything anymore.. just use and throw away once dull.. we have expensive bit kits too, but must be sharpened. Cobalt for the win.