Which Drill Bit Is Better? - Kevin Caron

#drillbits #tools #KevinCaronArt

Artist Kevin Caron tests 3 types of drill bits head to head ...

Kevin Caron has a drawerful of drill bit cases in his toolbox, some little ones and some bigger ones. One has about 100 bits in it. But what kinds of drill bits are they? And what do you use them for? Which type of drill bit is best? Which one's going to last the longest?

Kevin Caron shows some Snap-on Thunder Bits, a high speed steel drill bit.

He shows a small case of Bosch drill bits he picked up in the Big Orange store. They are titanium coated drill bits - you can tell by the gold color. Kevin Caron thinks they they are just high speed steel - don't quote him on that - with a titanium coating over the top. They're supposed to last the longest.

Next Kevin Caron shows some TTP bits, which showed up in the mail. He wonders if they are fairly new because he's never heard of them.

Kevin Caron shows a piece of 1/8" 308 stainless steel he'll use to test the bits. Stainless steel is the hardest of all the metals he has to cut.

He sets up a 1/4" Thunder Bit from Snap-on the drill press. He has a weight to put on the handle each time so he is not affecting the pressure on the handle.

Kevin Caron also has a can of Cut It cutting paste from TTP. He thinks it is supposed to be like a wax or a gel, but it's a little bit soupy because it's 100+ degrees outside. He's going to put a dab of Cut It on the metal before he starts each hole.

He puts on his safety equipment and turns on the drill press with the high speed Snap-on drill bit in place. It squeals a little bit and takes some time to complete the hole.

Kevin Caron moves the stainless steel over, puts in the Bosch titanium 1/4" bit in and drills again. It was not looking good for the titanium bit so he adds some weight to the handle. The bit is not cutting, so Kevin Caron finally turns off the drill and removes the Bosch bit.

Finally, he uses the TTP 1/4" drill bit. "It likes a little more pressure," says Kevin Caron, putting some pressure on the handle. Finally the sound changes and wood emerges from the hole - the bit has gone through.

Kevin Caron shows the piece of stainless steel with the 3 drilled areas. He explains how the pitch on the end of the bit can make a difference.

The Snap-on drill bit actually seemed fastest. The Bosch just gave up and wouldn't cut at all. The TTP did a good job. Its hole looks pretty straight and true, but it wanted a little bit more pressure on the handle than the Snap-on bit. Kevin Caron thinks that is the result of the pitch.

Kevin Caron would use either one of these types of drill bits.

As far as the Cut It cutting paste, Kevin Caron has been using it on his lathe for a little while, and it works great there.

Before you go, though, see Kevin learn about the effects of summer ....

"Inspired sculpture for public & private places."

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[vitesseguy]

Thanks for all of your great videos. However, in this case, the comments section may be more helpful than the video.
Judging by the tiny chips and slow progress I'd say: 1)Slow your drill speed by quite a lot 2)Increase pressure until you start to get spiral chips 3)you need cooling more than lube. Keep adding whatever liquid you are using.

[dannyakatrikerred]

My experience with working in the Dairy industry for 15 years and a lot of stainless is, if you have to drill it, you use a hand drill and you drill in short burst with a decent amount of pressure, the stainless won't work harden and you won"t burn up the bit.

[customhaines]

The titanium coating is meant to release heat more quickly than plain HSS. It is also slick promoting the release of chips when cutting materials that tend to gaul. When cutting stainless, slow the turn speed down and slightly increase the feed rate. This reduces friction and therefore heat and work hardening while making the bit cut. There are formula for speed/feed rate ratios that are specific to base material and tool material. The best bits for stainless in my experience are cobalt. I am not familiar with the lubrication product you used in the video so I can't comment on it. Wax lubricants are great for aluminum, but for stainless use dark thread cutting oil.

[jvmiller]

Cobalt bits are the best for almost any material. That and learning how to sharpen them correctly. Sharpening bits free hand on a grinder was one of the best things I ever learned when taking machine tooling classes in vo-tech almost 30 yrs ago now. You don't need no piolet points or nothing fancy just a good old 118 degree included angle and you are good to go. A good set of cobalt bits will last most people a life time if you learn the proper way to keep them sharp. I even take broken bits and sharpened a new tip. I don't throw away bits unless they are a nub to short to do any good. Of course you also got to know how to use them and most people don't. They need good firm pressure and slower rpm so the bit will cut. That and keep them cool with some sort of cutting fluid. When you hear them squealing you are dulling the bit. It causes friction and friction heats the metal and bit and will harden the metal especially on stainless. Try some cobalt's on that stainless you will be impressed.

[stefanm]

Hi Kevin, thank you for this video. I would like to ask you, can you make video about sharpening drill bits? It would meen a lot for guys like me newbies.

I usually use black oxide bits works best for me. I have a surplus store by me and buy random size bits usually from the RI arsenal, or local industry mostly odd sizes, just use them to get the hole through, then use a final size bit. Also have a tap size drill set with the taps from KBC and I cant hurt those. Great video!

[felixf]

Obviously, the results hinge on the pressure exerted on a given drill. Why would that be a constant? I understand that one wanted to minimize the variables, but this simply isn't how it works. Too, the press has enough runout to be used as a blender. Wouldn't be a bad idea to centerpunch the material and help to guide the drill along.

[robertoswalt]

You might want to try the test again by sharpening them again and then adding more weight to the handle. As others have said, stainless tends to work harden and if the bits were slightly dull they would rub more than cut causing the metal to harden as the bits tried to cut.

[dmadere]

I have now had much success with any titanium coded bits. The coating is thin and wears off quickly.

[miloszivkovic]

Titanium nitride is for durability only, tungsten carbide and crio treated is best

[GibClark]

Old timer scolded me, now when drilling stainless on jobsite I have changed to just flooding it with water. Saves the bits. Stainless quickly becomes work hardened as you drill it so keeping the contact area cool is essential . I'm old just not as old as him lol. I quit destroying hole saws. Usually there are partial water bottles everywhere, just poke hole and squeeze

[DENicholsAutoBravado]

Gosh, I hope you edited this up from earlier in the hotter part of the summer and that it isn't still so hot!

[mikedelam]

You know this is cutting so slow it’s work hardening. That wasn’t enough pressure either.

[treyrags]

As others have stated stainless work hardens and that is the challenge when drilling. A common misconception is that it is harder than steel. In its "normal" state it is actually softer than carbon steel

[apenza]

Slow speed and water for cooling works for me.

[AndrewBrowner]

i promise any drill bit snap on sells isnt worth the money, focus on material first and brand second, TiN (Titanium Nitrate) coated bits are the cheapest and are pretty worthless for doing alot of holes in steel, theyll do a few though, CoHSS (Cobalt High speed steel) is what you want typically 5% cobalt with M2 steel, alot of brands sell these types of bits, Norse, Walter, Milwuakee, ect theyll cut mild steel all day with no coolant at all if given the proper speeds and feeds for bit size, and they can be resharpened as theyre not coated in the cutting material but uniform throughout, sharpen a TiN bit and itll be even more worthless then before, theyre great for things that you know will break a bit like drill into a truck frame at a funny angle with no room or a right angle pneumatic drill that spins too fast and has no torque you an sacrifice them as theyre sold in boxes of 300+ for 60$

[PlayerSalt]

What ive always found a bit funny about those titanium bits is titanium is not yellow it looks basically like different shade of steel

[michael.stares]

It may also help if you slow you drill down.

[skoue]

without the bits being new it really doesn't say much about them. And I'm not sure you had enough weight, going slow can work harden the material and then that bit ain't going nowhere.

[InverJaze]

Cobalt drill bits seem better at cutting harder metals.