HSS DRILL BITS

[Mag Man]

I am not sure if this is the right spot to post this or not but I always thought that HSS was a fairly desent company that made machinest tools and were a good brand,. But lately I bought some center drills made by HSS that say made in china and today in the mail I rec a whole set of HSS drill bits made in china to try out for 30 days. Should I just send them back and invest the money in a good sharpener for the bits I already Have?
JON

[Paul B]

The drill bit's I buy that have HSS on them mean they are made from High Speed Steel, not the companys name. High speed steel is a standard drill bit material. There may also be a company by the same name, but I have never heard of it.

[Mag Man]

So I see HSS is not a company. So if they say HSS china that means there high speed steel Junk I would imagine huh.
JON

[kinelbor]

I have used high speed steel bits for my metal work. I actually got a cheap set from HF. It was $10, 1/16th through 1/2 by 64ths. I have been very pleased with it actually. When it was sharp I got it to spiral out all the way through 1/4" steel. I wore out the 1/2 on the carryalls, and replaced it with another HSS from the hardware store. That was my plan, replace the ones I wear out with good ones. Just remember, lots of oil when drilling and they will last a long time.

[dracer398]

Mag Man,

I think that if you use drill bits made of HSS, for most jobs they will work fine. Something that may save some money in the long run is a Drill Doctor to re-sharpen them as they get dull.

Brian

[Eugene]

You can sharpen drill its by hand. It takes a bit of practice. Not hard or time consuming. The smaller bits are much easier to sharpen than the larger ones.

Most people use a bench grinder to sharpen drill bits. I use a 12 carbide sanding disc mounted in an old Shopsmith.

Eugene

[Davesaver]

If you go through a lot of drill bits a Drill Doctor is well worth the money. I pick up used drill bits all the time at garage sales now, take them home sharpen them and put em in the pile. Even a broken bit can be resharpened I normally bring them into the basic shape on my bench grinder before using the drill doctor to finish them up.

DaveL