Quick Drill Bit question...

BrandNewDay

I'd like to buy my husband a big pack of assorted drill bits for Christmas. I just wanted to check and make sure: they're generally universal, right? He just has some generic cordless hammer drill from B&Q. (I don't know what a "hammer drill" is but that's what it says on the thing.)

I'd like to get him a big pack of bits and wanted to make sure before I bought!

Thanks!

love_lifer

hiya

drill bits are universal in terms of fitting but vary depending on the material you want to drill into- wood, masonry, metal or plastic. so depends what he will be using them for as to which type you get. you can get assorted bits if needed

Ebe_Scrooge

As Love Lifer said, the fitting of the bits will be standard, you get different types for drilling into different materials.

However, I'd be wary of buying a big tub of assorted bits, purely on the grounds of quality. I did exactly the same thing myself many years ago, bought an assorted bag that I thought would come in handy. First time I used one of the masonry bits, it blunted after drilling about 1/8 " deep. So I bought a decent masonry bit of the size I needed ( it's not mega expensive, probably 2 or 3 quid - but that's a lot more than the equivalent in a mixed bag ), and that's still going strong to this day. So I'm not saying you have to spend a fortune, but it's probably much better in the long run to buy a smaller selection of decent quality bits. Especially as the average DIY-er will usually only require a limited range of sizes.

latecomer

one thing to check is whether its an SDS/SDS plus drill as they can use a different type of drill bit.

Apart from that just make sure you buy a decent quality set as cheap ones are a serious false economy.

kaya

What scrooge said , they are cheap for a reason and usually blunt/bend/snap if put under any type of pressure

BrandNewDay

Hey! Thanks for that!

OddjobKIA

B&Q do a roll of drill bits for around £20 ish they are not to bad...if only used for the odd job around the house...

point3

Did you buy him socks last Christmas?

TimBuckTeeth

I would avoid a combination drill bit set (wood, metal and masonry), the quality is not usually very good. Avoid cheap ones that have over 20 bits for £10-£20.
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7017261/Trail/searchtext>DRILL+BIT.htm
This may be OK for drilling wood, not very good for metal and useless for brick.
Poor quality drill bits are a waste of money as they go blunt quickly and will drain the battery in the drill.

These masonry bits are good quality and make quick work of bricks :
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/88598/Drill-Bits/Drill-Bit-Sets/Masonry-Sets/DeWalt-Extreme-2-Masonry-Drill-Bit-Set-5-Pc

These set of bits for wood and metal are reasonable quality and have a good range of sizes :
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/78515/Drill-Bits/Drill-Bit-Sets/HSS-Sets/Erbauer-HSS-Titanium-Drill-Bit-Set-25-Pc

ic

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/79950/Drill-Bits/Combination-Sets/Titan-Combination-Drill-Bit-Set-405-Pieces

Contains hole saws, masonry, wood, metal/plastic, screw bits - everything! Should be perfect for the DIY-ist. I personally have always just bought el-cheapos and replaced them as they become blunt. They had these stacked up in store at the weekend.

27col

Cheap tools are OK for occasional DIY projects. If you are doing it regularly then you soon find out which tools that you need to upgrade. It is amazing how cheap tools have become, and they are not all rubbish, quite ok for the odd job. That said, it is really nice to occassionally buy a high quality tool, which you know will last indefinitely. I have many tools which date from the 60's and 70's and they are still perfectly usable. The most wear on drill bits occurs to masonry drills, if you are buying sds drills they will usually be quite good quality. By the way, you can buy keyless chucks to convert an sds to hold standard drills. They are very cheap on ebay.
I use my Bosch battery drill where I can, and my Skil sds drill where I need to. Most battery powered drills will make heavy weather of drilling masonry, so, unless it's into a mortar joint, I will use my sds drill. Mainly because of the superb hammer action.
I have found that in the main, you are just as likely to misplace a drill bit as to wear it out. You can't have too many tools in my opinion, I hate not being able to find the particular favourite tool that I want for a job, even though I have an alternative that I can use.