cobalt drill bits - central maine area

[lostcause]

a little off from welding specifically, but since this forum includes general metalworking:

i know there's a few of you from this area who read here, so i figured i'd post this. i stopped in the bargain room at lakeview lumber in china today and they had two displays of irwin/hanson cobalt drill bits on the counter. prices for 1/16-1/4 ranged from $0.24 to $0.89, and going up to 1/2" it went up to $3.09.

basically that means you can get a 13 piece (up to 1/4") for under $7.00, and a full 29 piece set (up to 1/2") would be a little over $40.00. for decent quality cobalt drills that's not bad. the big plus is that they are all sold individually - you can buy lots of the ones that break easily for $0.25 to $0.50 each. they probably had 20-50 each of the smaller sizes and 10-20 each of the larger. great things if you have to drill stainless or other hard stuff.

 

[5030]

Many different grades (alloy's) of cobalt steel for tools.

The preferred alloy is M42 Cobalt alloy for stainless.

 

[lostcause]

Many different grades (alloy's) of cobalt steel for tools.

The preferred alloy is M42 Cobalt alloy for stainless.

to be honest i didn't look for specific markings to see whether they are m35 or m42, but if you want to replace an old hss drill bit set, then you probably won't do much better than this price, and whichever grade they are, it's really irrelevant. it's a decent bit at a cheap price. where else can you buy any 1/8" cobalt bits individually for $0.39?

 

[valley]

I find these way soft for stainless and angle iron from bed frames that is also hard.
I had occasion to drill bed frame today, the first hole the drill handled well the second hole the drill was damaged and couldn't finish the hole. I know that angle is very hard, but.

 

[lostcause]

I find these way soft for stainless and angle iron from bed frames that is also hard.
I had occasion to drill bed frame today, the first hole the drill handled well the second hole the drill was damaged and couldn't finish the hole. I know that angle is very hard, but.

i dunno what to say, other than not to worry. you're 3000+ miles from where they are being sold, so you probably aren't going to be jumping on a plane to get them anyways. i actually just had the occasion to bore a small hole along the axis of a stainless bolt i had chucked up in the lathe, and the drill handled it just fine. i never tried to say that these were the end all of bits, just that they are available cheaply for anyone in the area. you can't buy individual hss bits for this price anywhere around here, and for less money i'd still choose these over plain hss if i had something tougher to drill. i'm not sure what you are using, but i don't doubt that you've got some sort of unobtanium alloy bits that do wonders in the hardest of materials.

i guess it's officially time to stop making any posts trying to offer useful information on this site. the contrarian population will try to nullify anything said. the purpose was only to tell anyone in the local area that there were some decent drill bits for sale at pretty reasonably prices. i never realized that telling someone that there was something for sale would cause a debate.

 

[Baby Grand]

the contrarian population will try to nullify anything said.

No they won't. Sorry, couldn't resist.

Lostcause - Keep posting good intel like cheap Co bits. For that price it's tempting to get in the car & go for a ride.

 

[jake98]

I'd like to get my hands on a set of unobtainium bits.. good one!:laughing:

 

[5030]

i dunno what to say, other than not to worry. you're 3000+ miles from where they are being sold, so you probably aren't going to be jumping on a plane to get them anyways. i actually just had the occasion to bore a small hole along the axis of a stainless bolt i had chucked up in the lathe, and the drill handled it just fine. i never tried to say that these were the end all of bits, just that they are available cheaply for anyone in the area. you can't buy individual hss bits for this price anywhere around here, and for less money i'd still choose these over plain hss if i had something tougher to drill. i'm not sure what you are using, but i don't doubt that you've got some sort of unobtanium alloy bits that do wonders in the hardest of materials.

i guess it's officially time to stop making any posts trying to offer useful information on this site. the contrarian population will try to nullify anything said. the purpose was only to tell anyone in the local area that there were some decent drill bits for sale at pretty reasonably prices. i never realized that telling someone that there was something for sale would cause a debate.

No, it's not. If I lived close by and needed some drill bits, I'd truck over and grab some, but alas, I'm too far too.

There is a fine line between poking fun and debating as shown by the current crop of professional politicians......

Frankly, I never heard of Unobtaninum Alloy drill bits. Are those the ones that can drill Kryptonite?

For the life of me, I never could figure out why anyone would use (or attempt to use old bed frames (which have to be the cheapest form of angle steel ever made) to make anything except a trip to the scrap yard. That stuff is crap.

 

[deereman75]

uld figure out why anyone would use (or attempt to use old bed frames (which have to be the cheapest form of angle steel ever made) to make anything except a trip to the scrap yard. That stuff is crap.

I can see using them if you are one of those artists who makes scrap metal sculptures.:laughing:

 

[jake98]

I can see using them if you are one of those artists who makes scrap metal sculptures.:laughing:

wouldn't that make them 'crap metal sculptures'?