Where and how does one get a QUALITY drill bit set now days?

[shortylickens]

https://www.lowes.com/pd/IRWm

$19.98

IN-17-Piece-Spade-Bit-Set/50433648

Thats the set I bought a couple years ago. More pieces than almost all other spade sets, and quality construction. Not to mention a sleek little case.

 

[Micrornd]

https://www.lowes.com/pd/IRWm

$19.98

IN-17-Piece-Spade-Bit-Set/50433648

I have an older set I just sharpen when they start to get dull so I never noticed, but, I wonder when they stopped putting the small hole in the business end of the spade/paddle bits?

Even more, I wonder how few of us are left that know what it is for ?

 

[crashtech]

I thought wood shop guys used to hang them up on a pegboard, but that practice seems to be falling out of favor.

 

[Micrornd]

No, the holes aren't big enough for that.
You'll see reference to the hole being used for cable pulling, but just a little thought about the shortness of the bits tells you that's not it.
The hole is/was used for a pilot guide allowing the bits to enlarge an already drilled hole and have it stay concentric and true.
The guides slip over the bit and are held in place by a small screw that goes through the hole and the guides have 2 separate hole to accommodate the hole position in bit from different manufacturers
These photos are of my pilot guides.

https://ibb.co/hD50Qb
https://ibb.co/jGm75b
https://ibb.co/eXp5rG

 

[dave_the_nerd]

The bargain basement stuff is usually HSS. Carbide is a step up. I've never seen a "ceramic" bit, but I wouldn't be surprised if they exist.

The only metallic coated stuff is probably Titanium coating (usually gold) and it's not a bad thing.

Even cheap bits will work fine in wood, especially soft pine, although expensive ones keep sharp longer, so tend to cut cleaner. Thing is, if you're free-drilling with narrow (<1/8") bits and hit a knot at an angle, snapping a bit is just part of the day. The drill jerks, your hand twists, and the resin grabs. Boom. Done.

Not just knots, either - I've found staples and brads embedded in studs I've bought (to square up and plane down into knotty pine for furniture), which turned a "cheap" pine piece into a very expensive replacement blade.

The only solution I've found is to go slow, and to use a drill press or a guide whenever it's possible.

Using a lower-end cordless drill actually helps here - it doesn't have enough torque to snap a bit, it just stops. And it tends to put a cap on how fast you can drill holes.