Which drill bit to use

They can be used at a much higher speed than solid drill bits and on a wider variety of materials. They are more economical because you can replace the inserts when they become worn.

Replacing an insert can be done very quickly. They also have several cutting surfaces per insert. Solid drill bits have the advantage of being more rigid.

They are suitable for small diameters and tight tolerances. If they become worn, they can easily be reset sharpened. The drill bits listed below are the most commonly used. Main fit. Drill bit material. Drill bits and cutting inserts come in a variety of materials, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. There are drill bits with specific geometries depending on the materials to be drilled. Learn more. Your email address will not be published.

Furthermore, tapered drill bits help to avoid ripping up the wood. A masonry or concrete drill bit is the preferred option for drilling very hard materials like concrete, natural stone or granite. For drilling soft to medium-density tiles, you can use a special tile drill bit with a diamond-ground carbide tip.

To prevent the drill from slipping off the surface, try sticking some tape to the tiles first and then drilling the hole. Some advice: start on a low speed setting and then gradually increase it as the drill bores deeper into the material. Apply moderate pressure to begin drilling the hole, then light to very light pressure as you proceed.

The diameter of the drill bit you choose will depend on how big a hole you want to drill. Most drill bits nowadays have diameters of between 1 mm and 20 mm. You can also determine the size of the drill bit based on the screws you want to use. The diameter of the hole you drill should be slightly smaller than the diameter of the screw. If you're using wall anchors as well as screws, the drill bit and anchors should have the same diameter.

The diameter of the drill bit and the material you want to use it on will also determine the drill speed. The diameter of the bit can usually be found in a box in the top-left corner, whilst the total and working length can be seen on the tape measure along the edge of the packaging. Sometimes you need to drill special types of holes or drill into unusual materials. If you need to drill all the way through a material, you need to make a through hole — a good example of this is our hanging lights project.

This is called a blind hole. If you only have one drill bit that is longer than the material thickness, you can mark up the depth of the hole on the drill with tape.

If you need a drill with a bigger diameter, the Forstner bit is your best option. Deep holes are similar to blind holes, except here the holes are particularly deep at least five times deeper than the drill diameter.

You can use a step drill bit to quickly and precisely drill holes in non-ferrous metals, sheet steel and plastics. Wood spade bits are also called paddle bits because of their wide, flat shape.

This is because spade bits cause splintering when they pierce all the way through a piece of wood. Hole saw bits are similar to wood spade bits, but they have a few key differences. However, this also means they have to cut a hole right the way through a surface.

You can easily identify a hole saw bit thanks to their distinctive serrated edge. These bits have a circular, flat cutting edge surrounding a short centre pilot point. These bits can cut holes at an angle and they can even bore overlapping holes. If you need clean holes bored with precision, this is the way to go! Sanding drums are incredibly useful things to have around the house! They let you precisely sand down wood, so they can be used to correct warping in water-damaged door frames, sand down splintered bannisters, and more.

If the material is an unusual shape, a sanding drum might be a bit awkward to use. Countersink bits look a bit like arrows from the side — they have a fluted, cone-shaped tip.

They bore a cone-shaped recess in wood which allows the screw to fit snugly into the hole without jutting out. Brush bits are very simple, but they come in many varieties. Resolution is normally about 0. You can buy a purely mechanical vernier calipers, which has a vernier scale. Alternatively an electronic calipers displays the result on an LCD scale which can be read directly.

The advantage of an electronic calipers is that the display can be read directly, switched between imperial inch and metric and the jaws can be zeroed to cope with any drift or wear. Vernier calipers top and electronic calipers bottom. Public domain image via Pixabay. This Neiko electronic calipers is recommended as a best buy by Amazon. It has a higher than normal resolution of 0. The LCD display is extra large and the body is manufactured from stainless steel cheap calipers are made from plastic.

Hold the drill with the trigger handle horizontally in the "3 o'clock" position and the side handle in the "12 o'clock" vertical position. If the drill bit sticks, the power drill will turn violently counterclockwise, the side handle will get pushed into the palm of your hand and you may just about be able to hold it before you release the trigger. If you hold both handles in the "6 o'clock" position i.

This will almost certainly happen if it is a high power drill without a safety slip chuck. In any case, hold a drill tightly and brace your arms, ready for the unexpected. If you dispense with gloves and work barehanded which inevitably happens because it's difficult to handle small drill bits and parts with gloves , a hand cleanser will do a better job than soap at removing grime and is pretty much essential for.

It's also good for removing oil paint, tar, soot and general garden grime. Narrow diameter HSS, cobalt or titanium drill bits are easily broken, even by pros, so a little care needs to be taken when using them. Over time, drill bits can become magnetized so they collect shavings while you're drilling. This can interfere with the drilling process by increasing friction, clogging the flutes and getting in the way of the cutting edge so that it can't shave through a hole properly.

A demagnetizing tool is a useful gadget for removing magnetism from drill bits, screwdrivers and other tools. Often these de-magnetizing tools can also be used for magnetizing. This is useful for instance for magnetizing the tip of a screwdriver. The tip then holds the screw when you need to drive it in an inaccessible location where you can't fit your fingers.

Drill bits can become magnetized and collect metal shavings, which may interfere with the drilling process. A de-magnetizing tool removes magnetism from a drill bit. Apart from the drill bit not being sharp, a common mistake by newbies is to set their drill on reverse so that the bit turns the wrong way.

A bit should turn clockwise when looking from the chuck towards the tip of the bit. With some skill, you can learn to sharpen a drill bit on the fine grit wheel of a bench grinder. However the bit needs to be held to the wheel at a relatively precise angle, which takes a bit of practice. An alternative is to use a sharpening tool like this one by Drill Doctor. These machines are basically composed of a motor driving a small grindstone. To sharpen a drill, you insert it in the appropriate sized hole in the top of the sharpening tool and twist it a few times.

Not directly, but you can fit a standard keyed or keyless chuck. This enables non-SDS conventional round shank drill bits to be used. Note that you normally can't use these chucks with hammer action for drilling masonry. Pillar drills also known as bench drills, pedestal drills or drill presses are common machine tools tools in a workshop or industrial setting.

They consist of a base that rests on a floor or bench, an attached column, adjustable table that can slide up and down the column usually with a vice attached , a drill head that drives a spindle and a chuck.

A motor inside the drill head drives the spindle via a pulley or gear arrangement. A lever with three or four handles is used to move the spindle and chuck vertically. A pair of pulleys with stepped diameters inside the drill head are connected using a v-belt.

By adjusting the position of the belt on the two pulleys, the rotational speed of the spindle can be varied. This control of gear ratio allows high speed, low torque to be selected for small diameter drill bits and vice versa for larger diameter bits.

The bench drill version of the pillar drill is ideal for DIYers because it is more portable and can be located on a workbench.

Content is for informational or entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional advice in business, financial, legal, or technical matters. Question: Which type of drill bit do I need for metals such as nickel and zinc? Answer: You can use HSS bits, but drill bits are available with a partially ground tip for drilling softer materials such as zinc, aluminum, and nickel.

Question: What type of drill bits can be used for metals like copper; especially copper cathode plates?