Yes I've had the same problem from a well known supplier, drills looked ok but the lips were not ground correctly, bought in packets of 10 very cheaply, about 4-5 usable, rest need re-grinding.

Tony

Not entirely sure that applies. OK maybe they get used less often but they should cut cleanly, cut to size and be straight, After all if you are drilling one hole or a 1000 you need the drill to do it's job. No need for us to go off and buy solid carbide drills in the larger sizes but the quality needs to be high if you are drilling at home or at work. The cheap sets are there to protect the engineering sets when you are doing building work or using a battery drill.

So yes, I agree with you except for your get out clause.

regards Martin

You can't expect massive-volume low-cost products to be individually checked.

"9,877,000 pieces per year" – that's an awful lot to check.

The factories will take a sample from each batch, and if its in spec, they will accept the batch otherwise it will be junked (or sold at the factory back door to find its way to you can guess where). You can never expect more than inspection by sample with bulk, cheap drills.

Even Dormer or similar will only check on a sample basis – probably a bigger sample and tighter tolerance, but if you want to be assured of quality be prepared pay as much for a single drill as you might for a whole set of cheap ones.

Titex use "Statistical Testing"

With automated manufacture there will always be ones that get incorrectly set and turn out wrong even with the very best manufacturers. If you buy affordable drills from respectable sellers you will egt teh odd duff one, but at least they will offer refund or replace.

Neil

For others that may be trying to cross index the three different measurement systems above, 17/64 is .266"

It may be worth checking cheap drills, I bought some cheapies and some were even bent. I wasn’t too disappointed as at the price I paid my expectations were not high and the odd dud in a pack of 10 can be lived with. Most of my drills are Dormer and I don’t think I have ever had a dud but their price and reputation should ensure satisfaction, I am sure the next post will be from someone who has had a duff Dormer, Ghuring,Titex etc. But despite good quality control a failure will get through.

Mike

I do have some boxed sets (1-10 in .1mm increments) of Dormer drills that were bought secondhand from a retired toolmaker, many hadn't even been used, some had been replaced with other top makes so a bargain was had.

I do have a very old (40 years) tinned set of Dormer imperial HSS drills but only ever buy single drills now in the size required for a job, always keep with the usual names for best results.

Emgee

Totally agree Larry for some cheapies that wont get used much or for a one off both them mentioned are alright. Not good just alright.
However theyre in different league to the cheap foreign imports supplied by shop brands.

Having stuff made in asia costs more to return than having them made and shipped, not to mention all the hassle dealing with the problems. Most companys employ full time teams to vet and put right asian imports. Unworthy goods are just passed on, what they gonna do scrap what theyve bought. Wont see many on a certain site or they would get negative feedback!

My advice dont buy tat its cheap for a reason, source proper branded goods from the manufacturer and not some shops brand.
Even then aboves nothing to do with wearability of which theres a whole different world. Base Osbourne, Titex Presto Dormer etc i wont buy, they dont last.

A drill will always measure undersize, assuming have good quality, drill undersize then go through with size and will often be close.

I am guilty too m'lud I have bought assorted drills from various places and found similar faults, negative rake, bowed or bent to the degree that they were unusable, what I did with some was to cut them short before the bowed section & use them as stub drills for general work. I have also found that although some measure undersize they still tend to drill oversize due to some very minor bowing so I tend to drill one size down & check then either finish with correct size or ream, if not too small, I find that this anomaly usually happens with small drills between 1mm > 2.5mm, so in the bin it goes.

Most of my small drills I have bought from 'UK Drills / Drills UK ( usual disclaimer ) in packs of 10' & have found them to be of good quality, with one or two that have to be binned, although a spectacle wearer ( varifocals ) I still can, using a loupe, bring a few back into use for general drilling. The best drills I have used have tended to be 'Guhring' & I believe these are 'rolled' rather than ground, at the end of the day it's still down to 'Caveat Emptor'

George.

I always drill first with a small pilot drill then a drill just smaller than the finished size, finally open the hole up with the required size, this avoids any drill point grinding coming into play and avoids oversize holes. I think it is an accepted fact that drills usually cut oversize if the drill point is dictating the cut.

Alan

I have seen new drills ( R/H ) that looked like they were sharpened on a machine designed for sharpening L/H drills !

That reminds me i have to set up my t&c and sharpen a lot of drills – dred !

Hah, you did it deliberately then

THAT looks more like an old fashioned stick of liquorice rather than a drill. I have broken many drills over the decades, but have never been able to bend one that much !!

Trevor.