Flutterby™! : $5 for a 1/8" Twist Drill? 2010-12-27 05:23:24.444541+00

$5 for a 1/8" Twist Drill?

2010-12-27 05:23:24.444541+00 by Dan Lyke 2 comments

Christopher Schwarz: Yuppie Tools: A True Accounting:

I'll tell you what I think is expensive: $1,000 laptops that I have to replace every two years to run the software necessary for publishing. (Those are the same disposable laptops that are used for criticizing $50 chisels.)

Bridge City Toolworks: $5 for a 1/8″ Twist Drill? Only in America…:

... I learned that those four bits were properly hardened. The remaining 115 bits were made with what I call pot metal. The reason?

“Because those are the only four hole sizes that Americans use.”

So when you buy those 119 piece $19.95 bit sets at the big box store, you're spending $5 a bit...

Via.

I have several $19-25 drill bit sets, they are perfect for plastic and soft wood. Then I have a handful of drill bits I bought at Atlas Bolt and Tool on E. Main. The kind of place that sells $2k+ hammer drills and bolts in varying hardness and configurations for specific industrial applications. I paid $100 for a set of eight 1/4" drill bits, I have finally burned one out. I also have some other common sizes I paid $10-$50 each for, every one is as sharp and shiny as new, even though I have abused them in drill presses and very high speed drills. And I still have a handful of old Hanson drill bits that refuse to die.. after 25+ years of occasional use.

There is something miraculous about good quality properly hardened steel (and alloys).

One of the members of a mailing list I'm on is notorious for saying "I'm too poor to buy cheap tools."