I finally figured out why my drill bits keep breaking

I was going through a 20 pack of bits every couple months on the job site. Kept snapping them off in wood and metal, thought it was just bad luck or cheap bits. Then a old timer on a framing crew pointed out I was using the wrong speed for the material every time. He showed me how backing off the speed for metal and cranking it for wood keeps the bit from seizing up. Has anyone else had a simple adjustment like that fix a tool problem they were blaming on something else?

2 comments

2 Comments

noah91425d ago

Weren't you supposed to match the speed to the bit size too, or is that more about not burning up the wood?

cameron_webb25d ago

Yeah I used to think it was kind of a myth honestly, just something old timers said to sound smart. But I had a chance to test it side by side with two bits of different sizes and the difference was night and day. @noah914 the smaller bit wanted way more RPM or it would chatter and leave a rough cut, while the bigger one needed to slow way down or it would start smoking the wood. So yeah, you're right, it's not just about burning it up, it's about getting a clean cut and not wrecking the bit either. I had to eat crow on that one.