Feeds & Speeds Calculators - hss drill feeds and speeds

Thanks to the cobalt steel blend, plan on sharpening these when the tips grow dull from use. The value of this kit makes these the best drill bits for steel.

These bits drill quickly through concrete then continue right through rebar. You really can’t find much else on the market that competes at this point, so it’s an easy recommendation for productivity. We believe in charging your accessories to the job—so if a simple bit can save you time and money, it’s a huge win in our book. Pricing goes anywhere from $6–$206.

Finally, and our main reason for this look at the impact of log size, is the changing face of the Canadian forest products sector in many regions. As the forest industry re-tools and re-invents, many regions have lost or may soon lose their historical pulp wood clients. This is especially true in Atlantic Canada (and border states), parts of Quebec and Ontario, and Saskatchewan. So if your clients for your logs, big and small, are now principally solid wood players with perhaps an emerging bioenergy sector on the side, it’s perhaps worth considering who we’re now growing trees for and who we’re likely to be selling them to in the coming decades. Private landowners may have more latitude on this front, but Crown land managers may also want to consider how we manage (spacing, pre-commercial and commercial thinning) and when we harvest our future resource.

Because they work effectively in both metal and wood, any Pro looking for a general-purpose set of hole saws should quickly fall in love with their productivity. It vastly outperforms bi-metal blades and tackles those materials carbide wood hole saws can’t (or shouldn’t) touch. You can buy kits from $105-$190

When he's not playing with the latest power tool, Clint DeBoer enjoys life as a husband, father, and is an avid reader—especially the Bible. He loves Jesus, has a degree in recording engineering, and has been involved in multimedia and/or online publishing in one form or another since 1992.

The bits feature the expected 135° split point, which gives you a nice, steady, and productive drilling speed. The jobber length bits work perfectly in cordless drills for onsite drilling. They come manufactured to the National Aerospace Standard 907. Because of how hard they are, you can drill up to 30% faster than you can with conventional M2 high-speed steel bits. Drill America also doesn’t grind down the shafts on its larger bits—so you get more rigidity, but you also need a 1/2-inch chuck to drive them.

These comparisons are also key to loggers, especially private woodlot contractors, bidding on potential contracts. The simulations may be theoretical, but the percentage differences are real enough to consider closely when looking at a stand of small wood. Also, as the industry emerges from the current doldrums, and entrepreneurs from central Newfoundland to northeastern New Brunswick and the central interior look at suddenly-available small log supplies, grasping these factors will be central to any business plan.

One important aspect of today’s markets is the percentage of wane-free, or square-edge lumber, a mill makes, as these are the products in demand by the big box hardware stores. The percentage of wane-free lumber climbs dramatically with the move from 5- to 6-in. SED (by 46%), as well as by the move to 10-in. SED (94%). Finally, value recovery, the total value recovered per cubic metre log volume processed, also climbs with log size, from $74.17 for products made from that 16-ft., 5-in. SED log to almost $80 (8%) from the 6-in. SED log and almost $98 (31%) from a 10-in. piece. Value gains come from higher cubic recovery, a greater percentage of wane-free lumber, and a greater percentage of wides produced (2x10s).

High-Speed Steel (HSS) Drill Bits present an upgrade over older carbon steel bits. Able to hold up better to excessive heat and wear, they make up a majority of drill bits sold on the mass market. You can use these bits for just about anything—so they serve as a jack-of-all-trades for both wood and metal applications. HSS dulls very quickly when used on more abrasive material.

Irwin gives these bits a Speedpoint tip. It helps get the hole started quickly and reduces wandering. We also have to admit these became our best step bits for metal in part because Irwin laser-etched the measurements right on the inside of the flute. They don’t wear off quickly like other bits we’ve used.

With titanium nitride, you have to remember it only coats the bit. As the coating wears off the cutting edges, you pretty much have to replace them. Don’t use these bits for drilling hardened steel or stainless—not if you want them to last.

Listed in our best drill bits article, Milwaukee Red Helix cobalt bits use a variable flute design that clears away debris quickly. How quickly? About 30% faster than most other 135° split-tip bits we tested against. Their unique design not only helps them drill efficiently, but it also aids in cooling. The trade-off is that these bits thin out more towards the tip. Milwaukee countered this by making them a bit shorter than some others we’ve seen. However, they also extended the flutes lower towards the shaft. The result is a more compact bit with a similar drilling depth.

Our best Cobalt drill bits for metal drilling are made from an alloy of 8% cobalt (M42). You can also find these bits with a 5% cobalt blend (M35). Since the cobalt is blended into the steel, it doesn’t wear away like a titanium or black oxide coating. That also means you can sharpen them with something like the Drill Doctor 750X drill bit sharpener before having to replace them. This helps save money when you buy these more expensive bit sets. Cobalt bits are our go-to for drilling through metal—particularly hardened steel and stainless steel.

The charts and spreadsheets on which this article is based came to us from HALCO Software Systems’ well-known SAWSIM sawmill simulation software. As always with such simulations, we’ve made a few assumptions.

DeWalt puts out tons of new products every year, covering everything from core contractor tools to specialty trade-focused ones. It […]

Brad Turner is a principal with HALCO Software Systems Ltd. in Vancouver, B.C., and can be reached at 604-731-9311, ext.102, or by e-mail at bradt@halcosoftware.com. Scott Jamieson is the group publisher and former editor of Canadian Wood Products and can be reached at (519) 428-3471, or by e-mail @ sjamieson@annexweb.com.

Once the resulting stems hit the mill deck, the difference in production, unit costs, and sawmill profitability grows.  Log volume (or how much solid wood your sawline can “hold” at any given time) jumps a whopping 45% with an extra inch SED, and a staggering 290% by doubling SED to 10 inches. Gains in lumber production per log are even more pronounced thanks to the nature of getting square products from a round raw material – 57% more lumber per log with a 1-in. gain in SED, or almost 400% with a 10-in. log. Productivity per hour climbs as a result, by 47% for a 6-in. log and 200% for a 10-in. log (although the logs contain much more volume per lineal foot, line speed must slow down to allow the cutting tools to handle the “bigger bite”).

To make it even better, you get a nice kit with clearly labeled bit sizes. The largest bits also feature the DeWalt Pilot Point which presents walking at the start of drilling.

Bosch CO21B 21pc Cobalt M42 Metal Drill BitFor Pros looking for a reliable kit that should last a long time while providing plenty of options, this 21-piece kit delivers.

Ryobi puts out tons of new products every year, covering everything from tools to lawn care and even lifestyle products. […]

All food for thought as you look over these comparisons and charts relating log size to sawmill production, lumber recovery, product mix, product value, and relative logging costs to roadside.

You can find many types of drill bits made with an equally diverse amount of coatings and compositions. When it comes to the best drill bits for metal, however, only a few materials hold up well over time.

Take the small end diameter (SED) 16-ft. sawlog examples we’ve used to run the simulations for this article. Start with a “typical” SYP mill SED of 9 inches, move to today’s average of a 7-inch SED at a B.C. central interior canter line, and then sadly come to rest at an average SED of 5 inches you might expect in a northern Quebec dimension mill. Never mind that the latter two originate some 1,000 kilometres or more from the market; intuitively we know we’d never pay the same cubic metre charge for these logs. And with good reason. As the comparative Production per Log chart shows, even an inch difference in SED can severely impact a mill’s productivity and profitability, and thus what it can afford to pay for its logs.

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Our team grabs Irwin Unibit Cobalt Step Bits for any quick thin metal drilling applications. The cobalt blend gives these bits a much longer life. Since step bits are both expensive and extremely difficult to sharpen, we like them to last as long as possible.

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If you plan on drilling hardened metal or steels, we love the Irwin 29-piece M-42 Cobalt bit kit as our best metal drill bit set. Honestly, it’s not the fastest drilling bit that gets it our nod. It has to do with the use of M42 high-speed steel and its excellent case.

Similarly in the woods, regardless of how fat the tree is, it’ll take roughly the same time to cut and process. This reality means changes in log sizes will dramatically impact the money you spend getting logs to the millyard, as made crystal clear by a sliding harvesting productivity scale provided to the authors by FPInnovations – Feric Division. A slick tool tracking relative logging costs by tree size in both full tree and cut-to-length simulations, and based on real Feric field data, it came to us via Jean-Francois Gingras with the caveat that it is a theoretical tool only. Still, the results illuminate.

Drill bits made with a Titanium nitride coating resist corrosion and friction. It beats black oxide because it increases surface hardness and does a better job reducing heat while drilling through metal. For metal drilling, we recommend these as the bare minimum.

This same solid wood products producer noted that his operations supervisor ball-parked a 25% decrease in harvesting costs by going from a 5- to 12-in. average logs. If they were looking at about $20/m3 to harvest the 5-in. wood, this would drop to $15 /m3 for the large wood. As co-author Brad Turner concluded, “at a recovery in the 280 to 300 bdft /m3 range, a difference in harvesting costs of $5/m3 equates to something in the order of $17 per Mbft lumber sold, so clearly nothing to sneeze at.”

We already wrote our opinions on the best drill bits overall—covering wood, metal, concrete, and more. In this go-around, we wanted to identify the best drill bits for metal applications. That includes hardened steel, stainless steel, aluminum, and more. We even wanted to see which drill bits worked well for drilling out hardened bolts as you might find in an engine block. People also ask us about bits that handle drilling through rebar. These are the bits we turn to and should steer you in the right direction.

We work with more than two dozen professional contractors around the United States who review products for us on real job sites and consult with us on testing methods, categories, and weighting.

They then processed the alternative supplies in a “state-of-the art” two-line sawmill. The mill was configured with either one or two board edgers and sort lines, as it would be reasonably configured for the different log sizes. The mill produced 2×4 through 2×10, plus 1×4 and 1×6.  Lumber prices were 10-year average values for Western SPF, taken from Random Lengths, with the addition of a “Home Center” grade product for the 2-inch sizes, with a reasonable premium assumed. Of course, these Home Center products are a significant factor for many mills today, and for this reason one of the key results we charted was the per cent wane-free lumber recovery, as this is important for recovery of these Home Center products (most are required to be wane-free, or near wane-free).

Spyder uses a proprietary Mach-Blue plating on its drill bits. Likely a form of Titanium Nitride and Aluminum (TiAlN) coating, it helps retain sharp cutting edges and reduce heat build-up. This should deliver faster cuts and help extend the life of the bit.

Starting with the costs of getting the wood to roadside, we’ve made some ballpark percentage comparisons based on log volume, where trees yielding on average those 5-inch SED logs represent the baseline roadside cost at 100%. In that case, that 1-inch difference in tree size may shave 16 to 19% off your cut-to-length (CTL) or full-tree (FT) logging costs. Logging trees yielding on average 10-inch SED logs on the other hand will cut logging costs almost in half.

Which brings us to the case. If you do a lot of drilling—the case your bits come in matters. Accessing bits can be frustrating (we’re talking to you Milwaukee!) or hugely successful—like with this Irwin three-tier swing case. We love the easy-access bits, and you can easily tell the sizes from the front of each bit. Overall, this $179 kit gives you the best drill bits for metal applications of all kinds.

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Clearly, the best drill bits for hardened metal or steel come with a cobalt blend. These cobalt drill bits use an alloy including 5%–8% cobalt. This cobalt makes up part of the steel blend, so the hardness of the bit doesn’t wear off with a coating (like titanium bits). It runs throughout the entire bit.

However, whatever differences there are between the outer look or chemical composition, both hardened steel and stainless steel are quite difficult to drill into. Using a drill press is often the best way to get quality results.

Logging costs are a trickier matter when trying to tie them to the various products making their way to the mill. When asked about the impact of log size on harvesting costs and final product costs, one western HALCO client commented, “I’d like to see a mill with an average SED of 12 inches – that would be something! Most of our mills are in the 5 to 7-inch SED range, usually around 6 inches give or take a little. Harvesting is like sawmilling, where any machine that handles wood lineally is impacted big time by the volume per piece. Processing is the biggest impact, but falling can also be significant. Skidding with a grapple is less impacted – as is loading, as the grapples just handle more pieces per cycle (but smaller usually means shorter as well, so there is still some volume impact).”

You can also sharpen these bits—another huge advantage. That matters once you realize cobalt drill bits cost significantly more than other types of twist drill bits. Unlike black oxide or titanium bits, you want to reserve these bits for when you need them.

Most in the industry might feel they know all this. Still, for those new to the game, and even for the rest of us, it’s important for several reasons to occasionally take a closer look at the relationship between log size and productivity, volume recovery, and product value.

When it comes to the best value pick, we wanted a set of bits for basic metal drilling. The DeWalt DWA1240 14-pc Cobalt Drill Bit Set employs a nice cobalt blend that gives these bits more capability over titanium-coated bits. You get a nice set of 14 bits ranging from 1/16-inch to the commonly-used 3/8-inch.

That’s okay! We know personal preferences take a front seat in determining the best drill bit, and every Pro is different. Do Pro Tool Nation a favor and tell us what your top pick is and why you love it. Feel free to put it in the comments below or on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

Use these bits when drilling tough, high-tensile strength materials like stainless steel—or even titanium. We opted for the D/A29J-CO-PC kit. It includes 29 bits in a shatterproof case. The round case makes it simple to remove the exact bit you need.

Start with trees averaging 0.2 m3/tree as our baseline, a common benefit of working in parts of B.C., Alberta, Ontario, and rare corners of the Maritimes. Now travel to parts of Quebec, New Brunswick, or northern Ontario, and find yourself struggling through bush averaging 0.1 m3/tree. Assuming you’re geared up for small wood and know what you’re doing, your cost of getting processed trees to roadside has leapt by 55% in a full tree system and over 35% in a well-oiled CTL system.

Stainless steels are steel alloys consisting of at least 10.5% chromium and there are different grades. As a low-carbon steel, stainless steel has a natural hardness that comes without traditional hardening. Because of rust and stain resistance, good luster, and low maintenance, it has many commercial uses including cookware, cutlery, home appliances, construction fasteners, and surgical instruments.

For starters, there’s everyone’s favourite topic – the on-again softwood lumber dispute. When it comes to cross-border log cost comparisons, log size is often an under-appreciated factor. Leaving currency, distance to market, and Crown forest management responsibilities aside for a moment, not all sawlogs are created equal. Simply put, what passes for a sawlog in Chibougamau, Que., bears no resemblance at all to the sawlogs arriving at a typical Southern Yellow Pine (SYP) sawmill in Alabama, which may again differ from the Spruce-Pine-Fir (SPF) logs arriving at a northern Interior mill in B.C. Each brings a mix of logging costs, productivity and potential product value that affects its true market value.

The end result is information you can trust because of the editorial, scientific, and real-world professional experience we collectively utilize each and every time we pick up and test a tool.

Looking at the best-selling metal drill bits on various trusted retailers helps when shopping. You often run into the best value, and we find the less expensive kits often find themselves at the top of these lists. We dropped links to what was at the front at the time we were writing, but they change often, so be sure to click the buttons to see what’s hot right now.

Ryobi 22pc Titanium Twist Drill Bit KitHomeowners should get a lot of use from this set—and the hex shanks work well with impact drivers.

Many less expensive cobalt drill bits use M35 steel which has a 5% cobalt blend. M42 steel uses an 8% cobalt blend. This gives it a greater hardness. It also lets you drill at higher speeds than the M35. Irwin sells an M35 cobalt set as well if you don’t plan to drill hardened steel.

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Put it together, and there’s little doubt a truck load of 6-in. SED sawlogs is worth more to the average sawmiller than that same volume of 5-in. SED logs – more than many might assume. If a delay in harvest or investment in intensive silviculture means producing a diet of average 6-in. SED instead of 5-in. SED logs, your logging costs could drop 19% (a huge difference in today’s world), your productivity per hour climbs 47%, your recovery increases by 8%, and your percentage of more marketable four-square lumber grows by 46%. Not a bad return on a one-inch gain.

First, HALCO weighted samples of “typical” SPF stems to follow alternative size distribution curves, and bucked them to 16 feet in a cut-to-length operation. Through this process, they generated alternative mill log supplies that had reasonable distribution curves, and average SEDs from 5 to 12 inches, in one-inch increments.

Black oxide drill bits also tend to dull quickly. We also recommend avoiding inexpensive steel drill bits that lack any sort of coating. While those bits may do well in softer steel, they can quickly dull and require frequent sharpening to continue to perform. In most cases, you get what you pay for.

The 135° split point tip helps when starting your hole and larger sizes feature a Chip Breaker—a groove at the midpoint of the cutting edge that further reduces heat buildup. We love how quickly these bits drill and also how well they remove steel in tight, efficient spirals. The combination of the unique cutting head and the flute design landed these as our best drill bits for steel—particularly carbon steel.

The Milwaukee Hole Dozer with Carbide Teeth really wins for metal drilling. It can tackle stainless steel and certainly anything softer or milder than that. These are the best hole saws for metal drilling that electricians, HVAC, and/or MRO Pros can use.

From the more detailed results supplied by HALCO’s SAWSIM simulations, CWP Magazine has extracted a few comparisons to make its own chart (page 20). We’re looking at the changes caused by a relatively small jump in log size that might come from small changes in forest management regimes or harvest timing (5 to 6-in. SED), as well as the big leap to a 10-in. SED you may see from comparing regions or the very long-term impact (80 plus years) from an investment in intensive forest management over letting Mother Nature have her way.

stainless can actually harden up as it heats—so drilling slowly often helps you get through the material more efficiently. Use cutting oil or similar lubricant when drilling into stainless and apply enough pressure to see a steady removal of material. Even the best drill bits for stainless steel heat up over time, so be prepared to monitor heat buildup.

When we talk about drilling in hardened steel, we mean medium or high carbon steels typically made using a heat-treatment and tempering process. Hardened steels are durable and can be wear-resistant, corrosion-resistant, and abrasion-resistant. Much of the steel materials that we see used in mechanical engineering, energy generation, and transportation are basically hardened steel. The best drill bits for metal could be designed for these hardened steel applications or they might be optimized for speed in softer carbon steels.

Tell your girlfriend what you want, but in the world of sawmilling and log harvesting, size really does matter. Sawmilling is a lineal process. Think of your average mill as a solid tube of wood starting from the log infeed and debarkers, and running all the way through the primary breakdown line where the log is first turned into something resembling lumber. However long that line is, that’s all the log you’ll fit – period. All a modern mill can do to boost the volume going through, is move that tube faster (boost processing speed or close the gap between logs) or find a fatter tube to run through the mill in the first place. Double the diameter of the log from 5 inches to 10 inches and you’re not “just” doubling the lumber coming out of that log. As the “Production per log” table on page 20 shows, you’re seeing a five-fold increase in lumber production from that 16-ft. log! Even many who think they get the impact of log size on sawmill production are stunned by that magnitude.

When drilling a hole with a cobalt bit, add a drop of oil on the metal to keep the cutting edge cooler as it cuts. You also want to consider placing some wood underneath the steel if possible. This lets you cut cleanly through the material and not strike a surface below which might dull the cutting edge.

Tell your girlfriend what you want, but in the world of sawmilling and log harvesting, size really does matter. Sawmilling is a lineal process. Think of your average mill as a solid tube of wood starting from the log infeed and debarkers, and running all the way through the primary breakdown line where the log is first turned into something resembling lumber. However long that line is, that’s all the log you’ll fit – period. All a modern mill can do to boost the volume going through, is move that tube faster (boost processing speed or close the gap between logs) or find a fatter tube to run through the mill in the first place. Double the diameter of the log from 5 inches to 10 inches and you’re not “just” doubling the lumber coming out of that log. As the “Production per log” table on page 20 shows, you’re seeing a five-fold increase in lumber production from that 16-ft. log! Even many who think they get the impact of log size on sawmill production are stunned by that magnitude.

Ever check out a “review” site and you can’t tell if they actually tested the tools or if they’re just “recommending” the Amazon top sellers? That’s not us. We won’t recommend anything unless we’d use it ourselves and we don’t care who the primary retailer is. It’s all about giving you a legitimate recommendation and our honest opinion of each product.

Drill America makes M42 cobalt bits that held up really well in drilling through anything we threw at them. After testing with a multitude of materials, we selected their jobber bits as our best drill bits for hardened steel.

If you want to drill steel reliably, avoid anything made with low-carbon steel. Even generic high-carbon steel tends to work well for a little while—but quickly dulls and requires sharpening.

Sometimes you need to drill through steel…but that steel is buried in concrete. For those applications, you need something like the Diablo Rebar Demon SDS-Max and SDS-Plus bits. We like the design better than Bosch Rebar Cutters because you use the same bit to drill the hole and penetrate the rebar. With Bosch, you drill using rotary hammer mode, switch to the Rebar Cutter in rotary-only mode, and then return to your original bit to finish the hole.