28bVIDEO Drill Bit & Driver Bit Tour

In this video, I'm going to introduce you to drill bits and drill drivers

And as usual in this course, I'm showing you a lot more than you need to see to get started

All you really need to get started in quite a good way is a set of drill bits like this

So this box with these holders, this is called a drill index

And each hole is specially sized to accept a certain size of bit

So that's a 1 eighth inch bit there. And these bits increase in size by 1 32nd of an inch

So between 1 16th and let's say half an inch. We have, there's 9 bits here, 6 bits there, 15 bits in all

So that'll give you all the range of sizes that you need

And you're drilling into wood, so technically you don't really need the highest quality bits

Oh by the way, these are called twist bits because they kind of spiral in shape

and they have a pointy, angled pointy tip. So twist bits. Even though you don't need really good quality bits for wood

I recommend you get the best quality you can. Because sometime I expect you're going to want to drill into some metal

and you want to have drill bits that are up to that. So you want to look for name brand

So I've had great luck with Erwin, DeWalt, Milwaukee, they all make great bits

Cobalt bits. Cobalt is a kind of a generic term, refers to the metal that's used to make the bit

So titanium coated, that's another thing. Don't buy bits that are too cheap either

You have to pay pretty good money to get your high quality drill bits

And an index like this will last you a long, long time. You will break bits from time to time, especially the smaller ones

So be diligent, make note of the size that you need to replace, go to the hardware store, get a replacement of the same quality

Keep your index in good shape because when you want to drill

you just want to drill a hole, you just want to go and grab the bit that you need

It's very frustrating to find out that the bit you need is not there. So diligence will keep that collection in order

Now this is the same sort of bits that you see here

but they go up by 60 fourths of an inch instead of 30 seconds

So there's a lot more of them. And I've had this index for a while

I've actually got to replace a few small bits that I broke recently

You see some larger replacement bits here that look different. They are metal quality though

So this is the one I use most often, and I do use this for wood and metal

Now another kind of bit, you might want to consider getting this sooner rather than later

if you work a lot with wood screws that will be visible

See, this is called a tapered bit. Do you see how the twist bit gets smaller as you go down

There's this feature here too. So it automatically countersinks. It automatically makes a depression in the wood for the head to go in

And because it's tapered, it matches the taper, typical taper of screws

which are bigger at the top and smaller at the bottom. So it matches that

You really don't need anything like this if you're just working with softwood

But in hardwood, it's quite helpful, actually, because you do really need to drill a more accurate pilot hole

so a starting hole for the screw to get a proper grip on the wood

If you have any questions about this and how it works, let me know

and I can get back to you on that. Another very common woodworking bit is what's called a spade bit

That's what these are here. They're called spade bits because they kind of look like shovels, I guess

They're not very expensive, and when they're sharp and new, like this set is here, they can cut some very nice holes with very precise edges

so no tearing, no raggedy edges. And part of that is because of these spurs that you see on the side

See that? That kind of scores the wood before this middle part removes it

So for the bigger holes, that's the stuff. These are only ever used for wood, maybe in soft plastic, too

Now, these bits here, this is a drill index, and it's not full

because I don't have a complete collection of this kind of bit, but I do want to show you something here

This is called a Brad point bit. Look at how different in shape that is from a twist bit

See the twist bit is angled to a point. This has a central spur, and it's also got these wings on either side

which score the wood before the middle part removes it, just like with a spade bit

These Brad point bits are used when you need a crisp-edged hole

of not too big of a size. So, the Brad point bits are used to score the wood

Anytime you're drilling in wood and the edge of the hole matters

you want to grab a Brad point bit. I'll show you in a minute the difference

I'll drill a hole with this and then a hole with that, and we'll see

The Brad point bit essentially takes up where the spade bits leave off

on the small end. So, crisp-edged holes that aren't too big, maybe up to half an inch in diameter, like this bit here

you want to go with a Brad point. Beyond that, you can go with spade bits, like you see here

There are other more expensive, more exotic, large bits for drilling big holes in wood, but spade bits are great

There's kind of a prejudice against them on the part of fine woodworkers

but I find these work great, especially when they're new and sharp

or when you sharpen them. They can be re-sharpened in the shop, and they work great

Let me just finish up. I'll drill a hole in this piece of Baltic birch plywood

that I've got next to me, with a regular twist bit. It's not going to be terrible

but the edges are not going to be as crisp as you might like sometimes. OK

You see that? Many times that's not a problem, but sometimes it is, when you have those sort of frazzled edges

That's where the Brad point comes in. I'm going to stop there

You see how those spurs are cutting in nice and crisply? There, you can see the difference

That's what Brad point bits are all about. You can see that the spurs are coming in nice and crisp

There, you can see the difference. That's what Brad point bits are all about

You don't want to use them all the time, because they're more expensive

You can't really re-sharpen them in the shop. It's not practical. But when you need a Brad point bit

you really need a Brad point bit. Other than some basic drill bits, twist bits, to get you going

you'll also need some sort of screwdriver bits. They really make a lot of sense

especially with the high-quality cordless drills and impact drivers that are around

So come on over here. I want to show you where I keep my screwdriver bits

Cabinets like this are really helpful. There's a lot of little pieces involved in woodworking

especially when you get more into it and you want to be able to put your hands on things

just when you need them. So these are screwdriver bits. They can be used in a drill

or they can be used in an impact driver like this. And it's really pretty simple

They just engage with the screw that you want to drive. So this is what's called a Red Robertson

Most deck screws have a head like this, and the bit just goes in there

Now, as I said, this bit can be... You can chuck it into a drill

just like you would a drill bit, but these bits have a depression here

And that means they can be locked into something called an impact driver

which doesn't really have a chuck in the same way, but you just put the bit in there, and it locks in

This is the ideal screwdriving tool. I've talked about this elsewhere. You can get by with a drill for driving screws

Actually, more than get by. It's going to work fine. But this just works better

The driver bits go in. And some of the better hand drivers

also have bits that can be driven under power, like you see, because it's got that little groove there

And to remove the bit, you just pull the collar, pull the bit out like that

So most of the driver bits I use, screwdriver bits I use, are these Red Robertson

But there's different sizes. This would be the Green Robertson, smaller in size

We've got this larger-sized one, Black Robertson. And we've got some Phillips

This is for construction screws. They're large structural screws. They're larger in diameter, they have a bigger head

and they usually take a different kind of driver bit as well

The main thing is that you need a few of these, and you want to start your organization early

so that every bit you need is at your fingertips. And if you invest this kind of organization

on what you're doing, it's going to pay off. This is the kind of thing that's going to make you a good woodworker

You don't have to grope around looking for tools that you can't find or not finding tools that you know you have

and then having to go out and buy out others in order to do your job. A little bit of organization, a few bits of hardware like this

and you'll be drilling holes and driving screws like the best of them