No. If you want cobalt, you want a second set. Keep them for "best" and difficult jobs. Drills are very very cheap these days, only good drills are expensive, so don't risk damage on your good stuff.
If you do buy cobalt, get a set of M42 cobalt steel, which is a greyish silver colour. Rainbow blue cobalt coatings are worthless.
It's also worth getting a separate set of wood drills, sharpened with brad points. They cut more cleanly in wood. Also a set of Bosch multi- construction are wonderful for things (cement boards) that are abrasive, but not tough enough to need an SDS drill. Again, it's saving wear on your favoured metalworking set.
I have yet to drill anything that needs an sds drill and the Bosch drills. In fact I haven't found anything that needed hammer action with them. They go through lintels and paving slabs easily, even ceramic tiles and pots with no need to break the glaze first.
They won't fit my SDS without swapping the chuck, so I don't really understand the issue. For SDS, I have hammer bits with blunt chisel carbide tips.
I sometimes use them on hammer action with the cordless, if I want a hole in soft brick and don't want to go and get the SDS out, or don't want a trailing cable up a ladder. Compared to a classic blunt-edged hammer drill, they seem to give more holes in brick per charge.
Due to flat batteries for the combi, I used a Bosch SDS bit in the 12V Makita drill and it did about 16 - 17 holes in rustic bricks quite easily. Didn't need excessive force and would have done them all on a 1.3Ah NiCd on a fresh charge. As I wanted a 'slack' 6mm hole but not 6.5mm, the slight throw on the SDS bit in the Mak's chuck turned out to be just right.
You are right. I do have a set of, I believe, M42 cobalt and they are really good, but only at the beginning. They wear out very quickly. Perhaps because I have not used them carefully enough.
I am going to try the prototal ones. $250 for a set.
feeling about HSS drills is there's no point in buying top brand ones unless you have the skills to sharpen them as needed. And that their cost is out of all proportion to the increase in performance - if any.
I recently wanted an 11mm HSS drill. Local tool shop price for a Dormer -
26 quid. Wicks had one for under a fiver. Which did the job just fine - drilling 15MM steel plate.
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