sds drill bits

[Stephen]

Hello,

I bought a pack of 600mm sds drill bits from Aldi a few months ago because I knew they would be useful one day ;)

I came to use the25mm bit only to find it was stamped 22mm. I looked at the space where the 22mm bit was in case they were back to front but they contains a 22mm bit too! I couldn't get the bits out without destroying the packaging, so I think they must have left the powercraft factory like this.

It's a shame I didn't spot this sooner. Aldi have offered me a refund if I take the whole set back but do I want to do this or should I keep the other four bits? I'm not going ton get four for £9.99 anywhere else am I?

Did anyone else get a faulty batch, surely it can't have just been one pack that was wrong?

I've double checked the other bits and I notice that the 16mm bit looks very slim. It seems the tct tip is 16mm wide but the drill bit is only 12mm wide.

The 10mm and 12mm bits are the same width as each other but one has a larger tip. I can see how it is cheaper for them to make one bit and fit different tips but shouldn't the, what would you call it, the shaft/shank? play a part in removing the debris? If the bit has a narrow shaft/shank/whatever wouldn't this mean it would fail to eject the debris along its flutes?

I've bought some other budget sds bits from toolstation. They sent me one by toolpak and another by rockpoint. Has anyone heard of these companies before? Are they any good? The rockpoint sds bit hardly has any flutes along its edge, they are barely above the surface. I'm wondering if this will be useless and whether I should return it? The toolpak one on the other hand has big fluted edges that look as though they would eject the debris, although I notice they have dipped the tip in gold paint for some unknown reason!

Thanks, Stephen.

[Spamlet]

I should think almost any spiral is going to lift out the dust at drill speeds. More clearance will reduce the chance of clogging and overheating, I would have thought too. Having an overwide overlap will not help support the tip though, and I have had a number of similar drills where the wings of the tip have simply broken off, or where the tip parts company with the shaft altogether. On the other hand, as a non pro, I generally find it's a case of cheap tools or no tools, and I can live with the occasional duff pack.

On sizes, the same thing is often true of spanners/sockets and other sets, but a duplicate size is often useful in itself, and there is always the next special offer to put things right.

S

[Andrew Gabriel]

CPC do a set of 3 x 1m bits, 12mm, 16mm, 24mm. IIRC, they were £8 when I bought them. That was probably on special offer (they often are), but I doubt they're normally much over £10. Can't find them on the website at the momement though. They've been quite useful. I thought they might only manage a couple of holes, but they still work fine after lots of holes.