If Festool Made Drill Bits, I Got 'em!

[-MIKE-]

Speaking of bad woodworking shows.... I stopped by the Nashville Home & Remodeling Show this afternoon. It's not a woodworking show, per se, but it was still pretty terrible.

There were a couple of saving grace booths, however. A door hardware source that is right in my little town that can get special orders overnight and they are starting to carry cabinet door hinges.

The second was a specialty bit and blade company right in Nashville that makes really great cutting blades, drill bits, and router bits... router bits that can be used on solid surface materials, aluminum, marble, etc. This company also makes all-purpose drill bits from very, very hard cutter head material that can bore through porcelain tiles right after cutting through hardened tool metals. The guy took the same bit and drilled through a grade 8 bolt, and metal file, a metal lathe cutting head, then straight to concrete, ceramic and porcelain tiles.

I was very impressed and bought this pack of bits at the show price of $100.

Now, I know what you're thinking. "A hundred bucks for a 13 pack of drill bits!!" Well, yeah, that's what I thought, too, until I added up what I spent in bits last year just for putting up safety grab bars on tiled bathroom walls. I probably spend on average, $17/ea for ceramic bits and upwards of $30 for diamond bits and none of them lasted longer than 2 jobs. I was just figuring the cost of the bit into the job. Now I don't have to worry about having the right bits.

Best part about these bits.... LIFETIME, unconditional replacement guarantee. For 2 bucks shipping, they replace the bit, no questions asked.

Oh, and did I mention they're GREEN? :-) I'll do a follow-up after I've put some of these bits through some hard work.

[Spalted Walt]

Bad Dog bites back!

[Leon]

Is it too late to take them back? Have you tried them out yet?

As mentioned in the other post, Bad Dog Tools sells a very similar product. And those bits must be bait ans switch. They were terrible.

I bought a set about 6 years ago and dried drilling the a hole in a Stanley L bracket. About 1/8" thick. I could not drill through it at all, and actually broke one of the bits trying to do so. I returned them the next day. The excuse was that I was not drilling through hardened steel. I guess soft steel is harder than hardened steel, according to them.

They also had a life time warranty, send the broken or dull bit back and they sharpen or replace it. After breaking one on first use I figure most will be lost between me and the dealer.

Also these things are no good for wood, they are not precision made.

So I figured I paid some where around $100 for a $5 set of bits.

Seriously, try them out before loosing the chance to return them.

I hope they do well for you but,,,,,

[Leon]

Is it too late to take them back? Have you tried them out yet?

As mentioned in the other post, Bad Dog Tools sells a very similar product. And those bits must be bait ans switch. They were terrible.

I bought a set about 6 years ago and dried drilling the a hole in a Stanley L bracket. About 1/8" thick. I could not drill through it at all, and actually broke one of the bits trying to do so. I returned them the next day. The excuse was that I was not drilling through hardened steel. I guess soft steel is harder than hardened steel, according to them.

They also had a life time warranty, send the broken or dull bit back and they sharpen or replace it. After breaking one on first use I figure most will be lost between me and the dealer.

Also these things are no good for wood, they are not precision made.

So I figured I paid some where around $100 for a $5 set of bits.

Seriously, try them out before loosing the chance to return them.

I hope they do well for you but,,,,,

[-MIKE-]

Now, I know what you're thinking. "A hundred bucks for a 13 pack of

Well, I will have plenty of opportunity to use them and they have a 60 day money-back guarantee so I'll pay close attention.

I have plenty of wood bits and I'm specifically looking for bits for very hard tiles. I'll see how they work on some left-over ceramic and porcelain tiles I have and if they work, they work. If not, I'll return them.

Funny thing is the mad dog website is non-existent so I'm not sure what happened with them.

[-MIKE-]

Now, I know what you're thinking. "A hundred bucks for a 13 pack of

Oh btw, thanks for the heads up. I will definitely put them through their paces and if they aren't up to snuff the company will suffer my wrath. :-)

[woodchucker]

There was a company about 8 years ago, I think BAD DOG drill bits. Same thing. They were at the wood working shows. Doing the files, tiles, etc.

[Spalted Walt]

Yes it was Bad Dog Tools.

[-MIKE-]

I wonder if they went under, because it's hard to find anything official from them. Website is down and someone on Amazon with their name is selling left-overs of only two products.

[Spalted Walt]

Their web server could be down or they might be out of busniess. Hard to say for sure.

This Joe Strong web site still works ;-)

note the single 'l'

[J. Clarke]

Bad dog seems to be back up.

That said, before buying ask them to drill a file that _you_ provide so you can be sure that they actually perform on real files and not file-like objects made of, say, cheese.

[Spalted Walt]

IF there was a magic drill material available that would handle abuse like that, EVERY large bit manufacturer (Bosch, Milwaukee, Dewalt etc) would rush to it immediately. Some trade show demos are like a carnival hawker's magic show in that you aren't really seeing what it seems you are seeing.

[notbob]

Sounds like the Buck knife fiasco.

Many yrs ago, Buck Knives usta show a Buck knife cutting thru a bolt. Mine was their largest sheath knife and the logo, showing a Buck knife cutting thru a bolt, was machine tooled right into the leather sheath.

They later admitted it hadda be a grade 2 or lower bolt and the knife hadda be hammered thru the bolt. NO grade 5 or 8 bolts, allowed, for which they would not honor their guarantee. They had so many claims against them for chipped blades, they dropped both the logo and the guarantee. ;)

nb

[-MIKE-]

Now, I know what you're thinking. "A hundred bucks for a 13 pack of

Welp, I tried them out. I took one and drilled through a porcelain tile that took me about

10-15minutes to go through with a diamond bit. It worked fine and took about 4-5 minutes with water cooling.

I then I took the same bit to some typical, hardware store, cold rolled, bar stock. Took about 30 seconds to even make a dent. A 30cent steel bit would've gone through it in about 15 seconds.

So I got had. No big deal. I'll get my money back and chalk the inconvenience up to stupid tax. Had a great day off with the wife and enjoyed our time together.

I'll tell you this, though. If they give me any trouble at all, they will suffer my wrath like no one can imagine. :-)

[krw]

No, they'd buy up the patents and bury them in a mayonnaise jar under Funk and Wagnalls' porch, like the oil companies did with the 200MPG carburators.

[Leon]

Sounds like my exact same experience.

[-MIKE-]

Now, I know what you're thinking. "A hundred bucks for a 13 pack of

I haven't thrown in the towel yet. I actually talked to a rep on the phone for quite a while yesterday. He explained some things about the bits that did make sense. I won't go into too many details until I run them through some more paces.

The short version is that bits for soft steel and meant to cut/slice like bits for wood, and run at higher speeds. Bits for very hard materials are meant to scrape, not slice. Softer materials don't "scrape" well.

That is a very condensed version of his explanation and it did make a lot of sense. However, as I said, I'm going to do a lot more test driving and have 60 days to do it.

The bottom line on these bits is that I bought them specifically for drilling through porcelain, fired, tiles and they have performed pretty well at that. If they continue to do so and I can send them back for replacement when they dull, then they are worth every penny to me, since I've spent a lot more in the past year on ceramic bits than I did for this set.

I will keep everyone updated. :-D

[bnwelch]

I noticed at the WW show I attended (Bad Dog Tools exhibit) the salesman used a very high speed drill, (over 1500 rpm)...no idea whether it was just an inexpensive drill, or a PED (performance enhancing device)

[nailshooter41]

I remember that well. I got my first Buck in about '69, and that was indee d on the box. A lot of press was played out as Hoyt Buck simply couldn't f athom the profound stupidity of the American public. While the Buck knife (especially the 119)was sometimes demoed as being able to cut through a bol t, it was indeed a soft bolt, and it was rolled around and tapped on with a hammer to cut a bit at a time. It was simply a demo to show how well the heat treat was done on the steels, and how tough the steel was. It was nev er marketed as a bolt or steel cutter, never intended for a mechanic or a w elder to use it to trim metal pieces or chop through steel rods or bolts as its job.

Enter the American idiot. Guys were out there taking a slicing tool and hit ting it with heavy hammers to chop through bolts. They had to see if the k nife "could take it". No knife guys did that (including me) but were simpl y satisfied that as a knife it could take some punishment. Finally, poor H oyt (Buck) realized that there were too many idiots to account for and it w as rumored, never proven, that he decided to change the logo to keep down t he problems. Mine still goes into the field hunting and camping, but then I never had the urge to cut bolts with it, and never would have dreamed of cutting a structurally graded bolt that might be harder than the knife. Be en a great knife, though.

But that follows in the long line of stupid. The famous case of the moron that got drunk and ripped his Trans Am over the top of bridge actually occu rred here. His lawyers (Pat Maloney and Associates) maintained their clien t thought he bought a stunt car, one that could fly, was indestructible,one that would give him special stunt skills. After all, he did see Smokey an d the Bandit several times (quoted in court) and that movie was the reason he bought the Trans Am. Maloney was able to convince GM, the movie studio and some affiliates to settle out of court since indeed, their client had s een that in a movie and was personally convinced what he saw was real. It is a wonder that he didn't expect Sally Fields to come with the car.

I am surprised that the American public didn't think that if they bought a DeLorean they could time travel. Likewise, a Superman suit for Halloween t hat made them think they could fly.

Other things that have changed with the times: "Lee Jeans - can't bust 'em ". That was throwing down the gauntlet. Of course you can.

A watch that is "waterproof". How long is it waterproof? A hundred years? Is it waterproof at 1000 feet underwater? Now watches are "water resistant" since so many made it a point to test limits of their watch. After all, t hey were covered by warranty since the manufacturer said waterproof.

How many things used to be "unbreakable"? Combs, kitchen utensils, some to ols, etc. Now that is a label advertising begging for internet testers to be able to make their mark on YouTube.

I thought it was really stupid (and very sad) that Buck had to tell people not to cut bolts with their hunting knife. Now it would probably be conside red only prudent by a competent legal department.

Robert

[Leon]

Snip

Sooooo. It is not hard to imagine the disappointment, when I was 9, that my new PF Flyers did not enable me to jump over a fence or the street. ;~)

Your examples and mine, when I was 9, probably disappointed a lot of people with still under developed brains.

You have to wonder how many in California believe the cancer warning label warnings on every thing sold or manufactured there? I never did believe that my yard sprinkler would cause cancer or my new shovel. I'm waiting to see the cancer warning label on California Oranges or the "Welcome to California" sign as you cross over from Arizona on I10. ;~)

And Mike, not poking fun at you, I bought those bits too. I do recall the bits at the show looked a lot nicer than the ones that I was handed. And while they do have an answer that the bits are intended for hard steel vs soft steel, they were selling the bits at a woodworking show not a metal working show. They darn well knew that these bits would most likely be sold to home owners that were not likely to drill into hardened steel or files. I'm still not buying it. FWIW the bits that I got home with were Bad Dog Tools, made in China.