best drill bits

[gazzaull25]

sometimes its impossible to just pick a lock and there for the old battery operated drill comes out and you know the rest.

im interested to see what other people are using to drill bs locks with hardened plates on.

ive tryed many varites and i have found a carbon tipped bit to be the most effective,i did use cobolt for a while but i came to a legge bs and it just ran into a corner screaming no more no more
so was wondering what other lockies use as a last resort for getting through BS plates

[JackNco]

sorry dude, DE is restricted to the advanced forums. but you have the required number of posts and have been here long enough so apply and if you get in DE is completely open in there.

John

[Simon Payne]

Souber bits from Aldridge

[Shrub]

Theres a couple of drill threads on here if your interested,


jacknco, the discussion is types of drill bits not how to drill, thats a great differance

[JackNco]

sorry my bad. I thought any mention of drills round here and you turn up with 3' of bamboo

again my bad

John

[Shrub]

Ohh thats a good idea, can you bamboo noobs over the net

[Eyes_Only]

Pro-Lok makes a set of drill bits called "Butter Bits" designed for safe work. Never tried it myself but looks like something I'll buy and test out if I ever start venturing into safe work.

[gostone]

I would suggest you use the Relton V-Grove bits, they are used by many safemen, are made in the USA. They are very good bits, very tough, and will drill through most anything.

[zeke79]

Ohh thats a good idea, can you bamboo noobs over the net

If you find a way to do it, PLEASE SHARE HOW YOU ARE DOING IT!!!!!! I'd pay good money for that technology . Mmmmmm, a virtual flogging

On the subject of bits, for the hardest materials such as abloy shackles and retaining caps a carbide bit works the best of all I have tried so far. HSS just does not cut it on alot of this stuff.

[Jaakko]

On the subject of bits, for the hardest materials such as abloy shackles and retaining caps a carbide bit works the best of all I have tried so far. HSS just does not cut it on alot of this stuff.

Tungsten carbide is suggested for hard metals and (case) hardened metals. HSS is not meant to cut steel, it gets blunt and quick. Soft metals like brass, copper, tin, aluminium, lead, soft iron and the like are butter for HSS-bits.

[nothumbs]

I would suggest you use the Relton V-Grove bits, they are used by many safemen, are made in the USA. They are very good bits, very tough, and will drill through most anything.

Are these the bits you referenced?

http://www.mytoolstore.com/relton/gvtip.html

[linty]

i use good quality hss most of the time, they are quite cheap and can be sharpened dozens of times. For drilling anything particularily hard I switch to cobalt steel, but really for anything but safes you can get away with moderately priced drill bits.

[Shrub]

If those are the bits they dont look like they have enough clearance on them,

They also dont seem to be smal enough, the required size the OP refers to is between 2 and 3mm diameter,

[NKT]

Remember, all Cobalt drill bits are not created equal. Avoid the rather poor yet expensive Guhring ones.

Carbide tends to shatter unless you are very careful and steady.

Also, some locks have far, far better hardplate than others. ERA hardplate is about 0.3mm thick, and although it will stop a regular HSS bit cold, it will fall to a good cobalt bit. Something like a Union or Ingersol will likely require a carbide edge though.

I've done a lot of research into this stuff, but I'm not about to stick it all on an open forum!

[NKT]

Those Relton bits are SDS style! Not ideal for precision work, generally, unless you have a small battery powered SDS masonry drill.

Look to be quite a fun toy, though. No idea how you would re-sharpen them.