[MFchief]

Got an email ad from Travers tools today touting a type of drill, brand named Gekkou, which claims a patented design which does not need spot drilling, etc. If true it would eliminate a step for making holes, and save significant time if drilling a lot of holes.

Does anyone have any experience with these? Are the claims accurate?

Thanks
Terry

[Steve Seebold]

I use only stub drills. It's a 2 step process, but I make a couple of part numbers where I drill a .125 diameter hole 4 1/2 inches deep in 3/16 thick material 3/32 of an inch from one edge and I hav never had one break out the side.

I should mention I use (ONLY) Guhring drills for seep hole drilling.

[SCzEngrgGroup]

They appear to have merit: https://www.protoolreviews.com/tools...company/20829/

Of course, they also appear to be crazy expensive - $40+ on Amazon for a 1/2" bit.

Regards,
Ray L.

[GLCarlson]

5% cobalt drills with a gashed point. OK, an elegant, rounded gashed point. Like any web-thinned drill, they probably don't walk as much as a regular 118 point, so they very likely do perform a bit better. Wouldn't be surprised if one could skip spot drilling. But...what about resharpening? They claim to be resharpenable; what happens to that special tip design when they are?

Sounds like marketing hype to justify a high price. At least to me.

[pickled]

I'll stick with my cobalt 135 degree split point screw machine length drills. You have to work really hard to make them walk around on you and I can get a set for $40 :-). I will agree that the tip is "purty" on those fancy bits :-)

[MFchief]

Sounds like the consensus is sort of maybe, but not really worth it when you look at cost and re-sharpening issues. I thought it might be a case of, yeah doesn't walk as much as a standard drill, maybe ok for drill press work, but for cnc where thous matter, maybe not so much.
Thanks for the replies

Terry

[popspipes]

I always buy screw machine drills here, I spot drill when necessary with a center drill.

[pickled]

I always buy screw machine drills here, I spot drill when necessary with a center drill.

Bingo! The only time I don't use a screw machine drill is when it has been broken past the point of bringing it back to life on the grinder. My jobber length index stays pretty organized and clean these days.