HF 10-piece Forstner bit set, $15.

[Alex Franke]

This looks like it might be a pretty good deal if you're looking for a fostner bit starter set... Regular $30.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...&r=3943_199764

[Ed62]

I've seen that before. Always wondered if it was worth a try. Does anyone here use them?

Ed

[ironhat]

I've seen that before. Always wondered if it was worth a try. Does anyone here use them?
Ed

RUN AWAY, RUN AWAY (yes, yelling!) !!! I wasted my money on this set but didn't use them for a while. When I finally needed them I found that the teeth had never been sharpened. You will have to check beneath the protective plastic. They were pointed but the edge of the tooth wasn't relieved so it was just a flat edge trying to *plow* through the wood - or should I say 'burn through the wood'! The HF is a bit more than an hour away so I couldn't return them and had to hand file the teeth to get them to cut. So, if you feel like you have a good hand on a file you can go for it, I guess. I didn't use it enough to say how durable the steel is but I don't recall it seeming terribly soft when filing. Check them over and you might find a set that actually had all of the step performed. And, after all, the ones I got may have come from a bum batch.

[Larrysch]

RUN AWAY, RUN AWAY

I guess we all have had either good luck or not so good luck. I have had (I think) the same set your speaking of for over a year - used them numerous time and with the exception of the 1 1/4" - they have never failed me. The 1 1/4" bit ran into trouble when trying to go through 4" oak. My fault not the bits. For the price - I will just reorder the set and replace the 1 1/4" bit with a full set and then I will tackle that oak again.

[LCHIEN]

I've had the HF "Drill master" ( i think all their drill bit sets are drill master) in a 1/4" to 2.125" set of 16 bits, for several years.
I think its been pretty good to me, I have drilled a lot of holes with them.
the newer sets like this have hex shanks which is an improvement, sometimes on bigger bits they would slip in the chuck and have to be tightened down pretty hard - not the fault of the bit but the hex shanks helps fix it.
The bits have been clean cutting and concentric. I suppose perhaps they could be sharper but other forstners i have used are about the same. I give them a thumbs up for the money.

Most of the drill master sets from HF have been OK, esp at their prices. my biggest disappointment has been the brad point sets (like brad points from 1/16th to 1/2" by 64ths, usually like 29 bits. Quite a few of the bits in the set have the point ground off center which is very annoying and difficult to use, considering you expect the point to be perfectly centered. You can set the bit on a flat surface and roll it while watching the tip to see which ones are off center.

[AlanWS]

My observations are similar: twist bits are not bad, but brad points have points not centered. Some of the TiN coated ones are fine, but this is just a coating, so if you need to sharpen it is just in the way, and the sharpened edge is not coated.

I've used the cheap HF forstners, and they do drill holes, but they are not very sharp. The holes will not be as clean if the bits are used without sharpening. So in my opinion, the TiN coating is less useful than it is on their smaller twist bits.

But these bits are very cheap, and they encourage learning how to sharpen. You don't really want to try that first on an expensive bit.

[docrowan]

I used one of the HF Forstner bit sets (I think it was the 7 piece set) and I drilled several flat holes in 3/4 plywood and MDF. Haven't used any of the bits in anything tougher, though.

[sbs]

The 7 piece Rockler set is on sale for $14. I have that one and recommend it.

IMO betting against HF on quality of bits and blades and such is a safe bet.