Chicago Latrobe 57711 150 Series High-Speed Steel Jobber Length Drill Bit Set with Metal Case, Black Oxide Finish, 118 Degree Conventional Point, Inch, 13-piece, 1/16" - 1/4" in 1/64" increments

Hard to imagine someone getting excited over a seemingly, "ordinary" black oxide twist drill bit . . right? Well, due to the unnecessary frustrations and thousands of dollars spent over a lifetime on every concocted notion of a drill bit, I felt compelled to go beyond an ordinary review.I've been drilling holes in crafts and machines of all breeds for over fifty years, and for an engineer who's life revolved around designing, manufacturing, installing and post-sale servicing a broad spectrum of industrially-geared equipment, making multiple homes in disrepair - livable, building a vast array of wood, steel plastic, etc., projects for various deserving souls, there's always one nagging issue at the top of considerations: "How much drilling will be involved?". . . and for me, until finding these “ordinary” drill bits, I always sought out to design in, as little drilling as possible, and opted for welding, gluing, punching holes, prefabricating holes in materials, etc., anything but drilling.Then, after all these years, I stumble into Chicago Latrobe 150 Series High-Speed Steel Jobber Length Drill Bit Set with Metal Case, Black Oxide Finish, 118 Degree Conventional Point, Inch, 13-piece, 1/16" - 1/4" in 1/64" increments and finally, traditional drilling, once again, has become a desirable, even preferred option.When building customized, professional, industrial washing systems, (a lot of stainless steel) we went out of our way in designing them to avoid as much drilling as possible, knowing it would involve more worker frustration and an out of control Grainger bill, than it was worth.Truth be told, it wasn't that a good drill bit ceased to exist, but rather, even the specialty industrial supply houses love to stuff the "new and improved," shamefully worthless tip designs and coatings of cobalt, titanium, etc., drills in your face, while the superiorly crafted with pride, (and United States Steel), that created the high quality, old fashioned bits such as these, would sit on their shelves collecting dust, until their buyers and eventually their suppliers, simply presumed, the old black oxide bits had somehow become outdated, leading them to be removed from future inventories until all that was locally available was the modern junk all of us have come to hate. . . admit it. . . the very notion of drilling into steel with your new, (but already junk) drill bits, disgusts you. It's come to the point where you find yourself evading those projects for fear of having to explain to the wife (or the boss) why you already need more drill bits?There was a time when drilling holes in "any" material didn't raise a flag of any kind, in fact, we rather looked forward to it. We knew the tool room or our tool box would have the answer, which, back then, was a U.S. Steel, black oxide, high-quality drill bit. Yes, they were exactly like these drill bits, and to a designer/engineer, they made drilling a pleasurable experience.I've studied more about drill bits over the years than I have about the projects I've tackled. I thank Amazon for having eventually coagulated all the manufactured products into one arena, cutting the search and research of products ten fold. Inevitably, my research always leads me back to two issues, that being, the quality and source of the base steel being used, and I in my opinion, the little discussed, quality and care put into the tip and the bits overall design. The bulk of drill bit steel material today seems to be of foreign origins, and more and more, the entire bit is a Chinese product. If that's offensive to Chinese, there's a simple manner of recourse. Study to make yourselves and your products, worthy, and quit making a cheap price point such a primary concern.The bottom line is, whatever processes the great minds of our recent ancestors came up with in hardening, tempering etc., our U.S. steel for tool and die making, which was learned and perfected back in the days of Henry Ford, WORKS, and I have every reason to believe, that's what makes it possible for the existence of seemingly, "plain" drill bits to out cut every novel attempt at bettering the process of drilling holes via a supposed, "new and improved" drill bit material and tip design.We have our own personal proof in the fact, of the thousands of new and improved drill bits we've purchased over a span of decades, while all of them have hit the end of their life after one hole, or at best, they can be struggled through to the end of one project before they wind up in the trash, all that is, except one. It’s a 1/4” bit vaguely displaying the single word “Chicago” on the shank. I don't have a clue who manufactured it, it could well be Chicago Latrobe, but it's one of my grandpa's who had to have bought it sometime between the 1930's and 1950's. I don't keep it for a sentimental cause either. For despite it being an "old fashioned black oxide" drill bit, it's been my go-to bit for decades. It's never been sharpened, it's just always there and always ready to cut. Again, the only possible explanations are the steel, the U.S. Steel, and possibly more relevant, the care in the craftsmanship of the employees who ran this drill bit through the machining processes for their employer. This was before employers became some sort of monsters who owed their employees for managing to appear inside the building, and not much more. You know, when it was just as important to impress the boss, as it was to walk out of the factory feeling humbly proud that, paycheck aside, the day was given to your best effort and whatever you did, you invariably, maybe unwittingly, made someone else's life better.SO, NO, you simply cannot improve on something that was already designed correctly, even if that was a 1000, or 75 years ago, . . no more than you can make the wheel "rounder."If you’re sick and tired of being able to prophetically know the drill bit your locking into the chuck will prematurely overheat, (even with oil applied), that it will disgustingly, cease to cut before you get a third way through the steel, that you’ll be digging through all those pretty gold bits with their bizarre, ignorantly shaped tips, hoping to find one close to the right size you need, and that its “specially treated and hardened tip” won't be one that your predictions already proved out on, if that's your drilling experience, then it’s time to put these fantastically proven bits to the test. It won't be just a test, they'll be permanent replacements for all your standard drilling needs.They only seem overpriced for a black oxide bit because somewhere along the way, marketers who’ve never even tried them, (much less, ever drilled a hole) – have, without offering a shred of proof, told us they have something better. Well, we’ve already drilled more holes with this little drill set, than the 2, 36-bit, gold "colored" bit sets before it. . . the one 3/16ths bit just drilled over a hundred holes in the frame of cattle bale feeding ring to rivet on a new hoof guard, and I have no reason to believe it couldn’t do it again and again, for it’s as sharp now as it was when Amazon had it so expediently at our doorstep.

A real problem with the cheap Chinese crap that everyone sells using marketing such as titanium or cobalt tipped. Don't believe it. That stuff is made from cheap metal that snaps at the least amount of stress. These Chicago Latrobe bits are high quality steel that holds up and will last for years.

A friend used my drill bits to put up a curtain rod, and everything seemed to go according to plan, but both of us struggled to get the case open. Don't know what it has to be so hard, hence the 4-star rating.

I am not going into details at all. These Drill Bits are the best. Don't accept any negative reviews on these. Magnificent, absolutely the CATS MEOW!..I am an Automotive Mechanic/Welder/Machinist and I am here to tell everyone that for the price it's the best money spent! There is no more to say. Everyone enjoy and. You will be happy with these Drill Bits!

I needed a set of "good" drill bits to drill out some broken bolts. This is a nice inexpensive set of bits that are extremely strong for their sizes, nice and sharp out of the box, and instead of twisting in half like wet noodles (Harbor Freight I'm looking at you!), they quickly went through my broken steel bolts spinning off beautiful metal curly-cues as they whittled away.Good set of bits for the price, recommended!

I drill steel all the time. Only American steel for me. These are good drill bits. Happy I bought them.

I haven't had these bits very long, but the ones I have used so far really perform well. I had not trouble getting through 1/8th " steel with them. I did not see much deterioration at all on the bits I have used.

Handy case, still sharp after drilling several holes in 1/8" steel.