Grizzly Tools

[kd0afk]

I have bought items from Grizzly before and have been sort of pleased, so getting the 115 piece drill bit set the other day was a shocker. It is the 115 piece titanium coated drill bit set in a rugged steel index. If rugged they mean that the metal can be bent by a light breeze.
One of the rivets holding the three bit holders on the ends of the case was missing.
It came with a chart that had a blatant misprint.
The bit id numbers printed on the lid don't line up with the bit they are supposed to identify.
The latch on the index is bent up and doesn't work right half the time.
All of the bits have burrs on the cutting edges.
Most if not all of the bits are either under or oversized. The 1/4" bit is .240" dia.
Three of three of the drill bits #'s 58, 59, 60 are the same size, the #60 bit is .035" when it should be .040.

I contacted Grizzly Tools and they will refund the money but that's it. They were rude and totally non helpful so they will get this posting on all of the forums I'm on and negative feedback on Ebay.

The state of the American Tool is so far in the crapper these days, it doesn't need any help from companies like this. I don't mind using Chinese made tools if they are made halfway decent but hell, they didn't even use the correct drill rod sizes to make the things. And it's the misrepresentation of the stuff they are selling that gets me. They lie to the internet public in the online ads and when they are found out, they just offer a refund and nothing more said. The ripping off of the public needs to stop and be handled before it happens. They need to stop ripping us off and posts like this are our only weapon.
People need to know before they buy and I hope this post helps.

Now, with that said, I know there are going to be the replies that criticize me for buying from them and yes, I agree, I should have known what I was getting myself into but I have never seen this kind of quality on their shelves at the Springfield store. I mainly work with CRS, brass and aluminum and I knew that even if the coating wore off the hss underneath would be ok for what I need but I at least need the bits to be the correct size. I've never bought a drill bit that wasn't the right size, NEVER.

Anyway this rant has gone on long enough.

 

[Tin Falcon]

Anyway this rant has gone on long enough.

I have a similar set IIRC it came from grizzly and have had it for about 15 years.
So no criticism from me.

I think my friend you are asking for a source on USA made drill bits and not having to pay ridiculous money. I know the feeling wanting a good set but not wanting or willing to pay $400 plus for a full drill bit set I think i can help here.

First of all I do not remember what machines you have. So if you have small machines like and x-2 mill 7x lathe sherline or taig I recomend looking for screw machine drill bits.
in either case I know of Two good sources.

http://www.discount-tools.com/mic-drillset27.cfm

These are Michigan brand Drill bits and mine were shipped direct from the Florida plant . Delivery was a little slow due to a hurricane the week prior affecting production.
The second option
http://www.tools4cheap.net/republic.php

Prices vary depending on material point grind length and surface finish but you should be able to get a nice set of drill bits for about $220.

Tools4cheap sells republic brand drill bits.
Tin

 

[kd0afk]

My lathe is a SB9". A bit bigger than a Sherline. What is the opinion on Northern Tools are they any better? They have a HSS set of 115 bits and looks to be a nicer made product for around $150,

 

[Tin Falcon]

I Have never purchased from northern tool . I expect mostly import stuff like anyone else. So you are fine with jobber length bits. Do not need screw machine bits.
Tin

 

[rhankey]

I got the same 115 piece drill set about 3 years ago from Grizzly in a plastic case rather than the metal case. The plastic case was in one piece, but can be a bear to get the bits out of. Like you, I also found a few duplicates. I had to sharpen the bits as I used them for the first time. I figured the quality was in line with what they charged so I wasn't disappointed. About a year ago I sprung for a high quality set of US made bits, and what a world of difference they make. I will keep the Grizzly set as a backup, but that's about it.

 

[Alchymist]

Import drill bits are for woodworking - better than a cut off nail. For metals, buy US made drills.

 

[Wizard69]

Sadly buying American made means nothing these days even if it is a well known brand name. A few months ago I bought a set of left hand drill bits from MSC, these being made by a major USA brand name. To put it bluntly I was appalled when i opened the box. I never seen such a poor job of sharpening ever, including many of my attempts at hand grinding.

A few years ago, dealing with a local supply house we had to have them drop one USA made brand they where supplying us with. These normal drill bits where worth worthless out of the box, all requiring a regrind to cut aluminum. Apparently that manufacture went out of business so we don't have to worry about crap drill bits from them anymore.

Realize here that I work in an maintenance department focused on supporting automated production lines. We aren't asking a lot from the materials we buy. This isn't production though we do a bit of stainless work.

Sadly it has come to the point where brand names mean nothing.

 

[pete]

FWIW,
I'm certainly not saying it's 100% completely impossible to buy decent offshore cutting tools, but the odds of buying those decent cutting tools at that dirt cheap offshore price are pretty large, and so far in my experience it's been totally impossible for me to do so at least. YMMV. So to state the obvious and the very old cliche, you do get exactly what you pay for. And especially so with cutting tools. I've been firmly convinced for a very long time that cutting tools are not someplace you should be trying to pinch dollars if quality, performance, or even longevity is at all important to you. For myself, the wasted money became far more than counter productive. I finally decided I just can't afford to throw away my limited hobby dollars with cheap cutting tools, and I've yet to be disappointed with buying the best I can afford.

More than a few years ago I worked in a laboratory environment and I learned just how important side by side testing really is to get verifiable results. Unlike Wizard69's experience, I've had zero rejects buying quality cutting tools. And any decent to top quality North American, U.K. European, Israeli company will 100% stand behind there products. Has anybody here had the same from the bottom priced tooling suppliers? Testing a high quality drill bit, end mill, carbide tip, HSS tool blank etc against the same with what you think is ok at that dirt cheap price should convince you that hundreds of others and my points of view might or could be correct?

Alchymist's mention about import drills being just for woodworking wasn't too far wrong either, and I've bought some a long time ago that wouldn't even fit within his description. But that import description is also a little too vague, and I highly doubt that's how he meant it. U.K. European, some Russian, some Taiwan, can and is top quality also. China even builds some very heavy duty very large industrial lathes and machine tools that are of fairly high quality and accuracy. I have to suspect they can and do build some high quality tooling that our importers just won't import because it's at least the same price as the very well known brands.

It really did take me way too long to finally add up 1 + 1 and begin to understand that there's no such thing as a good cheap cutting tool. The idea or principal is probably impossible. The actual price of labor in China or India has almost a minimal effect on the price of the finished goods being flogged to us. I've read hundreds to possibly thousands of threads that give various points of view about cheap cutting tools, and not one single thread or post by any well experienced person either at the hobby or professional level has ever said you can get even half decent quality at that dirt cheap price. It really is more than far past time that these forums should be educating people about the differences between that dirt cheap and at least acceptable quality tooling. It is going to cost you X amount for half decent brand new tooling. Your free to think different, but your also going to be very wrong I'm sorry to say.

Pete

 

[ShopShoe]

I agree with what Pete said. The main thing that I find annoying is that some branded products are not the same from batch to batch. A few years ago I found some really good brazed carbide lathe toolbits from one vendor: Well made, appropriately sharpened, lasted long and almost indestructable. Time came to reorder about eight months later and what I got were about as useful as pieces of scrap from my recycling bin. I have had this happen even with well-known brands.

I can repeat the same story for any type of cutter I use. In the end I just keep shopping. I repeat purchases from vendors who either keep consistency in their offering or who honestly represent their products.

I don't want to start a brand-loyalty war, but appreciate careful reviews and opinions on this forum which explain why individuals prefer one product over another. "Your mileage may vary" Absolutely, Every Time.

Money where my mouth is: Current quality favorites in my toolbox.

Drills -- Dormer, Triumph. Considering Republic from LMS.
End Mills -- Atrax, OSG
Lathe Toolbits -- Anybody's HSS and I sharpen and experimenting with SECO inserts, want to Try AR Warner.
Taps -- OSG, Greenlee. Stuck with "whatever" dies to get size and style I want sometimes.
Misc. -- Buy on sale while doing R and D.



--ShopShoe

 

[Tin Falcon]

I don't want to start a brand-loyalty war, but appreciate careful reviews and opinions on this forum which explain why individuals prefer one product over another. "Your mileage may vary" Absolutely, Every Time.

well said !!!

When possible inspect before you purchase. Or before you leave the parking lot or immediately upon receipt if mail order.

There are a couple things that come to mind. I anyone here who has built an engine or worked in a machine shop knows there are a hundred plus variables that we are attempting to control. material, lubrication, the machine speed feed, cutter material, cutter geometry.......... do the job ten times and perfection take a break #11 and things go wrong. sometimes explainable sometimes not.
I spent a good part of a year running a cnc lathe. You have to constantly monitor the dimensions of the part.

So how does a bad set of drill bits from a good company get shipped ?
Likely it comes down to the person running the machine and or the person that packed the box.They either do not know or do not care. Grizzly claims to have QC at the factory and presumably at the warehouses.But QC is random checks . Checking a sample. Not every item.

As far as the money where mouth is I have several of the Warner sets and love them. And like i mentioned earlier a set of the Michigan drill screw machine length bits from discount tools.

Tin

 

[Tin Falcon]

KD often grizzly has a couple of machinists on staff to check and repair there machines they also help folk on the sales floor. Did you ask to have someone check /inspect a replacement set for you prior to shipping.
Tin

 

[tornitore45]

Theese kind of post are recurrent, but do not add to the solution.
They happen when somebody got gipped with a tool that has such poor quality that is not even functional to a very minimum standard, therefore is a real waste of money.
Rarely I see posted a good review mentioning brand, price and level of quality at least serviceable.
Granted Excellent and Cheap do not coexist but there are various degrees of quality and sometime we can do with less than industrial grade as long as the tool has a degree of serviceability.

For example an out of tolerance end-mill of othrewise good quality may not be of value to a CNC production but is good for a HMS operator.

What would be really useful is more posting like Tin and ShopShoe actually reporting about sources of good quality tools.