Do You Need These? HERCULES Cobalt Step Drill Bits Review [Harbor Freight]

We take a closer look at the HERCULES Cobalt Step Drill Bits. Will they work on mild steel and stainless steel?

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Hercules step drill bits are they worth The money and will they drill stainless Steel let's find out [Music] These are the new Hercules step drill Bits not just step drill bits they're The Cobalt steel step drill bits yes Usually Cobalt drill bits are part of The more expensive drill bits that You'll find very hard and they drill Into hard metals very well so things Like drilling out screws and bolts Typically where you grab a Cobalt bit Now this is a Cobalt step drill bit and It's from Harbor Freight in the Hercules Line something you would think would be Kind of value priced and it is now Before we talk about the pricing let's Take it over and actually use it and We'll use it on some stainless steel as Well as other things and see what we Think about these things you can get it In a two pack or a three pack of the Smaller ones and we'll talk about all The sizes and everything else and then We'll come back and talk about pricing So here we have the Cobalt steel step Drill bits from Hercules as I mentioned You can get them in a two-piece kit or In the three-piece of course the three Pieces the smaller or the more narrow Bits two of them are half inch and one Of them is three quarters of an inch and Then the two pack is the larger of the

Set these have the quarter inch hex Shanks on them these have a 3 8 Basically a tri-lobe design shank on Them for use and drills these are for Use and drills or impact drivers so Again the six point hex design now one Thing I will notice right off the bat Very good looking set of of bits and it Has a dual flute design at least on the Biggest one here so that's a dual flute That's a dual flute see if these are yes All of these are dual flute designs here So you have two spiral flutes they go up The sides it's going to relieve any of Your residual or any of the the shrapnel That's coming off the base metal can be Escorted out through the flute and and Fall out or work its way out and you Have the sizing at least from this Largest one only on one of the flutes And it looks like a laser etching now The good thing is it is inside the flute Which shouldn't get a lot of scraping so It should last at the same time laser Etching does not like to last a long Time Especially when you're using it on Grinding or you know drilling metal and Steel and anything else and you don't Really see a great contrast now that's Kind of you know small pickings when it Comes to a Cobalt step drill bit they're Really biggest part is the functionality Of it and is it going to work well and

Let's take a look at these others as Well yet pretty much the same design on These others is you can see the sizes on Here but just kind of tough to see have To look up close and pretty hard to Actually see the sizes but a lot of Times I'll I'll probably be taking my uh My calipers to actually check the size On these so it's not a huge deal but did Want to point that out now let's get to Using these and see what we think A little close-up of the trilobe shank On the larger two So again you get three Flats on there That's going to match up with the jaws Of your drill But will not be able to use these in an Impact driver where these you can use Them in a drill or impact driver Good old piece of Automotive sheet metal From I think the early 70s mid 70s on a Fire burn so anyway a classic place to Use a step drill bit I'll tell you why In just one moment Okay so I'm not going to use a step Drill bit first I'm going to use just a 3 8 brand new drill bit in fact I think This is a Hercules bit [Applause] So listen that drilled very well however One thing I noticed right off the bat is That we've got a really sharp edge there And a lot of times you'll actually get Kind of jagged edges on sheet metal kind

Of the thinner it is the the worse off It gets and you can have some Distortion As well as very sharp edges I don't Really like that so one thing I like About a step drill bit and I'm going to Grab Okay I'm gonna grab the bigger one of the Smaller ones All right here we go Start slow Okay so we've gone in [Applause] So one thing I like about a step bit is Number one that cuts very fast by the Way that Cobalt cut a lot quicker than I Thought it was going to but it leaves a Really smooth edge and that's because Each step here has a step up to that Step in other words it kind of chamfers Or doesn't kinda it chamfers the edge of That metal making it nice and smooth With no Jagged edges on it If I wanted to go all the way through I Could do that too we'll do that one more Time Start slow So I'm not even having to you know make A pilot hole it's doing that on its own [Applause] So again you can see the chamfer that It's making on the edge of that hole Keeping it nice and clean [Music]

So that's one thing I really like about A step drill bit Now the reason is is I have a grommet Right here and let's measure the inside Of that grommet looks like yeah it looks Like a one inch grommet so let's say We're running wiring through a firewall Something like that And then let me give you a little tip Here I'm gonna go to my biggest one So here on this biggest drill bit Our one inch is right here this step Right here so I want to go in and I'm Not going to be able to read that as I'm Drilling right so I need to make a one Inch hole and I need to be able to Easily see that well here's how we can Do that And this is not rocket science this is Not the first time it's been thought of But just take you a Sharpie marker and Mark the flute to where you're drilling Now some will say well you can either do The one that you're going to drill on or The one that goes beyond it you know so That you can actually see it and I will Tell you find the one that you actually Have to drill to So the one inch which is right here And I say you should actually color the Actual last step you're going to drill Why do I say that good question Gonna do it over here too

I say that because the next time I need To use this drill bit if that one's Colored then I have to take some acetone Or something to take that off however What's going to help me is if I've got a Drill to that then it's going to be Drilling through that metal and that Metal will help kind of scrape that off So I know that's not the next one I have To use on the next time does that make Sense so that's why I say color the one You're actually drilling to the last Step you're actually going to drill [Applause] So even on this big a step drill I'm Still not needing a pilot hole and it's Starting very easily [Music] And now I've got one more step to my Color [Music] Foreign T one more time that I think this Curvature or this brand new bit it is Really eating through there really quick So with sheet metal you need to be Careful but you can see it's already Helping to wear off that Mark that I put On there so let's do one more [Music] And there we have it So just a small tip again you can still Kind of see the marking there but you Can tell it's not fresh so the next time

If you've got to mark that somewhere Else you're not having to worry about Cleaning that with acetone as if I would Have left it up here it would have been Nice and brand new and still look like That's the Mark I need to go to Now let's do something a little tougher This is eighth inch steel I'm going to go to my smallest step Drill bit I'm going to use a little cutting paste Always recommend using cutting paste When you're Drilling in the steel sheet Metal is not a big deal aluminum is not A big deal but definitely it's going to Protect your equipment to protect your Tools help your accessories last a lot Longer Foreign [Music] So again no pilot hole needed [Applause] Again you see the nice [Applause] Nice chamfer that's putting on that hole So no Jagged edges there to hang on So there was going in high and just Going at it hard and you see how quick That I was able to drill that hole We'll do one more again on speed two on This drill I'm just going to go at it full bore [Music] There you have it

Get a nice clean hole Love that on a step drill bit Now let's try our smaller of the larger Sizes Which by the way this seam right here is Usually pretty hard You can see how much heat was put into There it's usually pretty hard right There in the center so stay away from Drilling that when you can only if you Have to By the way I'm being a little Apprehensive because I have no auxiliary Handle on this so let's change that [Music] Oh [Applause] You're gonna love the fact You get a nice chamfered hole It's not Sharp Now obviously aluminum Should not be an issue at all [Applause] [Music] [Applause] And in this case where you can See the step because it's thick enough To be thicker than the Than the step turn it around hit it from The other side [Music] Clean that up And there you go And finally the killer two mini drill

Bits Is stainless steel I'm gonna slow it down a little bit Foreign Hole needed Did take a little bit to get through There Again giving us that nice clean Edge Even in stainless steel Now let's do something else here We forgot to do on the sheet metal I'm Going to go to another hole [Applause] [Music] Yeah Change that our bit Go to this larger bit And We'll go to our one inch Mark again [Music] [Music] Foreign Definitely warm [Music] That really beat up that hole pretty Good let's try that one more time [Music] [Music] That step's not heavy [Music] There we go got through that one let's See if it'll keep going [Music] [Music]

[Music] Okay that took a little bit of time to Do that That is a cleaner hole but I really had To take my time to get that to uh on Those bigger steps it's really wanting To grab And then of course so one of those steps Is pretty much already shot We'll take our grommet And there you have it The perfect way to make a grommet to run Wiring or to make a hole to put a Grommet to run wiring okay let's talk About pricing first for the smaller Three sizes or the three sizes that are Smaller in the package that's going to Run you thirty five dollars 34.99 and The two larger sizes that kit is going To run you 39.99 or 40 so you're talking 35 and 40 dollars for a Cobalt step Drill bit that's very cheap for any step Drill bits that last of any time that's Still very cheap if you go to a Swiss Made stuff you're going to pay an arm And a leg in the hundreds of dollars for The equal size bits now I will say if You're drilling into stainless steel a Lot I don't think these are the bits for You it did struggle it I all but Probably burn up several steps of this Some of you may say I was doing it wrong Whatever that that's fine you're welcome To do that but my my point is it's very

Aggressive especially this largest one Is a very aggressive bit it really Wanted to to drill in and bite in and Keep going like all the way through the The whole thing so you have to be Careful with this one and I tried it Slow I tried it fast I tried to you know Maybe speed it up a lot so it wasn't Trying to grab so hard and just kind of But it was still a tough bit especially Going through the stainless steel to not Only get through but once it got through It wanted to pull into the next one as Well really hard and really bite and get Those Jagged edges so again if you're Doing stainless steel a lot I don't Think this is the set that you want to Get mild steel aluminum all those other Things I think this is a great set to Have again sheet metal just understand That it is a very aggressive set and That you'll want to go to the finer Steps and that'll ease up that that Wanting to kind of grab and walk it on Through so just be very careful when You're using an aggressive bit with the Large step when you're going into Thinner sheet metal it will want to Distort that or make those Jagged edges And pull that bit in there so be careful With that but still a great price on These so check them out from Harbor Freight it's the Hercules Cobalt step Drill bit set also keep track of us on

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