20 Best Hex Shank Drill Bits (2023 Updated)

First hole: driling 1/4″ through-hole in 3/4″ maple, bit began to slip in the hex-shank. Couldn’t even finish the hole. Real bummer because the bits were sharp and drilled well. No problem with the other sizes.

Can’t figure out how to tighten the bit in the shank.

Dewalt makes a good quality product. These are really sharp and don’t slide at all. They worked for a delicate project and the holes are clean. Nice selection of common sizes. I highly recommend these.

This is a great buy. The bits are sharp and common sizes for making pilot holes. They are quick to mount and remove in my cordless drill. They are functional for any wood shop.

I have regular size pocket screws 3/8 bit but I needed this smaller 5/16 bit to drill mounting screws holes in my custom made laminate router plates. Before I used 2 different sizes, 11/64 drilled through and 5/16 drilled half way, now I can drill both with 1 drill bit and have them perfectly centered.

Bought this bit a few months ago and have only used it on pine wood. When you tighten the collar it gouges the Drill bit. The metal is too soft. It also bends out of shape.

Another great product produced by Kreg. With the quick change pocket hole bit, makes switching drivers and bits faster, increasing time to move along your project. Worth the money, a Quality well spent.

Overall, this product is fine if you consider only the pieces you get. But the range is way too small. The bits in this set only go up to 1/4″. With the metric hex bit set, your largest bit is 12mm, more than twice as large.

Sure, SAE has more small bits than metric. But people still need the larger SAE bits. So, increase the range on the set or offer a separate set with the larger bits.

I got these to replace some worn and broken bits in my gunsmith screwdriver set. They are a PERFECT replacement and have restored my G/S screwdriver set to its former usefulness. Highly recommended!

I wanted a decent SAE hex bit set in 2 inches in length with slim shanks and these are perfect.

I needed a 3/16 bit to replace my current bit. I don’t believe in resharpening bits. Those machines never really worked for me. This bit is rated for an impact drill but I have a hole shooter. I figured it was more bit strength than I needed but I liked the hex end rather than the straight shaft I generally get on “general use” bits.

The hex shaft fit perfectly in my drill’s self tightening chuck. The non-run point worked perfectly for my project. The hole was correct for the screw anchor size & there were no side sliding marks left by a bit point that can’t hold its mark.

Overall, I would say the bit is a good value for the price & you get three in the package.

If you drill a lot, the quality and sharpness are important. I used to think all drill bits were the same. Nope. You get what you pay for. These cut well, but aren’t any better value than the big box stores.

Don’t buy the cheap ones here. You will be sharpening them every 5 minutes. These cut quickly through a hardened bolt that broke in my engine head, which was nice because it was in a bugger location requiring a right angle drill adapter and I couldn’t put much pressure on it.

I splurged and bought the more expensive bits. Glad I did.

I don’t know what the difference is in materials between these Hercules brand drill bits and the Warrior brand and the Bauer Brand but there is definitely a difference because these outlast the other two hands down for sure.

I kept buying the Warrior brand because all three brands harbor freight sells have the same description–” Titanium high speed drill bits. ” So i figured there must not be any difference. I could only use the warrior brand drill bits once or twice before they would dull.

Then I tried the Bauer and they lasted 4 times as long. NOW I finally tried the Hercules brand drill bits and they last 4 times longer than the Bauer. I can finally see that spending more on the Hercules makes much more sense in the long run than buying the cheaper bits.

I use these one or two days a week for less than an hour total drilling pilot holes in pine. Usually don’t drill more than two or three holes in one pass. They seem to get dull fairly quick and then break off in the wood.

They last me 3 to 6 months. So, now I buy them three or four at a time. When I have some free time I’m going to see if there’s anything sharper/sturdier at a reasonable price/performance level.

I was putting up blinds for my wife when I hit a nail in the window frame and broke my drill bit. I was upset because it was part of a set and I thought I’d have to buy an entire set to get the bit I needed.

A quick trip to Aubuchon’s and I found the drill bit size I needed as a single with the correct drive on the shaft. I was happy. And now that the blind is up my wife is happy. Happy wife; Happy life!.

I had a project waiting for this to come in the mail. a lot of deep holes in soft wood. This is the kind of work that will break a small drill if you are not careful because there is a lot of friction between the soft wood and the bit, which overheats and torques.

I drilled maybe 50 holes in varieties of fir, poplar, birch and plywood, deep, like the entire bit deep. The last hole drilled as quickly and cleanly as the first.

Drill bits work great and don’t spin. I carelessly angled a bit and snapped one. My fault. Still good stuff

I ordered these as replacements for some that had broken while drilling. They grab instantly and drill clean holes in materials used.

It is difficult to find good hex shank drills. These Irwin drills exceeded my expectation for drilling in metal and didn’t wobble in my 1/4″ chuck.

Love this style bit with the quick change shank that fits the driver tools. And I love the case. HOWEVER, these drill bits are crimped onto the quick change shank. They do not hold up well with drilling in metal, and the larger ones usually end up slipping in the shank even drilling wood.

The idea is fantastic, but do yourself a favor and get the impact ready bits. Irwin makes them at a reasonable price. They are only a little more, but are solid with the hex shank, so they will not slip.

They may break if you’re not careful, but so much better than these bits. Again, the case is very good quality but missing some sizes. See pic showing impact bit on the left and bit from this set to the right.

This is a great set. I do a lot of building and have gone through a lot of drill bits. I have been impressed with this set. I love having bits in an “index” for easy selection and so I love the sturdy case and easy removal of the bits.

The hex shank makes all the difference and is essential to me in terms of quick insertion into the drill chuck and also the stabilization of the bit under load during use. The quick-change adapter is a nice bonus though I have not used it often.

After doing some comparison shopping, I found that the price of this set was quite reasonable and a good value. I waited a while after receiving this set to write a review so that I could be fair about judging the durability and I have not broken a bit, have been impressed with the quality, and would be quick to buy this set again.

5/16/13 – I used one of the smaller ones and barely touched it to the plastic and it snapped. I’m not sure if it is because of the fit into the chuck? I’ve used finer bits in a normal chuck without any issue.

In fact, I usually break them when I set the drill down crooked, and almost never while in use. But this smallish bit broke right away in the hex-shank configuration. So now I’m thinking these aren’t so hot.

There is a really nice chuck you can get for your hex-shank drill that will take super-fine bits. I’ve been using that with my old fine bits instead, and having excellent results. ******************************** I’ve not used them much, but when I do, I really like having them.

I didn’t have a way to use my new Bosch cordless. Now I have these, but also a chuck I can use for my box of old Rockwell bits from my late uncle’s time there (wayyyyy back in the ’60s and ’70s!).

Stays sharp longer because it cannot cut thru what it says, won’t dull down if it’s not cutting. In all seriousness, I had high hopes since it was Milwaukee. I was drilling some metal on my car. I used a low speed cordless drill and drill oil.

It just scratched the surface. I chose this bit because i also failed with the Milwaukee Cobalt (same issues). Then i tested an ancient black oxide bit that my Dad had, and it went right thru. I was shocked! So i decided to try this bit next thinking maybe the Cobalt had an issue, but nope.

My Dad ended up digging out some more ancient bits of his and they worked fine. I still didn’t get the hole I needed, but my Dad’s bits got me close enough. How is it that a modern $31 Titanium bit fails (as well as the $40 Cobalt) but ancient black oxide worked??!! I would have loved had this bit worked, but alas.

I have had the chance to test all of pieces in this 15 PC TIN SHOCKWAVE set and use quite a few in one of my recent home projects. These drill bits are quite durable and sturdy. There is a good variety of different size bits.

The storage case is nice and keeps everything organized. I was able to test them on both wood and aluminum— they went through both materials quite easily and smoothly. Installation and use was straightforward and easy on both of my drills that I tested them on.

Time will tell how well it holds up to multiple, longer use, but I am quite satisfied with the performance so far. I only have home projects periodically, so this is more than suitable for my needs. I would happily recommend this set!.

I worked on a big project about a year ago and went through several drill bits in the process. Needed to replace them for a new project and it was a better deal to get a whole new kit than replace individual bits.

Milwaukee has always stood out to me as a high quality tool manufacturer so I went with these over the other brand of bits I already had. I really liked that these were compatible with both a drill driver and a impact driver as I have both (my old bits were drill driver only).

My project only involved drilling through wood and some drywall but they worked fantastic. Primarily used my impact driver too (it’s lighter) which I was a little hesitant about at first but worked just as well as my drill driver.

No broken bits either. Overall, very happy with these!.

Works fine and economical. Will it wear out faster than more expensive drills? Dunno. I like hex shank drills because then the drill bit is firmly grasped by the drill jaws. I have an electric drill where one tightens the jaws by hand – no chuck key.

So the bit will simply spin in the jaws if the hole in the wood or metal grips it tightly. These hex shank drills solve that.

Nice drill bit, however I do prefer cobalt drill bits. I couldn’t find those with the impact driver end on the bit.

Excellent product. I like the oversize (not round) end that goes into the drill, as it does not work it’s way out or stop cutting like the fully round drill bits some times do. I will buy more of these.

The shank and drillbit are two separate parts. It will separate off while drilling. Waste of time and money.

Each bit snapped off once it connected with hardwood. Only use for softwood like pine. Total waste of money then again I suppose you get what you pay for but I would expect more than a single use. Dont bother purchasing this item or wasting your money.

For the price, excellent! Ive used them a dozen times or so and they are still as sharp as a razor.

Bought two sets. While the 1/8″ did the job, the 3/16″ and 1/4″ could not drill one hole without failing. Bits were sharp, grabbed the steel, but the hex shank spun on the bit or broke off before one hole could be drilled.

4 bits failed in the same manner, without one hole being finished. This was in an 18v cordless drill and No, it was not in impact mode. Zoro typically sells high quality pro products, so these slipped through.

These drill bits made in China are useless.

These are just what I was expecting, they go through the wood like a hot knife on butter, I used to buy these from BOSH but they went crazy on their price, am glad I found this vendor will keep buying from them, planning to buy a bigger order and hope the don’t raise their price the way BOSH did.

I AM VERY SATISFIED WITH THE PRODUCT.

Good quality and value is seen off the bat. It doesn’t look or feel cheap. Strong enough to drill through hard steel. Good bang for the buck!

This is my go-to hex drill bit set for wood or softer materials. They work best in a drill but good in an impact in a pinch. I think they’re more durable than Dewalt and they definitely have more length than Milwaukee.

That length comes in handy in a lot of applications I use them for.

I bought these for my impact drill/driver. I don’t need to have a chuck as the bits fit right into the drill with no adapter. They come in a nice heavy duty case, which slips right into the bag with the drill, batteries, and charger.

This is a full set of quality drill bits in 1/64′ steps, all the way to 5/32, then 1/32 steps to 1/4″, then 5/16, 3/8, and 1/2″. For carrying along with the drill, they are ‘close enough to perfect for me’.

At this price, I may get another set and cut them down for close quarters.

These drill bits are a great addition to my homeowner bag. The box keeps everything organized, and with the driver bits that Makita also sells, I rarely find myself needing a drill driver ever.

The plastic case is fine, but the drills are very hard to pry loose and to put back. Not much fun to use off and on all day on a job site. The drill bits are shorter than in any other set I’ve used – a little disappointing.

The quality is excellent.

Super sharp! Love the hex base. Never tried these before.

Seems like hex drive and drill bit machined from one solid piece for strength, makes hex driver tools even more useful.

I bought these to replace an aging set of drill bits that I have. Price was good, titanium coated, multiples of commonly used sizes, great case. However, when using these with a good quality drill, I had 3 go dull within a few uses and one snap in half.

Was using them to drill out some rusted/seized screws and found the coating came off almost immediately and would lose their “bite” rather quickly. Went back to the older set and the rest came out. Was not applying too much force or trying to have them go through thick metal – they were small Robertson screws.

Would not recommend and would not buy again. You get what you pay for.

Well designed, manages to fit all the bits I need for use around the house (2x of the most common ones) while keeping the case quite compact and not taking too much room in my tool bag. I’ve only used it a handful of times to drill wood and metal boxes, but they seem to cut pretty well and don’t really walk.

I’d give it 5 stars if it was just a tad easier to pull the bits out of the sleeve.

Very good quality for the price. Get this if you are looking for a single drill bit that’s included in the set.

The tips break off really easy, they are make in Japan. I bought the P2 ones, they were fine.

these are long lasting bits .. good metal quality

great value for the price

I ordered this because I had a new deck to build and did not want problems half way through. I also ordered the slightly longer version – makes getting around things a lot easier. With the shorter drivers it’s hard to drive if you are not square on.

When further away you can be not quite square and still drive screws in. We had limited time then we would be away for months. No time to find replacement drivers and stuff up on meeting the fixed deadline.

Well, that deck was over a year ago. I drove in a couple of thousand deck screws with zero problems and hundreds of screws driven very quickly. At one point I was doing such a rate that the driver was burning hot.

Big mistake to touch it when inserting the next screw. I’ve used that same driver for significant repairs to another deck. Same perfect result. square drive bit has not deformed, despite much abuse. I really consider these items consumable when doing a big job.

Full marks to Irwin for their quality. You might pay a bit more than a generic, but worth every cent. Strongly recommend.

I used #1 bits with my trim work, and the smaller size of holes on the #1 screws makes durability an issue. So far, these bits are holding up nicely, however, the skinny neck seen in the Zoro listing doesn’t acurately depict what was shipped.

There wasn’t a longer, tapered neck on the bits received. Instead, it was 1/4″ almost the entire length of the bit, with a short, tapered section to the tip of the #1 end. #sweepstakes.

I bought this bit to adjust the tightness of my Gerber. The second there was any resistance, the bit stripped. I’ve also used this brand of Phillip screwdriver bits in my screw gun. After the 1st screw slip, the bit was done.

Bottom line. I will not buy this brand of bits again. They make awesome pliers, though. ijs.

You pay for what you get. I have used milwaukee self feed bits for 30 years. A well maintained bit can drill thousands of holes. face drill to quickly remove wood. no pulling slugs from hole saws and replacing pilot bits.

As a plumbing and hvac contractor for many years the price point is very AFFORDABLE. Can be resharped by hand or professionally. can straighten a crooked hole. I have drilled 4- 2×10 ,joists sandwiched together.

have drilled through top plates in a cathedral ceiling. The older bits are better the steel is harder. NEW OLD STOCK FROM 20 YEARS ago is the ideal bit. The only drawbback a large drill with variable speed and a cluch is the way to.

I alwys used a timberwolf to drill. Works great on a dril press.

The average plumber and electrician will love this bit. Works flawlessly in dry 2x lumber. However the bit lacks the aggressive chip clearing ability necessary to bore accurately through thicker timber.

Chips clog the hole and often trap the bit in the hole unless it is reversed and backed out often. In green and pressure treated lumber this problem is especially troublesome. If you are a timber framer looking for something different, this isn’t the answer.

Sharpen your auger bits and save your money.

Value. Holds good edge. Sharp.

Received product in bag from salesperson in parking area during Covid-19 store closure. Discovered product was previously used – unwrapped and poorly retaped together and one bit was damaged. However due to pandemic decided to keep remaining usable bits.

security bits are for a specific screw and the tool needs to be strong as it has less metal than a standard torx bit.

Definitely need these if your torx bolts have that little pin in the middle of the head. Worked like a charm!

Great set of bits, no warping, sharp! Hard case for storage that is very easy to get bits in and out of. Locks to prevent spills when walking and falls out of your pocket or if you’re kinda clumsy like me.

Speed-wise they cut excellent, as always make sure you dimple your project before drilling to ensure the best location. The inclusion of the hexagon perfect since so many users today are using quick-change cordless drills.

Very happy with these and I hope they last long term!.

I bought several quick change bits from Drills and Cutters. The quality was excellent and shipping was prompt and efficient. Thanks!

These drill bits are super durable and very sharp !! Can’t beat the quality for the price. Everyone that works with us has switched to these.