How To Choose The Right Drill Bits From Harbor Freight

When building a tool arsenal for at-home or professional use, it's relatively easy to keep the big stuff in mind. The larger, more prominent tools of the trade tend to come first, and if you know which power tool brand is the best for you, it's even easier to stock up. While stores like Harbor Freight — the owner of several tool brands — are excellent for these items, they're also great at filling other needs in your garage or shed. They carry the smaller, often overlooked pieces as well that keep progress on your latest job going.

For example, Harbor Freight boasts quite a robust selection of drill and driver bits. From sizable kits comprised of numerous pieces to smaller packs of only a few specialty ones, you'd be hard-pressed to find a job the store's drill bit selection couldn't cover. Naturally, the question is, which of the many Harbor Freight drill bit offerings are right for you? Budget is a strong indicator, but if you want the most bang for your buck, it's not the only factor to consider. If you're in the market for drill bits specifically from Harbor Freight, here are some key elements to keep in mind when making your selection. 

Before heading to a Harbor Freight location or opening up the website to buy one of its best cordless drills and some drill bits, assessing the job ahead of you is key. What material(s) will be drilled into throughout the workday? Are the materials in question soft or hard? Depending on the answer, you can choose the category of drill bit you'll need. Harbor Freight has driver and impact, twist, woodboring, masonry, and step drill bits available. If you're drilling through softer material like wood, twist bits should serve you just fine. On the other hand, if you have a more solid material like stone to work with, masonry bits are in your best interest.

Speaking of materials, the makeup of what you plan to drill through isn't the only one worth keeping in mind. It's also wise to consider what the bits themselves are made of, as drill bits can come in a range of materials. This way, they can handle different drilling situations, rates of use, and, as a result, temperatures. High-speed steel is standard for most bits and can cut through most common materials easily, sometimes being coated in other materials like titanium nitride for added durability. Meanwhile, cobalt can handle slightly tougher jobs. Bits can also come with carbide tips or be made entirely from carbide to tackle the hardest materials, such as metals.

Beyond the material you plan to drill through and the desired material of your drill bits, you want to look over Harbor Freight's bits even closer. Next on the pre-purchase checklist is determining the diameter size of the drill bit needed for your job. If it needs small or average holes, 1/4-inch or 1/2-inch bits are perfect, but if you need bigger ones, there are even larger sizes out there. Conveniently, many of Harbor Freight's bit kits come with all kinds of sizes, so it's more than likely that one such set can fill your needs.

Aside from diameter, the tip of the bit can be quite telling as well. The angle of the bit tip is a strong indicator of what exactly it can handle on the job. Flatter tips come to a less stark point, making them ideal for softer material, while steeper tips are much sharper and are therefore more effective on harder materials. Some tips even have different shapes entirely to improve performance, like the screw-like ones seen on the Bauer Wood Auger Drill Bit Set or the wide, flat ones on some of the Warrior Quick-Change Masonry Drill Bit Set.

So, you've taken all of the above criteria into account, and you're still having trouble getting to the Harbor Freight checkout. If you're confident that the drill bits you're mulling over are worth it, but you're not sure which to buy, why not turn to the people for some help? On the Harbor Freight website, each product page includes a star rating out of five. This provides a consensus among those who've bought and used the tool in question on its overall quality, helping you as a buyer. It also has a spot for customers to share their feelings on their purchase, which brings more insight into what's good and bad about it.

Many on the Harbor Freight site are eager to recommend quality products to their fellow laborers. For example, user Lloyd gave five stars to the Bauer 1/8-inch Double-Ended Titanium Drill Bits, commenting, "These little drill bits cut like butter and when they wear out you just turn it around and use the other end." At the same time, others aren't afraid to share their disappointment in their purchase. "Within seconds all three blades broke. I did not misuse or abuse the product, it just failed," wrote verified user Gary in their one-star review for the Warrior 1/18-inch High Speed Steel Spiral Cut Bits. It's wise to read more than just one or two reviews per item, and it's not a bad idea to look online beyond the Harbor Freight website for customer feedback.

No matter what kind of work you're doing, it's pretty much a given that tool failure of some kind will occur. A battery dies, a motor stops, or, in this case, a drill bit fails to do its job or even breaks. It's bound to happen, but Harbor Freight doesn't leave its customers completely out of luck. While Harbor Freight has a lifetime warranty on its hand tools, the brand also offers a standard 90-day warranty for its drill bits, where you can either return or exchange the faulty or otherwise useless tool. On the Harbor Freight website, warranty tabs on each product listing can reassure you that the item you're looking to buy is covered.

If you need to make a return or exchange, it's important to note how you received your drill bits. Items purchased online and in-store have a slightly different protocol for returns and swaps. For online purchases, they can be taken to brick and mortar Harbor Freight locations and must come with a copy of the packing slip or order with the specific item listed. As for those in-store, you must have a copy of your receipt and a valid I.D. present. Though, a return or exchange can be refused by a manager per their discretion. More often than not, it's a breeze to bring in your previously purchased drill bits and get your money back, or replace them with ones that better suit your needs.

There are numerous must-have Harbor Freight Tools for every home garage, toolbox, workshop, and more, and most might not consider fancy drill bits among these necessities. However, when you need a specific bit, their importance becomes abundantly clear. Thankfully, it's not too difficult to figure out which Harbor Freight piece(s), are right for you and your next job.