Since 1993, I’ve had pretty much the same set of bits – brad-points I inherited from my grandfather and a set of Forstners I bought from Lee Valley. I’ve tried to maintain these bits as best I could, but when building all these Roorkee chairs, I gave up on my bits.
So I bought two dream sets of bits.
I first got a taste of the Lee Valley HSS Brad-points when I started working at Kelly Mehler’s woodworking school. He keeps a special stash of them that has saved our collective bottoms on several occasions. I’ve wanted a set of these bits ever since. And last week I bought the set of 28. They are all still dipped in their protective flubber and I can’t stand to remove it. Joy!
While at Popular Woodworking we got to test out some of the Maxi-Cut Forstners after being wowed by them at a tool show. They are very well made and clear chips like nobody’s business. I bought a set of five and will add to it as I can afford it.
I know there are other great bits out there, these are the ones I’ve had the best experience with so far. I hope they last as long as my previous sets.
— Christopher Schwarz