We have all seen the TV infomercials of the drill bits that are supposed to drill everything and still do a great job with any material.  If you’re like me you probably roll your eyes and change the channel.  I am pretty sure that none of those home grade bits would hold up very long. 

Traditionally we have divided  drill bit’s into several categories. 

  There are Twist bits primarily for steel but are also used on wood, plastics and other metals. 

  There are auger and ship auger bits that are only used on wood. There are Brad point bits that look like twist bits but have sharp points specifically for  clean holes in wood.  There are also Forstner and self feed bit’s which are very similar and are only used in wood.

  Another category is specifically for concrete, masonry and other hard materials. They have a steel shank with a carbide tip braised on the end to withstand the abrasive properties of crate and masonry. They are usually used in hammer drills and rotary hammers.

  There are also specialty bits made with diamond grit for drilling glass, ceramic and porcelain tile.

  When we see a claim that a certain accessory is good for several different materials we have to really consider how it will hold up as well as how it performs.  Cost of the accessory as well as cost of the time  involved in using the accessory must be considered.  This is true whether we are working commercially or in a DIY setting. Time is our most precious commodity and once we use it we do not get it back and we can’t go buy more.

  

  The Home Depot sent us a set of these Bosch daredevil carbide tipped bits for review. We are allowed to say anything we want positive or negative. Please read carefully to see if they are for you. 

   I first saw these bits when we were invited to the Home Depot headquarters in Atlanta. I was very skeptical until I actually used them. We used them on steel, wood and concrete block and then went  back to steel.  They can actually drill all those materials.  I’m not going to say that these are fast in any of these materials. They are most efficient in concrete block. This makes sense since they are closest to hammer drill bits with their carbide tips.  They performed just like concrete bits  because they basically are concrete bits with a 1/4″ hex shank. 

  To compare to other bits I used the 3/16″ in concrete block then in steel and wood. It flew through the block and was slower than I had hoped in the steel. It was also slower in the wood. I thought it might be because the bit had already been dulled  from drilling holes in the concrete. I then took a quarter inch bit and went straight for the steel and I found it to be as slow in the steel as the one that had already gone through concrete. It also was fairly slow through the wood. Next I grabbed a quarter-inch twist bit made for steel and drilled a hole in the steel and the wood and it was much faster. Then I used  another Bosch carbide tipped masonry/concrete bit on the steel just for comparison sake. It was much slower than either of the daredevil bits. The tip looks extremely similar to the daredevil bit with a slightly different grind. I was surprised at how much faster the daredevil bits were. 

  This tells me that there really is something going on and that these are not simply masonry bits sold as all-purpose. There is actually some engineering to optimize the tips for multi material use. 

  Where would I use these? I am not going to lie, I have no need for them in my work flow. That doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t work for you or someone else in a different situation.  I am a firm believer in the best  tool for the job and the right accessories for the task at hand. I completely stopped using hammer drill bits 20 years ago when I bought my first  SDS plus hammer. Once you go SDS it is impossible to go back.  When  I  drill steel I use high-speed steel bits and lubricant. 

   That doesn’t mean I feel these are useless.  For roughly $20.00 I think they would be handy as a backup set of drill bits for situations where you don’t know what you were going to encounter. They would be ideal for drilling through a metal plate or  piece of wood right into the concrete with no worries of damaging a high-speed steel twist bit. Even if they take a “bit” longer through those other materials you do save time by not having to switch . 

   Whether or not these work for you would have to be determined by you. At the very least this is a nice set of concrete/masonry bits. The fact that they also work in other materials is a solid plus. They are definitely worth checking out to see how they fit in your workflow.

Buy at The Home Depot

 

  • Drills tile, masonry, wood, metal and concrete
  • Innovative tungsten carbide plate suitable for multi-purpose applications
  • Sharp, multiple diamonds ground cutting edges for a high drilling rate, even in hard materials such as tiles and concretes
  • Sturdy drilling head for a long serviced life in drilling and impact drilling applications
  • Includes (1) 5/32 in. x 4 in. x 6 in., (1) 3/16 in. x 4 in. x 6 in., (1) 1/4 in. x 4 in. x 6 in., (1) 5/16 in. x 4 in. x 6 in., (1) 3/8 in. x 4 in. x 6 in.