Yesterday I had some errands to run. On the way home, we saw that our lumber yard and hardware place was having its annual yard sale this weekend. In the past, we have found some OK bargains there. Lots of what was on sale was stuff that we didn’t find very useful, but once in a while there was something good there. In any case, we figured it was worth it to stop by and take a look.
They had a tent that had a variety of smaller tools on sale. There were a couple of drill presses – one floor model and a table top one – that were a bit better than the one I had now. It would have been nice with Keith’s new found hobby of pen turning to have a much bigger one, but with the limited amount of space we have here, we talked it over and decided to pass on it. Besides, we had other ideas as far as drill presses were concerned.
What I did find was a great deal on a set of drill bits. Now I have a really good set of brad bits from Lee Valley that I have had for several years and use constantly and I also have a decent set of some high speed regular bits that has also served me well. I keep both sets in good shape and I am not missing any bits from either. So why, you may ask, did I purchase this set?
Because it really is quite cool!
It cost me only $55 and consisted of the following:
A sturdy carrying and storage case for everything. . .
In the top section, there are all kinds of masonry bits, spade bits, countersinks and some nail sets:
The middle section contains a large variety of titanium coated high speed bits and also a large variety of screw driver bits to use with our cordless drill.
What I like about the drill bits is that instead of them all being different sizes, there are up to 3 or 4 of each size. This way if you lose or break one, or if it loses its edge, you still have spares. The variety of sizes is pretty much standard so you aren’t getting a lot of odd sizes that aren’t normally used. This makes more sense to me for my purposes.
The bottom section contains a huge selection of regular bits, and also a huge selection of brad point bits. Again, there are many of the same bits in standard sizes.
Overall, it is a candy store of bits and a great set. I realize that it probably isn’t the absolute highest quality set you can buy, but for someone like me I think it is pretty cool. Since I am not a contractor and am pretty easy on my stuff, they should do a fine job for me. Considering a couple of weeks ago, I spent $25 on an EMPTY storage case of this size that isn’t nearly as strong, and that my small bits cost me about $5 for two bits, I am certain I will get my $55 worth out of this set.
Those of you who read regularly know that I love being organized and it is really awesome for me to have everything I need for drilling in one compact case. I am just thrilled with my acquisition! (I suppose it doesn’t take much to make me happy!)
We spent the rest of the day working on the new stuff and making plans for getting the drill press in order. We have some good ideas for working Keith’s dad’s drill press into our little shop area. His dad just retired a couple of months ago and we are thinking of swapping with him for our smaller press, as he won’t be needing his heavier duty one anymore. But I will keep you up to date on that later.
I hope you liked seeing my silly tool gloat. It is a great find and I am sure I will have years of fun using it.