A few years ago, I bought a small Porter Cable Forstner drill bit set. I’ve been meaning to buy some Forstner drill bits, and was on a tight budget. This is the brand they had at the local big box store, so I have it a try.
Those bits served me quite well. I’ve been buying Freud bits to fill in the sizing gaps, and will likely buy a Freud set in the future. But in the meantime, the Porter Cable bits still serve me well.
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I happened across a promo on a CMT Forstner drill bit set. I was thinking of posting about it, but it turned out to be a bust when I did a quick price comparison. I also saw an uncomfortable number of negative reviews that commented on the CMT set’s quality.
Then, I came across this Porter Cable 14pc Forstner drill bit set. My first thought was that this would have been a good starter set, if I had the budget for it back when I bought my 7pc set.
Do I think that these bits will be as good as a Frued set? No way. But for the money, Porter Cable bits seem to be okay.
This 14pc set is currently $48 at Amazon, and $55+ through other sellers. That comes down to $3.43 per bit, which is quite good. The individual Freud drill bits I ordered recently were priced at $8-13 each.
I’m not recommending this set, or saying it’s a high quality set. I merely wanted to shine a light on it, as the beginner or budget-friendly intermediate set I’d probably buy today. Reviews look to be mostly positive.
Price: $48
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The yeti
Nice set. I want one similar. I think ill go higher up the food chain though.
Jon
Thoughts on this 16pc CMT set @ Acme tools? List is $125 but on sale for $69 till the end of the month.
http://www.acmetools.com/shop/tools/cmt-53700016
Stuart
I clicked the newsletter link without signing in, and saw a so-so price. I didn’t realize you have to sign in to see the special promo price. But the other part still stands.
Robbie
I have the master set from grizzly, I can’t recommend it enough.
Ken Cambier
Good to know. I always thought grizzly was kind of like Harbor Freight.
Think I’ll check it out. Thanks!
Bruce
Grizzly is often very good stuff.
Cubbie
I agree. Not sure if mine is the same as I got it 18 years ago along with a Grizzly drill press. They’ve served me well when I need them.
Dominque
I too have the grizzly set and it has served me well for over fifteen years. Remember this occasional diy use and casual woodworking use. Sharpening is easy. Thanks to you tube.
fritz gorbach
Also have the grizzly set. Not a frequent user, but love them when i do use them.
That being said i also have a couple loose freud bits i bought just to cut smooth holes in hardwood cabinets for pipes and wires and i love them also.
Chris
I bought a set of these when I bought my porter cable drill press. They’re a great starter set. They’re due for a sharpening though. While not the best Forstner bits they are great for what you get. I’m curious how they compare to Irwin’s Forstner bits? If they’re rebranded or actually different?
Michael
Irwin seems to have two styles of forstner bits. The cheeper ones are on par with porter cable. The higher end ones are pretty nice. The Freud bits have a more refined cutting edge though
fred
I’m a fan of Famag and Fisch Forstner bits – but in this price range the PC set might be a good buy.
Just for comparison:
For $17 you can buy an eight-piece Ryobi set:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-Forstner-Bit-Set-8-Piece-A9FS8R1/202078676
Then add a larger size 7 piece Ryobi set for $40
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-Forstner-Bit-Set-7-Piece-A9FS7/204604319
Troy
I recently bought the $17 Ryobi set for some spindles I had to install. They got the job done, but I was not overly impressed. I had to put a lot of force to get the holes drilled.
fred
For $2.43 on average per bit – you probably can’t expect much. They also have a different design from lost Fortstner bits.
BTW – my first Forstner bits came from Connecticut Valley Tool company and had tangs on them for chucking in a bit brace. They were marketed as “gunsmith’s bits”
fred
“lost Forstner bits” should have been most Forstner bits.
Noah
Famag bits are incredible. I’ve been replacing our most used sizes with them as they wear out.
Cr8on
I have a couple PC Forstner bits, got em from Menards for $1-3 ea, I use em mostly for mortising door hinges and latches, work well for me.
William
That’s a pretty good price, only issue that I have with this style of Forstner bit is the pilot point extends substantially below the flat bottom of the hole. This works for some applications, but not others, I really like the Freud Carbide forstner bits, and their regular steel bits as they don’t have this restriction.
Albert
Years ago, I paid a fortune for an HSS set from Lee Valley. I also have some Irwin auger bits and a box of Lenox hole saws. But when I need to drill a large hole, I normally reach for the Bosch spade bits that I picked up from Home Depot for $10 last year. I don’t even remember where I keep the other sets.
fred
I guess your not drilling recesses for cup hinges or puck lights where you do not want a through-hole. You could use a spade bit for these (if you could find the correct size) but the centering point or feed screw (on Bosch Daredevil bits) have a tendency to punch through. When I’m working on cabinets – I could not do without 15mm and 35mm forstner bits, and sometimes use 55mm, 68mm, 2-1/8 in. and 2-1/4 in. ones as well
Forstner bits excel at boring controlled depth flat-bottomed recesses and can be used to create a partial hole at the edge of a board. Good ones leave smooth holes with no tearout in most woods.
Stephen
I bought this set a year ago and have been happy with it for my needs.
Matt
I’ve had this set for several years now, although mine came in a wooden box at the time. I agree with Stuart…they are pretty solid. I have several CMT and Amana bits now in my more commonly used sizes, but these have held their edges well and do a solid 95% job in comparison to the more expensive bits I use. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy this set again and even bought one for my dad for Fathers Day a few years back as well. As a hobbyist not doing much that requires these, this set more than fits the bill and my better bits are really a splurge to save time on finish work later.
David
I have these, and like others, have found them to be pretty decent. For the price, they’re really hard to beat.
Hilton
The cheaper sets are all carbon steel whilst the better more expensive sets are HSS.
The biggest mistake people make when using a forstner bit is to hesitate when starting to drill a hole. What happens is that the bit spins without too much friction but the edge is making contact with the wood at a high speed, hence the premature dulling. I’ve bought Lee Valley bits and Freud (there are two types though so be careful). You get the precision shear (PB series) and the normal FB series.
Coach James
I started with a budget, 10 piece set branded Columbian. They came in a nice wood box. I paid less than $50 I know. They have held up well and I may well go with something similar when it is time to replace them.
Porphyre
+1 to this is a good starter set.
It was my starter set and my experience mirrors others here. Wish the heavily used bits (3/8, 1/2, 3/4) stayed a little sharper for a little longer.
Good price/quality ratio on this set.
Hilton
Here’s a joke. Rutlands over on mud island are selling this ‘Metric’ set of Forstner bits but if you look closely at the dimensions you’ll notice something.
http://www.rutlands.co.uk/sp+premium-saw-tooth-bits-metric-set-of-16+DK2074
RKA
You get what you pay for. The cost reflects the material used, the finishing and the consistency. With blades and bits, I prefer sharp out of the box and something that can maintain that sharpness. Just looking at the machining on these bits at my local lowes I could see they are poorly made compared to higher quality bits. But it depends on your uses. I don’t use these to bore holes in 2x construction materials or plywood. I use them where the end result is frequently seen in a product I’ve invested time in.
For $58 you can get a 7 pc Freud set (up to 1”) on Amazon, then add individual larger sizes as needed to keep the overall cost down. Even the 16 pc set at $220 is a good value, but if you don’t use them that much, I can understand the hesitation to spend that much. These are good quality without the price tag of Fisch, Colt and Famag. And if you need convincing, many of the Amazon reviews compared them to various Chinese starter sets that preceded them.
fred
Good advice. As I said my most used bits are 15 and 35mm and sometimes 55mm, 68mm, 2-1/8 in. and 2-1/4 in. If that’s all I really needed then buying a kit on speculation would be a waste of money and I would still have to buy the ones I really need. As with a lot of tools – our pocketbooks, storage spaces and finished products might be better served if we bought infrequently used tools as the need arises – buying quality rather than quantity. For the 35mm size, that I use the most – I currently have 3 bits, a Famag (1630.035) , a Fisch ( 040003500)and one European-made (TP-FA35MM) bit that came with a True Position jig. For some of the smaller sized Forstner’s that come in the Porter Cable kit – I have none – preferring to use other boring bits for those sizes.
David
When I compared these with the 16 piece set at Harbor Frieght they were the exact same bits, but with a different case. So if you have one near by you can save yourself some money by using a coupon and picking them up there.
JoeM
I subscribe to Adam Savage’s Tested.com. He once addressed Forstner Bits as a “Must Have” for everyone, and said that you can get a “Really Good Set for as little as $50, but can easily go much higher.”
Ever since he said that, I’ve been looking into them, and I’m ENTIRELY confused. Some of the sets do not make any sense to me, whatsoever. Either they’re priced some wacky number (high OR low, it’s nonsense.) or there’s two from the same company, but the price-per-bit is totally different.
I’ve seen this 14 piece Porter Cable on Amazon, in Canada it is closer to $80 by a little bit, but not a huge difference. It seems to be one of the cheapest-for-what-you-get sets. Then there are Diablo and Freud ones where the price of 7 in a wooden box is more than the exact same ones in a 20 piece set in the same type of wooden box.
Here’s where it gets wacky… I totally understand when Freud takes the time to package a really nice set, in a really nice wooden box, with 16-20 of these things, and prices it at around $200. But, they also have a set of just 7 or 8 for the same price. As far as I can tell, the same 7 or 8 are in that 16-20 set, but they’re being offered from AMAZON at the same price.
I honestly don’t know what to do there. I’d be happy with the Porter Cable set, sure. But, I know I want a Freud set eventually. Are there some sort of magic sets out there that are ripoffs? Are the model numbers the same, even though they actually differ between HSS and other types? I’m totally lost trying to buy my first Forstner set here.
Stuart
Freud has multiple styles.
Regular, Precision Shear, and also a pricey Carbide set that I assume appeals towards very heavy users.
Prefixes: FB is regular, PB is Precision Shear, FC is carbide.
Hilton
Joe, one route you could take is to get that mega set from MLCS and then replace the ones you use the most with better Freuds, Famags or Fisch.