Has Milwaukee started making their drill bits out of pot metal?
I bought a 7/8" x 6-3/4" ship auger recently and was using it the other day when I caught a nail hidden in a stud.
The cutting tip cracked as if it was made a glass. I can’t even resharpen it.
I guess I should have known that we were in for a short relationship since it said "Made in Taiwan" on the sleeve.
From now on, I’ll stick with the overpriced Greenlee nail eaters. I’ve had a few of them do too this over the years, but not on the first day of use.

Milwaukees auger bits have been made it Taiwan for many years now, maybe now they are making them on the mainland and marking them as Taiwanese (They are Chinese owned now and who knows how far quality will fall.)

I like to use the lennox ship augers they have a harden tip and cut pretty well. I can usually cut through 5 or 6 nails before its shot. Even held up pretty good on a plater job.


Ob

We use mainly Irwin speedbore flat "paddle" bits, they are cheap, they cut good, are easily resharpened, and even if you hit a nail and bend the cutting tips you can tap them back straight on an anvil, resharpen and drill some more. Just my opinion.

I've used the Lennox bits before and they are nice. Unfortunately, the only place I can get them locally is at the plumbing supply house and they charge even more than electrical supply houses do for Greenlee.

We've been using a few bits from Milwaukee called "Woodeaters" that are marked "Made in USA". I wonder about that but it doesn't matter anyways. I bought one that said made in China and it lasted about an hour. And I can't tell the difference between Chinese bits and other bits anymore.

Chinese bits absolutely stink for either edge or longevity.

Can anyone tell which are which anymore.?? I can't except but for the super fast rate that they wear out.

The good ones though, seem to run through any kind of fir, oak and any other hardwood and usually most "soft" nails. In normal use they have stayed sharp for about 2500 spruce studs before we either can find a guy that wants to sharpen them or we just pitch them when our usual sharpener goes on another two week "respite from sobriety".

We still buy good American - and may I emphasize- AMERICAN BUILT - Milwaukee bits when we get to see the chance to see if they were made in some country other than China or some other pot metal country. The only problem is knowing where that might be. I can't tell for most of it anymore.

The "Bean counter" said we have to up the reno prices a bit because of the cheap XXXX we are getting sometimes when we go to the new bits and "wearing" tools. I told her that we didn't have to do that if she was to just budget for proper "wearable" tools.

$25 bucks a pop though when ya gotta buy them new. -- Well worth the money.

I made a "little" mistake about the Woodeater bits. They're made by American Vermont not Milwaukee.
Sorry about that.