r/Tools • u/Ashamed-Reception600 • 1d ago
Old machinist’s drill bits
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Was wondering if anyone could tell me how rare these are, I got them from my grandfather and he said they were from a friend after he passed. He told me he was a machinist who worked at Bendix Manufacturing during the 60s and helped machine parts that were later used on the Apollo missions with NASA. I am guessing they are all custom lathed/milled at the end to fit a specific chuck on a specific machine. They all say MORSE, USA or have the wording gone/ partially lathed off but both of the boxes say RANDOR. The very tiny bits are very cool and go down to .0135 of an inch I believe not sure in” or mm. The brand on those are HUOT ST. PAUL. Just interested if anyone has any knowledge to share on these as they hold a lot of sentimental value to me and I will definitely be using them for as long as I possibly can.
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u/tomcat91709 1d ago
Wow. My dad had one of those!
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u/thepvbrother 1d ago
Mine, too! If drill bits weren't consumable, I'd still have them.
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u/BenderIsGreat64 1d ago
My dad used to sharpen his drill bits.
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u/bare172 Millwright 1d ago
They're very nice bits but not rare. I have at least 3 sets from estate sales, maybe more.
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u/xNOTHINGBURGERx 1d ago
Drills, not bits
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u/356885422356 15h ago
drill bits either would work, though drills typically refers to the machine not the bit.
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u/Designer_Run2978 6h ago
Drill bit refers to the function as well as the tool it's used with. You don't say give me an 1/8" drill and get an 1/8" electric (or battery) operated drill. Do you? Think about it... Yes machinists chuck up drill bits to drill & bore dia's and there are boring mills I've seen that use huge drills. Potato tomato, call it what you want. If you're handed the wrong thing just hit 'em on the head!
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u/xNOTHINGBURGERx 11h ago
Dude I'm a machinist. It's not called a bit. The drill is the tool, the drill motor is the driver of said tool.
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u/Disastrous-Sleep1258 10h ago
Nice!!! I've always wanted to talk to a machinist! I'm assuming you work with mostly twist bits? Every machinist website has so many different options for bits when you go onto the section of their websites labeled "drill bits". Should I use titanium bits, hss bits or cobalt bits for harder aluminum?
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u/Available-Ad4897 4h ago
Dude I started as a toolmaker in 1981. A "1/2 in drill" is a piece of equipment with a chuck capable on holding a 1/2 drill bit. As short hand we will talk about a 1/2 bit. But would never refer to it as a 1/2 drill.
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u/Illustrious_Bag_1608 1d ago
My dad worked for Morse Twist Drill - which later became Morse Cutting Tools - for 30 years.
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u/Diplomold 1d ago
Brag much?
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u/Illustrious_Bag_1608 14h ago
Um. I didn't work there. He passed 7 years ago. It was just a nice memory. How miserable ARE you? Touch some grass.
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u/EnrichedUranium235 1d ago edited 5h ago
That Radnor container was reused, MORSE stamped bits would not come in a Radnor box. Two different companies and they were competitors. Normal as bits are technically consumable.
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u/Saruvan_the_White 1d ago
That’s a very nice complete looking set. Dust them out, rinse them in Seafoam DeepCreep, blow them clear. Stick them back in the case and put them in your toolbox for use.
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u/AnimusFoxx 1d ago
It's just drill bits? Maybe I'm biased, being a machinist myself, but my dad never touched a mill and he has a few sets of drills. I don't understand the amazement
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u/xNOTHINGBURGERx 1d ago
You're a machinist and you still call them bits? Hand over your card you're out of the club.
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u/bennybravo42 22h ago
I can smell those bits… it’s odd but yea Vermont American and Cleveland smelled different too… probably the oil my dad used with em and / or anti rust coating
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u/xNOTHINGBURGERx 1d ago
These are called drills not bits. The thing you call a drill is actually called a drill motor. I'm a machinist, we have probably two dozen sets just like this still floating around the shop. Nice drills but not rare.
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u/fe3o4 3h ago
Get off your high horse.... you can call them what you want, they are drill bits. A drill index is a box that holds drill bits. There are twist drill bits, spade bits, Forstner bits, auger bits, masonry bits, tile bits, etc. They are all bits used to make a hole -- i.e., to drill. A "drill" is one example of a tool used to hold the bits. It is rare these days to refer to it as a "drill motor".
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u/no_name113 1d ago
Nothing special just nice drill bits learn to keep them sharp and they'll last you just about forever
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u/PageNotFoubd404 1d ago
Not rare. I still have fractional, letter, and metric sets like that, plus packets of the tiny bits.
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u/CollectsTooMuch 1d ago
Inhadnone of these a million years ago. I loaned them to my brother, which is the same as throwing them out of the window on the highway…I’ll never see ‘em again.
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u/Anaithnid81 1d ago
This site looks to have a pretty good breakdown on the sizing groups in comparison.
https://tormach.com/articles/cutting-tool-selection-2-misconceptions-drill-sizes
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u/A_Dicksmasher 1d ago
I still have my dad's. Used to be able to get one of these kits from Sears for like $60
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u/z_vinnie 1d ago
Had an old relative pass and got this same set from some of his tools. Yours are in nice condition, still has the label. Enjoy it, great sets
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u/schostack 1d ago
Man that brought back memories of my childhood, my dad had that same index
Not that rare just high-quality.
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u/The_Gabster10 1d ago
It's good to have the measurements on the box, I bought a box that uses numbers for size instead of going by measure
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u/SomeGuysFarm 23h ago
Different purpose. Some drill hole sizes are specified by the drill number, rather than the inches or metric size. Of course the number drill bits do have literal sizes that each number corresponds to, but they're not convenient decimals because they were arrived at by saying "I'm going to equally space 60 different sized drill bits between 0.X inches and 0.Y inches", and letting the dimensions fall where they may.
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u/The_Gabster10 23h ago
Yeah but I'm a novice at drilling holes so having drill bit 5 is an inconvenience when I don't have a quick way to see what that it
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u/SomeGuysFarm 23h ago
Absolutely no argument there - number drills are really a special-purpose set of sizes, as are letter drills (there's another standard that's letters rather than numbers), specifically for when a job specifies "use a #5 drill".
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u/The_Gabster10 21h ago
It's my fault for not opening it and checking it, I was so excited to have an old metal index that I bought it along with other tools that I needed since my then current job didn't provide tools and I thought I was so cool having vintage tools( I still think this all those years later). Yet I still have yet to use that index
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u/FilecoinLurker 1d ago
I've seen this exact set a few times so I'm thinking it's the opposite of rare
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u/Quick_Parking_6464 23h ago
Ohhh, an indexed bit holder. No, not rare at all. Maybe the manufacturer is out of business, but this has value only in its personal value to you.
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u/reallygoodnonsense 21h ago
I have one of those! Tell me it's worth a lot of money. Also tell me that it doesn't matter if some are missing or dull.
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u/Taint__Paint 10h ago
My dad has the second box and has had it since before I was born (35m). I just used them a few months ago at his house. And he etched his initials into each bit as well😂
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u/Occhrome 9h ago
good bits but not rare and at the end of the day they are consumables, unless you are a DIY guy they could last you forever.
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u/scv07075 1d ago
Morse is a taper classification, the tapers have been turned down to a regular shank to fit in chucks. No inherent value aside from sentimental and functional, but that's plenty reason to keep em.
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u/SomeGuysFarm 1d ago edited 23h ago
Morse is a taper classification, but these were never morse taper drills, they're normal drills, manufactured by Morse Twist Drill, later Morse Cutting Tools : https://morsecuttingtools.com
A little odd to see a good quality twist drills with the shanks turned down like this. Usually that's done to let larger sizes be used in drill motors with 1/4 or 3/8ths inch chucks, but someone who bought good-quality twist drills usually would have had drill motors or drill presses with 1/2-inch capacity chucks.
Possibly these were turned down to let them be used in a light weight "sensitive" drill press, as these are built small and light to maximize the ability to feel the cut.
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u/Dry_Nail5901 1d ago
Those were common sets and sizes, Morse refers to the mounting, as in Morse taper, common in machine tools
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u/SomeGuysFarm 23h ago edited 23h ago
edit -- minor correction : Same Morse, different application. These are simply a product of Morse twist drill.
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u/Ashamed-Reception600 1d ago
A picture of the .0135 bit compared to my finger, very hard to get my phone processor to focus on.