It appears that Diablo masonry drill bits are now on clearance at Home Depot.
As we recently posted about, Bosch drill bits have also been on clearance at Home Depot stores. Diablo is a Bosch company.
Members of popular deals forums have reported finding Diablo hammer drill bits, multi-material masonry drill bits, tile and stone drill bits, and SDS masonry drill bits on clearance at heavily discounted pricing.
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We have confirmed that many Diablo hammer drill bits, SDS-shank masonry drill bits, and individual carbide-tipped tile and stone drill bits are on clearance on Home Depot’s website, and that certain sizes are no longer available.
As is the case with clearance prices and discounts, “your miles might vary.” Pricing can vary, depending on SKU, zip code, or availability.
At this time, Diablo spade drill bits and hole saws do not appear to be affected by whatever changes prompted these clearance prices.
A reader shared what a Home Depot associate told them, that the retailer “made a deal to carry Milwaukee bits only.” We have not been able to confirm this, but Bosch and Diablo drill bits being on clearance at the same time presents strong supporting evidence.
Brand expansions, shifts, and changes at retail stores are not uncommon.
Home Depot began transitioning from Bosch to Diablo power tool accessories in 2020, but this change is different. Simplifying things, switching from Bosch to Bosch’s subsidiary’s accessories essentially meant that blue-coated Bosch products were being replaced with red-coated Diablo SKUs.
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But here, it appears that Bosch and Diablo have both lost shelf space to Milwaukee Tool.
Diablo still holds plenty of shelf space at Home Depot stores and online, such as with their spade drill bits, reciprocating saw blades, jig saw blades, circular saw blades, router bits, and sanding discs.
I did not see any empty pegs or clearance prices at my local Home Depot store when I checked a few days ago. Certain sizes are on clearance online, and in-store selections might already have been picked clean.
What does the drill bit selection look like at your local Home Depot stores?
Phil
I stopped at 2 local HD stores yesterday looking for some other sale items and saw some Diablo masonry bits in the clearance section endcap. Most of the SDS stuff was gone and markdowns were minimal on the limited remaining stock. I would have grabbed some smaller bits for Tapcons but they were pretty well picked through.
MM
I can’t comment on whether or not HD made a deal to stock only Milwaukee. But, I can confirm what others had posted in the previous topic: my store associate told me that a few weeks ago they packed up most of their Bosch bit inventory and shipped it back to Bosch.
Alas, my store had few of their bits on clearance–I’d estimate about 20% of the selection on the shelf, and the discount never got better than 50%. Most seemed 33% off.
Adam
This is becoming more confusing to me. When I originally bought the Bosch multi-material bits on clearance, the merchandising team said they were pulling Bosch, and replacing it with Milwaukee and Diablo.
This article says the Diablo is on clearance, and last week I picked up several Milwaukee SDS bits on clearance for 75% off at a couple stores.
JR Ramos
I was in two HD stores today and did notice the bits were pretty sparse. I have noticed that their Diablo recip blades have been in apparent dire straits for the last 4-5 months as well, and now I half suspect that maybe those will be going away, too. I hope not. A couple months ago I finally inquired with one store why the online stock levels that I could see (which apparently are not real and also not what the store employees see when they look at their devices). I was told that this store had the stock pulled and staged in the receiving department and he was unsure why or if it would end up on the pegs.
Over the last few years I have been disappointed with all of the Milwaukee accessories that I have used save for their screw bits. Snatched a set of the previous German-made masonry bits because the few I’ve tried of their current China masonry bits are just inferior. Shifting over to Hilti as I replace bits because the Bosch ones, while still decent, are not what they used to be either. Milwaukee hole saws are crap now, the regular twist drills are marginal and do not deserve their pricing, the recip blades are ok but not as good as others. I was encouraged to see that Milwaukee was going to start making some of this in the US again but in the end my dollar is going to the quality tool, usually, wherever it’s made or whatever brand is on it. I hope that decent pricing and easier availability of Diablo blades improves online, since HD nearly locked it out in my area. Our Ace Hardware stores stock a few, same or higher prices.
bob
bosch or diablo not on clearance at the 2 hd i stopped in at.
no bosch drill assessories in the building, except their sds product, no empty shelf space if they sold out
only diablo ‘deal’ was on 5” round sanding pads
Mr. Certainly
Less competition –> less innovation + higher prices.
This might be great for Milwaukee stockholders, but terrible for the consumer.
Dave
I guess they will go to Lowes like all the other brands TTI forced out of HD. One less reason to shop at HD
Stuart
Diablo? No. There’s way too strong of a presence for Diablo to leave Home Depot for Lowe’s.
Bosch? They’re already at Lowe’s.
Craftsman, Lenox, Dewalt, and Irwin – all Stanley Black & Decker brands – have a very strong presence at Lowe’s, along with a couple of other brands with smaller footprints. There’s no room for Diablo.
x lu
Stuart, you devote a lot if ink to consumables which is really appreciated. The comments are also interesting around opinions of their performance. What seems completely missing is unbiased testing on total utility-value, performance, longevity and dangerous failures. Hopefully someone will fill the void.
David
Check out project farm on YouTube. He’s done various consumables.
Stuart
Dangerous failures? I’ve seen amateurs do poorly controlled failure testing without providing context.
Performance? Close enough.
Longevity? Both Bosch and Milwaukee do extremely well.
Utility-Value? Depends on what you need.
Unbiased testing? Sure. But to what end? I rarely see comparison testing that I’d trust.
Let’s say one bit lasts 10% longer, repeatedly. But the other is 15% less expensive. Which is better?
I was at Home Depot the other day, and they have new promotional displays. Milwaukee 2-for-1 carbide-tipped reciprocating saw blades. A few feet away they have Diablo 2-for-1 carbide-tipped reciprocating saw blades.
I bought both as I thought it might make for an interesting comparison or editorial at the least. But the truth is I’d buy either one if the other weren’t available.
Keep in mind that I have a research doctorate; I am perfectly capable of establishing comparison testing. If this is a big want, I can do it.
I generally don’t because it gets extremely involved. If using gravity and weights for tool pressure, does the cord have zero stretch? Is repeatability guaranteed? How many times should a test be repeated – 3, 5, 10 times? How many sizes – 2? 3?
What’s the end goal?
Will it matter to anyone? If you need a particular size, are you going to order online and pay shipping fees and wait, or are you going to head to the store and buy what’s there?
I’ll give your request some thought.
Rob
Now I’m just confused.
Xrh07
I’d hope they’d bring in Diablo Rebar Demons for SDS+/Max. (aka Bosch SpeedXtreme)
The old Bosch SpeedX line were OK. But the newer full head carbide bits from Diablo/Bosch are on a whole other level. The things absolutely do work too. Punched out at least 5 full sticks of 5/8″ and the bit shows no appreciable wear compared to a brand new backup. They’re much better than those core-style rebar bits which barely last 2-3 holes and only work with an SDS+.
Anything from Milwaukee would be a downgrade. People are so obsessed with Milwaukee branding they’ll buy inferior hand tools and accessories just to logo match their power tools.