Diablo has officially announced new Metal Demon drill bits that launched a few months ago, and early reviews are pretty negative.
When the new Diablo Metal Demon drill bits were first teased about (see Diablo Says they Redefined Metal Drilling), Diablo said it would “redefine” metal drilling.
I found the excessive hype and hyperbole to be off-putting, and the negative user reviews piled on top of that to make these drill bits a hard pass for me.
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Here are some excerpts from the official announcement, so you can judge if I’m being too judgmental.
Diablo Tools, which offers a solution-oriented range of best-in-the-world and best-for-our-world products for the professional user, unlocks new levels of productivity in the metal drilling category…
groundbreaking solution
dramatically delivers up to 30X longer life
savings of up to $230 per bit
makes pre-drilling obsolete
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Armed with many cutting-edge design features
Drilling metal is tough.
True.
Most metal drill bits are designed to ‘grind’ when drilling through metal, creating a slow and low-quality hole.
Most? According to who? If you’re grinding metal with a drill bit, you either bought the wrong bit or are doing things wrong.
A reliable, everyday metal drill bit that offers extreme durability and maximum efficiency simply hasn’t been an option—until now.
These bits “beat the heat”
3-in-1 bit solution
The secret to the Metal Demon Drill Bits for Mild, Hardened and Stainless Steel’s superior performance is Diablo’s commitment to industry-changing design combined with Diablo’s proprietary Thermal Shield Protective Coating
makes pre-drilling obsolete
So does a center punch.
industry-changing bit life and mind-blowing productivity
We’re eliminating the guesswork with a one-size-dominates-all solution.
These superior bits can break through any mild or stainless steel you put in their way and offer users unprecedented levels of ease, productivity, and versatility.
Like other Diablo solutions, we’ve broken the threshold on efficiency yet again!
Didn’t Spyder do this first?
Spyder Stinger Mach-Blue Armor Plated drill bits: Ideal for drilling wood with nails, stainless steel, mild steel, aluminum, stacked materials and other tough to drill alloys.
After finding little substance in the official announcement – which I did appreciate as it’s been years since I’ve seen anything new from Diablo that wasn’t a repainted version of existing Bosch power tool accessories – I went searching for images and more info. I found a couple of user reviews.
Amazon Customer Review:
Honestly I bought these because of diablo’s name in blades figured they ought to have some good bits as well but they’re honestly mediocre I’ve broken 2 smaller bits and 1 larger. Yes I use oil and no I don’t beat the heck out of my bits. Honestly they’re just not durable I will say they do cut well and eat metal.
Acme tools Customer Review:
Had high hopes. First time used drilling through 1/8 carbon steel, with cutting oil. First hole quick and impressive. Second hole 3x as long, third hole longer and before penetrating broke the bit. Repeated with different sizes, same results of quick wear, I just stopped before the bits broke. Switched to my set of frequently used Milwaukee cobalts and consistently drilled clean through.
All that hype, and the very few reviews I’ve found – from actual users and not influencers they paid or partnered with to drive up hype – are unquestionably negative.
“mediocre” and “just not durable,” and “quick wear” “before the bits broke.” That’s disappointing.
The bits have a 130° split point tip, thermal coating, and are designed to replace black oxide, titanium, and cobalt drill bits for drilling into everything from wood to stainless steel.
That doesn’t sound so special to me.
In most cases, pros are forced to “learn by failing” and purchase all three bits, sacrificing time, energy and whatever is in their wallet. In the worst cases, they buy multiples of all three to replace low-quality bits.
Many pros and tool users grab one set of good quality drill bits for general purpose applications, and another index for harder metal applications. Is that such a big deal?
Not to mince words – as if I were sugar-coating my opinions until now – I wonder if Home Depot’s buyers looked at the Spyder drill bits at Lowe’s, turned to Diablo and said “can you make us something like that?”
Thus far, these drill bits are only available at online suppliers such as Amazon and Acme Tools. Given the hype campaign that they just kick-started, I predict to see a floor display at Home Depot stores nationwide for Father’s Day.
Another industry first for Diablo Tools
But how is that true when Spyder advertises their USA-made Mach Blue drill bits as being faster and longer lasting than titanium and black oxide drill bits, and also capable of drilling all kinds of materials including wood, metal, and stainless steel?
If all of this hype and hyperbole wasn’t off-putting enough, the only reviews I’ve seen say the new Diablo Metal Demon drill bits aren’t durable and don’t last.
This is a HARD PASS for me.
If you buy and try them, let me know whether I’m right or wrong to be hesitant.
Milwaukee’s Cobalt Red Helix drill bits area also advertised as being for use in a wide variety of materials including metal, non-ferrous metals, wood, and stainless steel.
Can someone please explain to me what Diablo did here besides apply a colorful heat resistant coating to the tip?
Don’t forget, you get up to 65% savings and also save up to $230 per bit. What does that actually mean?
Cuts vs grinds for superior speed and performance; up to 2X faster holes
Again, who is grinding holes with their drill bits?
The ONLY 3-in-1 bit solution. Except for…. all the others that are already available?
I really hope I’m being too sensitive; convince me I’m wrong and that these Diablo Metal Demon drill bits are indeed an “industry-changing,” mind-blowing,” threshold-breaking, “cutting-edge,” “groundbreaking,” “ultimate” and “superior” “one-size-dominates-all solution.”
Cubbie
It still amazes me that companies will put out tools and accessories, especially with this much hype, that crash-and-burn with the end-user. Like, did anyone think to beta test these?
Eric
It’s what happens when the MBA’s and marketing departments take control from the engineers. They put lots of hype on something from a trusted brand and reap the short term profits. By the time they run the brand names value into the brand they’ve already taken their big bonuses and moved onto another company.
ITCD
Poorly designed tests perhaps, that didn’t really give real world style results or even worse were designed to make them appear to succeed according to their internal benchmarks.
Or possibly just a reality of mass production, their prototypes did great but they didn’t translate it well into processes that would give that same performance they saw in the lab.
Nathan
Rather disappointing to read. I love my diablo blades for most everything. Circular blade or jig saw.
It does sort of make sense they don’t know how to make a drill bit the physics are probably different.
Stuart
That’s what gets me. Diablo is a Bosch company and they rebranded a whole lot of Bosch accessories in recent years. Bosch has decent general construction drill bits in black oxide, TiN, cobalt, masonry, and multi-material masonry styles.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many adjectives used to describe so few actual product details before.
Richard K
I didn’t see anything about whether they are cobalt or similar alloys.
Hard steels/stainless require that. If not, they’re already hardened more and you’re gonna have to grind through.
You can’t beat metallurgy with hype.
Lance
Stuart, if you find “hype and hyperbole” to be truly “off-putting”, I fully expect Milwaukee to endure your wrath the next time they release ANYTHING. 😉
Lance
Also, I admit I find it troubling that you, an author with a rather large audience on your platform, are willing to completely denigrate a new product because you don’t like the smell of the marketing, or what an admittedly small number of initial reviews are saying, one of which you quoted mentions preferring a competing brand.
I would think the onus is on you to give a product a fair chance, not to try and kill it before it’s even out of the gate.
Stuart
First you bring up Milwaukee (red herring) and then me (ad hominem).
You’ve criticized my opinions, and those of several other commentors here so far, but have been noticeably silent about these drill bits or how they’re being marketed.
Diablo says they’re first to launch an industry-changing 3-in-1 drill bit. Is this TRUE? From what I’ve seen, it is FALSE. Do you disagree? Explain.
I think that the announcement, months after it started to ship, is full of hype and hyperbole and little substance. Here’s the full copy: https://diablotools.com/company/press/180984 . Do you disagree? Explain.
It’s not just the PR, Diablo’s marketing for these drill bits is all energy, little matter.
You’ve convinced me that you don’t like my opinion, and argue I’m not entitled to speak my mind, but haven’t said anything to change it. Think about that.
You can – and should – absolutely challenge my opinions and conclusions, but not my right to have them.
Lance
Since what you do is a form of journalism, here’s AI’s take on a Google search for “journalistic integrity”:
“Journalistic integrity refers to the ethical principles that guide a journalist’s work, ensuring fairness, accuracy, and accountability in reporting. It encompasses a commitment to truth, impartiality, and avoiding conflicts of interest.”
You are certainly entitled to your opinions, as we all are, but when you broadcast your views on a platform my opinion is you should do your best to remain unbiased.
Again, just my opinion for what it’s worth.
And regarding my points to others here, had you come across intrigued and curious about this new product, the tone in the comments would surely tend to reflect that instead of everyone poo-pooing it in lockstep.
“New Diablo Metal Demon Drill Bits are a Hard Pass for Me” is far less credible than “I tried them and they didn’t live up to the hype.” Again, in my opinion. Take it for what it’s worth. I don’t follow your site because I dislike your content, quite the contrary, but that doesn’t mean it’s beyond some constructive criticism from time to time.
Stuart
You’re again challenging my expression of opinion but not countering it. I say “change my mind,” and all you keep saying is “you shouldn’t speak your mind at all.”
I would argue that hiding or suppressing my honest thoughts and opinions would be a conflict of interest. Who is to say that I would be suppressing my criticisms for the sake of your AI definition of journalistic integrity and not in an attempt to appear more favorable so as to be included in Diablo’s next paid influencer campaigns?
Here are some potential outcomes, some exaggerated:
1) “ToolGuyd won’t blindly hype our stuff, let’s not work with them”
2) “We know you’re skeptical, here are some answers and insights we hope will clear things up”
3) “Here’s a bucket of cash we had leftover from our huge paid influencer campaign”
Being honest and unfiltered is *necessary*. For which of the possible next scenarios listed above would you prefer I had hid my true opinions?
You did notice that Diablo just kicked off a massive PAID influencer campaign, right? What are the chances you’ll see some journalistic coverage there?
I wear my opinions on my sleeves for a reason. I’ve been striving to earn and deserve readers’ trust for over 16 years, but go ahead and quote AI’s take on journalistic integrity to me.
I sent Diablo some questions I would have asked had they not approached me after their paid influencer reviews went live.
Quite frankly, I don’t know how they’re going to explain some of the claims I believe are blatantly unfounded. I’ve previously asked them to explain some of the claims they made for their “up to 50X” and “up to 100X” blades and they never did. But, I gave them a chance here anyway.
This was me biting my tongue: https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/diablo-metal-demon-drill-bit/%3C/a%3E That was more product news, and this post is more opinion, and I made that clear.
jake
May 10, 2025
My perception is that Stuart has shown honesty, kindness, respect, thoughtfulness and maturity with high journalistic integrity time and time again. He has earned my trust and respect. I am thankful for his work and continue to learn from it.
Bonnie
The colored tips look like they’ve already overheated and been ruined.
Aram
I hadn’t considered it before your remark, but, uuuhhhhh, seems like you may be right?
Alexk
My first thought was why would Diablo show an overheated bit in an ad.
Lance
I guess you lot have never heard of tempering metal before? That’s exactly what it LOOKS like.
Nate
I’ve seen plenty of things tempered that didn’t look like that! It’s all about the temperature.
Lance
It’s all about the temperature, time, cooling, material, and the desired outcome. Tempered steel can be anywhere between a light straw color to bright blue/purple, which is roughly the spectrum seen here.
S
My first thought as well. “Someone made the apprentice take some drill bit pictures”
Fabrik8
The blue/gray rainbow looks like TiAlN or TiCN coating, or some similar type of PVD coating, only applied to the tip area to save money.
Different properties to the common TiN PVD coating (“titanium” drill bits are steel with a gold TiN coating).
Joel
The ad copy reads as if AI generated. I’ll await human testing in the comments section here.
Leo B.
Seems like they’re over-hardening the bit or something, if the consistent failure is snapping.
Stuart
I wouldn’t call 2 complaints as being a consistent mode of failure.
Stuart_T
The ad copy puts the term “hyperbole” to shame. I’ll stick with bits from Norseman, Cle-line and Chicago-Latrobe, thanks. I have some Triumph bits and they’re good, too.
Lance
I guess your marketing standards will keep you from ever buying a Milwaukee tool then? 😉
smdh
We get it. You don’t like Milwaukee. Move along.
Brad J
Why do they have a 1/4″ hex shank? They aren’t impact rated and guaranteed many amateurs are going to put them in an impact driver. Probably why people have broken bits. I still have a nice stock of the $10 black-friday Dewalt sets I’m good on drills for a while. Or at least til November 🙂
BG100
I give a pass on this. I regularly have my impact driver and nothing else on me while on the job site, so the hex shank makes it nice. I can use one tool and go from drilling to driving, bits in my pocket, while on a lift or something. I do take care to spin the drill bits slower so they don’t burn up.
Tdot77
Exactly. I like being able to grab impact and the bit(s) I need rather than going to get the less used, heavier drill instead before going out\up ladder, etc. Unless I’m drilling a bunch of holes I’d prefer impact and hex shank for one or a couple holes. Plus quick change is much easier than drill chuck for quick bit swaps. I always keep an ⅛” &~⁵\³²” hex shank bit in my tool belt along with standard screwbit selection for hole starting, rivet removal, etc You can use hex shank in either tool but can’t use standard round shanks in both so there’s that too. Most have multiple sets of drills anyway.
smdh
Agreed, and sometimes I’ll even use a power screwdriver for one or two holes for the same reason. Those applications are for soft materials that don’t require any sort of special bits.
Craig
Not only that, but they are also cast aluminum shanks. Not even steel.
John
What makes you think that? I’ve never heard of an aluminum shank, that would be incredibly weak.
ITCD
There may be a convenience factor to it. A hex shank gives better grab than round , and while they could have instead opted for tri-flat grind for the same effect a hex shank also gives it the ability to be used in tools that aren’t impact drivers. Screw runners for example, even though they really aren’t made for drilling ops, if the task they’re doing specifically is light duty enough it’ll work. There’s also tools like the one Makita has where it’s a hybrid tool, you can turn impact off and use it as a normal drill, and it also uses a hex collet.
BG100
The wild and rampant hyperbole make me say no thanks right off the bat. Clearly they’re aimed at weekend DIYers who only need to drill one or two holes. I need bits that can drill dozens or hundreds of holes, so I pick the packaging that gives me confidence my bits will last a long day on a job site. DeWalt and Milwaukee both make some fine bit sets that include less than half of the nonsense on this overblown ad, so that’s who I give my money to.
Eric
Seems pretty normal for a bit with a special coating from my understanding. Companies put a super thin coating of their special sauce on a cheaper HSS drill bit and it works well at first. But that coating quickly wears off the cutting edge (especially if your drilling by hand, with the wrong feed rates, speeds, etc) and then your left with a regular HSS bit that isn’t anything special. It’s fine if you just need something cheap to drill a couple of holes in something. But if your drilling a lot of holes in hard materials then you need a drill bit that’s actually made from good steel. Something with cobalt, molybdenum, carbide, etc that will actually maintain a sharp edge and can be sharpened for even more life once you wear out the factory edge.
Lyle
I have a set of mad dog drill bits that I bought at a trade show. They’ve worked well when I needed to drill into something really difficult. I broke a small bit once and they quickly shipped me a replacement. They don’t look to be heat treated or anything, but boy are they tough.
Chris
The comment about “most bits are designed to grind” really made me pause. Because, no they aren’t. Maybe masonry bits? But metal bits are sharpened for a reason…. Aka so they cut. Not grind.
Who at Diablo thought that was a good marketing claim? Are they having people who don’t even know how to use a drill come up with marketing hype? Who are they trying to impress?
If your bits are grinding through your material they have a poor cutting edge, material grade or heat treat. Or a combination of the 3. The latter two often resulting in the first.
MM
Agreed 100%. Very few bits are “designed to grind”. The only ones that come to mind are things like carbide grit hole saws or diamond grit core bits. Perhaps masonry/concrete drills too, but those are more of an impact tool than anything else. A normal twist bit is a cutting tool.
I think Stuart hit the nail on the head: it’s all about the fancy blue coating, which seems to be the current fad. I bet we’re going to see this blue coating all over the place, just like how the gold TiN finish was so popular.
Dewalt’s bits are great value for money at the big box store.
If you need serious quality it’s hard to beat USA-made or quality (Japan) import cobalt bits.
Running a machine shop or doing industrial production? Now you’re buying specialized bits optimized for the specific job at hand, with the twist rate, geometry, and everything else specific to your application.
Bdub
I have a similar issue with the Milwaukee bits that have a double tip (red helix?) . While they are a good quality drill , once the ” pre tip” dulls you can’t dress the tip or you just convert it to a regular tip and break through the surface hardness. I call this FAD marketing like pizza huts horrible Pizza offerings. Just make a quality drill that doesn’t shatter and properly list the materials and speeds it’s intended for.
eddiesky
Hype machine is strong with Diablo.
(FYI- I signed up with HarbFreight to get discount on a tile saw. The manager was practically pushing FREE TOOL flyer on me, so I got the “Warrior 29pc drill bits” set. FREE! And you know what, the first use, it made holes! And normally $20.
Note: do not get drill bits that have hex shank unless light-duty use. The shanks will snap if you run into something difficult (I had a 1/2″ short wood auger bit for joist electric runs. It was an Irwin auger and I had to go through two 2×10 joists… its still in them, but the hex shank remained in the drill. Go figure on 70yr old+ hemlock pine. However a Greenlee Naileater would have made simple work if only my bit wasn’t 18″ long)
Phranq
Could you do a roundup of bits used for drilling tile with a cordless drill?
I will say the Diablo set at the $40 price point is the best I’ve used. (Model # DMANSP1070-S5)
Stuart
Depends on what you’re doing. Milwaukee has been my go-to for handheld drilling (I recently ordered their tile bits), but I’d also look at Bosch. Bosch and Diablo are generally the same, but Bosch has more options and from what I’ve seen occasionally lower pricing.
Phranq
I drill a lot of tile. Have used all type of Bosch, Milwaukee, Ryobi, and cheapos from Amazon. Still hoping there’s something else out there. Weird thing is that the cheaper the tile, the harder it is to drill.
Jeff Williams (from ToolBoxBuzz)
Commercial carpenter here. I drill a lot of tile for setting partitions, grab bars, tp, paper towel, mirrors, soaps, etc. essentially all the accessories. For ceramics I use the cheap carbide arrowhead looking bits from Menards. I buy multiple at a time and throw them away as they get dull. Treat them as a consumable.
For porcelain I use an expensive Japanese tile drill system with a built in water delivery mechanism. Mistdia from miyanaga is one such example. Treat them as a tool.
Phranq
Thanks, I’ve heard of the Miyanaga but can’t find where to buy it. The where to buy link on their website says to email the sales dept. Guess that’s what I’ll have to do.
Jeff Williams (from ToolBoxBuzz)
Another trick is to drill halfway through ceramic with one of those diamond hole saw style bits (Milwaukee or whatever you have available) and use a spring punch to shatter what’s remaining. Sure it blows out the backside a little but you get double the life out of the bit.
Chris M
Generally, coatings on bits used in hand held drills are a gimmick. There can be real performance improvements on quality tools used in rigid milling machines with the correct rpm and feedrate for the diameter of drill and material, but the second you run these cockeyed at max rpm in your impact driver, that coating is gone.
These look to have a TiAlN or some similar coating applied sparingly to the tip (They have not been “overheated” as a previous commenter speculated). The fact that they used so many words to describe these bits, but don’t actually call out the type of coating, screams “We’re trying to sell these to a very uninformed customer”.
Interesting to me, is that their full range 29pc bit set (which they also call “metal demon”) doesn’t have hex shanks, and is currently $130 on acme… which is $20 MORE than an equivalent set of US made Viking drills.
Hard pass for me.
Peter D Fox
Strongly agree. unless you are in a production environment and can properly control all of the parameters so that you are pushing you cutting tools hard enough to see the benefits but not too hard that you burn the coatings off prematurely or have failure of the base material you will probably never see any measurable difference in life span or performance.
All these fancy looking coating on consumer branded drills is just marketing wank to trick DIY types into wasting money on inferior products. If you have ever looked at real production grade tooling and educated yourself on the various high performance coatings and such you would realize that its over kill for anything other than production use.
For hand held DIY, Maintenance, and one off manual machining I can get more than enough life and performance out of common bright finish and black oxide HSS drills from real manufacturers. Probably more than I would get out of any of this box store garbage.
JMJR
I didn’t understand what was so special about these bits either.
If anything, choosing a 130 degree point instead of the default 118 or 135 split point is an example of Bosch trying to make a generic tool have a proprietary feature so they can build their intellectual property.
I checked Fastenal Canada and they have (39) 118 degree drills and (38) 135 degree 3/8” jobber drill bits on offer, but only (3) 130 degree and (3) 140 degree. There’s probably a reason almost all manufacturers stick to those two tip geometries.
Joe E.
Some of the most durable drill pits I’ve ever purchased are Master Mechanic brand from True Value. I’m not sure who makes them, maybe Apex? Either way, I’ve had good luck with them.
Juan Garcia
As for regular bits “grinding”: I assumed they were speaking about the chisel portion of a drill tip, where the center flute does not allow a true cutting edge.
This “Grinding” action of the chisel tip can be partially negated with a second relief cut that extends the cutting edge further into the center thereby reducing the chisel portion.
The larger the drill bit size, the larger the web, the larger the chisel tip. A “recommended size” pilot hole is specifically sized to completely negate the chisel point problem in larger bits.
Given their word salad hype I’m sure they’re deep in the semantics game.
I wish a major tool company would adopt a no “BullSpit”, plain/simple/truthful marketing stance. Just lay it out like it is, and if your product is good the value should speak for itself. I feel it would be a major success and would force other companies to follow suit.
As for buying drill bits:
MY humble advice is to buy a reputable HSS set and learn to sharpen your bits.
GOOD hss is ductile enough to be forgiving in hand drills, and is more than capable in most metals (even stainless with correct pressure/feed).
Once you know how to sharpen bits a reputable cobalt set will allow you to drill through nearly any metal (cobalt alloys are harder, and more prone to snapping/chipping).
Buy cheaper bit sets for common smaller sizes (1/8, 1/16 etc) that are difficult to resharpen/break more often.
Steve
Cobalt is the way to go. The fancy coatings don’t hold up.
Steve
Lance must work for Diablo. I appreciate your loyalty, sorta, but not your objectivity. If you disagree just let it go, don’t jump bad on everyone.
Stuart
From their comment history? Probably not.
I’ve found that a lot of people will criticize opinions without actually countering them. Speaking about myself, it’s difficult to self-realize and adjust.
Lance
I generally like Stuart’s coverage of things, hence why I follow his page, but I do find he gets defensive very quickly.
Work for Diablo? Nope, but I use their products and generally like them. I also use Milwaukee tools and like those too. I literally have dozens of Milwaukee tools.
I dislike Milwaukee’s marketing… 10X this, 3X that, “best in class XYZ”.
Drawing a parallel between Milwaukee’s marketing strategy and this one from Diablo was a bridge too far I guess.
Stuart
It’s okay that you like Diablo. It’s okay that you don’t like Milwaukee. It’s unproductive for you to keep making anti-Milwaukee opinions in a discussion about a specific Diablo product. I gave you multiple opportunities to provide counter points, but you seem unwilling to do so. You have been arguing in bad faith, and continued to do so when called out.
I support and defend my statements and arguments and I expect others to do the same in good faith discussions. I don’t argue to be right, I argue to learn. I tend to over-explain so everyone can see where I’m coming from and potentially poke holes through any weaknesses.
Milwaukee will support and defend any and all claims they make, and they’ll entertain my questions until I have complete understanding. I can usually say the same about Dewalt. They don’t expect me to accept their claims unequivocally, and I’ve come to hold all brands to such standards.
Mike
‘Pre-burned – for your satisfaction’……
S
I’ll genuinely give any drill bits a try. Regardless of the cost, no drill bit can do worse than dollar store drill bits.
The blue diablo drill bits do actually work really well in harder materials. In my experience, they don’t have any average lifespan improvements, they just start sharper than the rest, and maintain it better, but only in harder materials. In constant use in more standard materials, they have a nearly identical lifespan to the cheaper and more ubiquitous DeWalt or Milwaukee bits. But their cost per bit is about 2-3 times higher, which makes them a tough sell outside specialty uses. I’ve also found they seem to be slightly more brittle, but I suspect that’s a consequence of the harder material sharpness, though it could very fairly also be a consequence of the harder materials I selectively drill with them.
I generally try to maintain a small pack of 5-8 of the common sizes for surprise difficult jobs, but they tend to remain in the bottom of the tool box for weight distribution far more than being used, largely for cost and lifetime reasons.
If I see these new variants in a store, I’ll pick up a set to see how they do, but I’m also not holding much hope, because while the blue-tinted ones were a surprise at how much better they were in more difficult materials, I still have doubts that drill bit tech can improve that much further than we already are.
I too am skeptical of heavy marketing. I’m a firm believer in good products carrying themselves.
CharlieD
This is exactly what Steve Jobs was talking about. Letting the marketing goofs run the company.
Jerry
I actually bought a set of these not too long ago, not because of any hype, but because of past good experiences with Diablo cutting tools.
I do a lot of metal drilling, although not a lot with these yet as I haven’t owned them for very long, but here are my thoughts as an actual owner/user of these, if anyone is interested.
Are they the end-all, do-all metal drill bits?
Not, not even close. I have some industrial drill bits that will outperform these bits hands down, but don’t ask what they cost, they were not cheap.
Are they a good deal?
Yes, I think they are. For about $2 a bit for the set that Stuart linked to, I think they are probably as good of a set of bits for metal as you will find for the price. My most-used drill bits are probably Milwaukee Shockwave impact rated bits because I like to use an impact driver when possible because it has no kickback if the bit ‘bites’ into metal, which can really snap your wrist when using a larger bit in an awkward position, and changing them is a snap with the hex drive. The Diablo bits I own do not have a 1/4 hex shank to fit in an impact driver, but they do have 3 flats cut on the shank so the drill chuck doesn’t slip, but they are for use in a drill chuck only (at least the ones I have).
Performance-wise, I have used them successfully to drill metal that was too hard for the Shockwave bits to drill properly, so they get the nod there, and so far none have chipped or broken, and at about the same price per bit as I gave for the Shockwave bits, I have to say that is a plus. Moving on to truly industrial bits, and these are not as good, but are about 1/4 the price as well. In my opinion, they are a good bit to have for harder metal where I don’t want to risk damaging my really good bits.
If I had to give a recommendation, I would tell people for general use it is hard to beat the Shockwave bits in an impact driver for most people’s uses, but the Metal Demon bits are a small step up for drilling (harder) metal, but are not for impact use. However, for $32 for a 15 piece set that goes to 3/8 (if I read the Amazon description right) they seem like a decent buy. The case they come in is pretty good, too. Better than the Shockwave bit box which seems to hold the bits with a death grip.
Rob
Would you take them over something like Chicago Latrobe or Ruko? Because HSS sets from either are pretty much the same price.
Stuart
In my experience, industrial brands like Chicago Latrobe beat out construction brands. Construction brands tend to be more versatile in varied environments and a range of applications.
You can – and should – buy single sizes to try out and compare.
For more casual drilling needs where it’s not worth the time to experiment, most brands names should suffice, whether it’s from an industrial supplier or Home Depot.
chip hershberger
For general drilling (wood,plastic and aluminum) buy 2 sets of the cheapest available on BF…which has been Dewalt $10 each.
Recently bought Knkutt https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VYDKY22
and they do really well on steel.
The big organizer from drill america works decently in steel https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B0327QQ
For cabinetry and fine woodworking Fisch brad point are my favorite.
Bosch is my preference for masonry.
For drilling tile the cheapest core bits from Amazon.
Jesse
Wow, this is a hot topic post! It caught my attention because I just bought the 1/16” to 1/2” index from my local pro tool store. They had a tent sale last week and Diablo was among the vendors. Diablo had a piece of 316 stainless pipe set up for the sole purpose of demonstrating their drill bits. I drilled hole after hole through that pipe and the bits stayed cool and cut the holes quite nicely. The bits didn’t require a center punch, they didn’t walk even a little bit when starting, which was amazing on a piece of pipe, let alone 316! I drilled hole after through stainless on a regular basis. I understand feeds and speeds to maximize bit life. Diablo clearly does as well, they selected a bit size that matched the low speed setting of the drill used for the demo.
I bought the set because if they perform half as well as I experienced at the tent sale I will save time and money in the long run. It was worth the buy to me.
But time will tell if it’s as good as the Cle-Line bits I usually buy or if it’s just hype.
Stuart
A lot of 135° split point drill bits are also easy to start in hard materials. If you’re using say 118° bits, that’s when a center punch can help if you want to avoid getting multiple sets of drill bits.
Please share more after you’ve used your new set a bunch!
Frankly, I don’t expect for any construction-type drill bits to outperform Cle-Line or other such bits. Metalworking tooling is all Cle-Line and their sibling companies do, and they do it very well.
Rob
Wait, are you trying to tell me that all of the machine shops didn’t cancel their Gühring orders and replace all of their drills with Diablo “METAL DEMON”? Well gee whiz. 😂
Ct451
“Hard Pass ” also comes off as a hyperbole. At least add a “for now” after it. A few reviews don’t mean anything to me. I have witnessed plenty handy people trying to drill with the wrong everything. Just get some and see first hand what they’re all about. Big words don’t always mean bad product.