Drill Bits, Brad Point

This set of drills has been invaluable for producing neat holes without chipping and preserving the finish when drilling prefinished bodies for pick guards etc.

I have bought from Stew Mac for a number of years now, and always been satisfied with the results. I must admit this drill set is a great idea, but needs some improvement. I found the flat bottom photo in the sales ad to be what I wanted but the reality was more of a dish shape with a dimple in the middle. I expected the dimple from the brad point, but the drill design needs to be improved to make a flat bottom just as in the ad picture.

I am keeping the set because I work in a machine shop, and I have modified the flute area below the brad tip to make the desired flat bottom. I wish I had taken a photo of the dish shape before I modified the set, but unfortunately I did not. This can be an easy thing for Stew- Mac to fix, and I am still a Stew-Mac customer for life.

The drill hole is perfect for Bass tuners are hard to find.

Why is it that everything i get from Stew Mac works so much better than its hardware-store-variety counterpart?

I've used these to drill new Tune-o-Matic bridge posts, piezo cable holes in acoustic bridges, Pot holes on the face of a resonator, strap button pilot holes.. and they just work better than any other drill bits I've owned (which is a LOT).

When it comes to tools, even ones available at local hardware stores in Sydney, I just wouldn't use anything but Stew Mac.

I bought the drill bits because I'm in Europe with the metric system. They do the job but the smallest drill 1/8 bit just bent like a spiral and became useless when drilling in hard maple.

I looked all over for a set like this in the big box stores. If anyone is into building guitars you need a good set of brad point bits