How are Hertel drill bets?

[heidad01]

How are Hertel brand drill bits compared to the other US made drills or perhaps good european ones like Dormer or Guhring (spelling?). I was reading thru the PM board and saw that J&L has a 115 pc for sale at about $90 (Item BCDSA-90128M, $100 off regular price). I prefer the screw machine length but for the price, this is something to consider. DavidH.

[ckelloug]

A 45 second web search indicates that they are owned by Kennametal.

[lynnl]

I bought the Hertel set from J&L ($89) a few years back. They've certainly served my (non- commercial/professional) purposes well. ...Every bit as well as the odd sizes of the more prestigous name brands that I have.

[ahidley]

lynnl if your only hammer is a BIG @#%#^%^ HAMMER, then do all your problems look like spikes or tacks????

[lazlo]

Hertel is a German company that was bought by Kennametal in 1993. I've been morbidly curious if the Hertel tools are still made in Western Europe or the US, since there's never any claim of where the tools originate.

This description on Kennametal's web page might lead you to believe that at least some of the Hertel tooling comes from China:

"In 1993, Kennametal acquired Hertel AG, a tooling systems manufacturer headquartered in Fürth, Germany, with operations throughout Europe and worldwide. This enabled the corporation to compete more effectively in Western Europe, gain better access to emerging markets in Eastern Europe, and offer additional product lines in Asia Pacific. The Asia Pacific effort was further expanded to include manufacturing joint ventures for mining tools in China and a metalworking tool manufacturing plant in Shanghai."

Same deal with Circle C, which is another Kennametal subsidiary. A lot of the Circle C tooling looks identical to the Enco, Travers and KBC Tool house brands (i.e., Chicom). I've got a Circle C boring bar which is pretty nice, but it's not like making a boring bar is rocket science...

[pcarpenter]

Argh....I am going to be miffed if those are chicom bits. I just ordered a set from J&L as I have been wavering for some time on ordering a similar set from Enco.

Enco seems to nearly always have similar letter-number-fraction sets on sale with the import stuff for about $40 and a no-name USA made set on sale for about $89. If I wanted Chicom bits, I would pay the $40 price or go get them on sale even cheaper from HF (which sells crooked bits). This price from J&L seemed a good deal. I already started to cringe after ordering. I don't want to turn this into a rant about J&L, but I paid another $7 and change in state tax and the order confirmation came back saying (in fine print) that the total they provide also doesn't include shipping.

So...while this looked as good a deal as the set from Enco, It cost me an extra $7 in state tax (J&L has a facility in Chicago) and I am going to get screwed for shipping it looks like....and maybe screwed on the bit set itself. The order info as I placed the order on their web site seemed to imply next-day delivery at no extra and then something later seemed to imply otherwise. In short, if their order summary just listed the shipping charges before I pulled the trigger, I would know what is going on. Some gripe about Enco, but at least I don't have this crap with them...and I can get free shipping.

Paul

[Alan Smith]

I have been buying Hertel drill bits in the smaller sizes (1-3.5mm) in ten packs from my local supplier (UK) I have to say I'm not really that impressed, they seem to be unusually fragile and the odd bit incompletely ground. I shall be looking for a different manufacturer next time.

[aboard_epsilon]

They are very good, the bits are quite hard HSS....
you know when you grind them, that they are different from the usual Chinese rubbish ..by their hardness and the sound they make on the grinding stone.
all the best..mark

[PTSideshow]

Here is another midwest supplier they have a number of stores in different states http://www.productiontoolsupply.com/...o=ptsfront.jpg

I will say up front that since J&L closed their store fronts around here. And PTS is with in 6 miles and the main store is in 13 miles of my door. I have never shipped anything from them I order and pick up the next day.
they have USA drill bits ect and other like all the rest prices aren't bad. And I have used them for years other then the breif period J&L had a store with in a mile of my door. They have a great section in their paper catalog on Bridgies and exploded veiws parts drawings.

[heidad01]

Hi All and thanks for the great information. Since someone mentioned the same drill set from Enco , I checked and Enco has the "made in USA" set of 115 item #301-0005, on sale for $93. That is $93 + free shipping and + 10% off with the discoount code from the Westec show (93.00-9.30=$83.70). Now you can not beat that for 115 pcs of US made drills in a fairly nice box. But the question still is Hertel going to be better that these? By the way I called Enco and they do not have a specific maker for the made in USA ones. DavidH.