Drill indexes

[Bob Engelhardt]

Or "indices" maybe. The recent thread on managing drill bits reminded me that I needed a couple of indexes. Over on Amazon I ordered this Drill America one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BSZLSZQ/
Ordered yesterday, arrived today. On unpacking, it was a Huot! OK ... Amazon's loss is my gain. Just to be sure, I rechecked my order: yes Drill America. But when I looked closely at the photo in the Amazon listing, there was "Huot" (mirror image) on the lid.

So, you can get a Huot sold by Drill America in 2 days for $10 or a Huot sold by Huot for $17 in a week or two:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00018A1YQ/

Made in USA

[mattthemuppet]

nice! I once bought a Drill America stub length letter drill set for some ridiculous price ($25?). The index was Hout and the drills were a random assortment of US (PTD too!), Chinese, Czech and who knows what. Some of the drills were ground well, some weren't so needed resharpening. I replaced all the drills that I had good ones for and have slowly regound the others. I generally avoid Drill America stuff, but you can win the lottery every now and then.

[Paul Alciatore]

Some months ago I ordered a set of brad point, fractional drill bits from Lee Valley. Their bits are excellent quality and they drill near perfect holes in woods. I love them. They came in a metal index and guess what. It was a Hout. I looked at all the other drill index boxes that I had and, except for the ones that were imports from places like Grizzly, almost all of them were either marked Hout or were identical to the Hout index box.

I suspect that it is easier to make even top quality drill bits than it is to make a metal index box for them. So Hout has that production line set up and other US bit makers just buy from them and slap their own adhesive label on them. Making the plastic boxes must be a lot easier.

As for Drill America, I never heard of them. It does not sound like a place where a quality tool can be purchased. The very name almost screams "import".

[nickel-city-fab]

As for Drill America, I never heard of them. It does not sound like a place where a quality tool can be purchased. The very name almost screams "import".

You might be surprised. I have a set of their numbered drills which arrived in a Huot index, relatively reasonable price and excellent quality. Turns out that Drill America is a resellers name for some premium brands. I wasn't specifically trying to get them, it turned out to be a fumbled click on eBay.... I was pleasantly surprised.

[BCRider]

I've ordered up a couple of DA products now and they've both been decent quality. An oddball size special die and a set of spotting drills. Neither came with a maker's stamping on them but both are decent quality in terms of surface finish and sharpness. Much like back when Poland and Czechoslovakia were the places for "decent but cheap import machine tools". for the machine shops about 25 years ago. And look where that took Bison chucks!

I might get bitten at some point but for now I'd order stuff from DA again.

[Tundra Twin Track]

I've bought some Huot indexes from KBC to dismantle and mount similar to what BC Rider has done with his.