High Speed Steel (HSS) Cobalt and Titanium drill bits are now available in the market. However, since these products are fairly new, many buyers are not familiar with its intended use, its advantages and disadvantages. It is the intention of this article to enlighten buyers on these two types of drill bits.
High Speed Steel (HSS) is superior to carbon steel used widely some 60 or 70 years ago. Compared to carbon steel, HSS can withstand higher temperature without losing its temper or hardness. This property allows HSS to cut faster, hence the name high speed steel.
There are different grades of high speed steel, and among the better ones, is a grade called M2. The grade of HSS used to manufacture a drill bit is a big factor in its performance. Other major factors that determine how good a drill bit is are: precision, design, heat treatment, manufacturing process and machineries used.
Like other tools, new technologies and processes are developed to enhance existing products. Clearly, as good as high speed steels are, such grades of drills are suitable only for carbon steel. To drill into harder steel such as stainless, cobalt is blended into HSS, creating what is called HSS Cobalt (HSS-Co).
The blending of cobalt into HSS enhances its hardness and resistance to higher temperatures. This enables HSS-Co drill bits to cut faster and suitable for use with harder steel materials. However, by its nature, cobalt is also more brittle than HSS and as such, used improperly, it may break more easily.
If there is a need to drill stainless steel and other similar steels, if there is a need for a drill bit that can be used extensively, then HSS-Co drill bits are a good choice. The only consideration for HSS-Co drill bits are its relatively higher prices.
An HSS Titanium drill bit, by its name, is misleading. It is, in fact, HSS steel that has been coated with titanium. Titanium coating enhances HSS drill bits by hardening the surface of the drill. This results in faster cutting and longer life (3 to 5 times longer than standard HSS drill bits).
The titanium coating is not designed to make HSS drill bits drill into harder steel. In practice, a good quality titanium coated HSS drill may bore into stainless steel, but this is not the recommended drill bit type for such kinds of hard steels. In this case, the service life of titanium coated drill bits is shortened.
If there is a need for good quality HSS drill bits for extensive use on carbon and similar steel grades, titanium coated HSS drill bits is a good choice.