Avoid clogs and dissipate heat with cobalt bits that last at least twice as long as high-speed steel. The flutes clear chips to improve coolant flow and prevent damage to the bit and the hole. They also speed up drilling since you don't have to stop to clear the bit manually.

Excellent for challenging metals such as stainless steel and nickel alloys, these bits cut aggressively and evacuate chips quickly. The grooved flutes prevent clogs and improve coolant flow to dissipate heat that can damage the bit or your material. Bits are made of tough and wear-resistant cobalt steel.

With flutes that spiral in the opposite direction of other bits, these are primarily used to remove stripped screws. Choose a bit that’s slightly smaller than the diameter of the screw’s head. Set your power tool to rotate in reverse. Slowly drill in the center of the screw head, maintaining constant pressure. As the bit penetrates, it will catch onto the screw and reverse it out of the hole. If the screw is badly stripped, you might need to punch a starter hole. Also known as reverse-flute bits. High-speed steel is the versatile choice for drilling most metals.

A titanium diboride (TiB2) coating reduces friction when working with nonferrous metals, so you can use these end mills to cut soft metals like aluminum, brass, and bronze. Variable spacing between the flutes reduces vibration, allowing these end mills to provide fast cuts, smooth finishes, and long tool life. Also known as barrel cutters, these end mills create the smooth finish of a ball end mill, but with a tapered cutting surface that removes more material with each pass. They're ideal for 5-axis machining where you need to cut from many angles. Plus, compared to ball end mills, they move farther between overlapping passes (stepover), which decreases machining time and tool wear, so they’ll last longer. All are center cutting, allowing plunge cuts into a surface.

Made of solid carbide, these end mills are harder, stronger, and more wear resistant than high-speed steel and cobalt steel for the longest life and best finish on hard material. Their extreme hardness means they are brittle, so a highly rigid setup, such as a CNC machine, is necessary to prevent the end mill from breaking.

Variable spacing between the flutes reduces vibration, allowing these end mills to provide fast cuts, smooth finishes, and long tool life on hard materials. Also known as barrel cutters, these end mills create the smooth finish of a ball end mill, but with a tapered cutting surface that removes more material with each pass. They're ideal for 5-axis machining where you need to cut from many angles. Plus, compared to ball end mills, they move farther between overlapping passes (stepover), which decreases machining time and tool wear, so they’ll last longer. All are center cutting, allowing plunge cuts into a surface.

Made of solid carbide, these end mills are harder, stronger, and more wear resistant than high-speed steel and cobalt steel for the longest life and best finish on hard material. Their extreme hardness means they are brittle, so a highly rigid setup, such as a CNC machine, is necessary to prevent the end mill from breaking. A titanium aluminum silicon nitride (TiAlSiN) coating makes them extremely resistant to wear and diffusion because they have especially high hardness, even at high temperatures.

End mills with fewer flutes provide better chip clearance for high-volume, high-speed plunge, slotting, and roughing cuts; end mills with more flutes provide a finer finish and operate with less vibration when run at high speeds.