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Drill bit set buying guide

Updated: 2026-10-23

The next job is a shelf, a bracket or a hole in a kitchen panel, and the box leads with a piece count and a gold finish. That does not say whether the hole is in brick, mild steel or thin sheet. This drill bit set buying guide walks the order that decides the set: the material, the diameter, the steel and the point, and only then the case. The eleven amazon.co.uk listings sit in the [drill bit set comparison](/hub/drilling-and-accessories/drill-bit-set). Products Compared read those listings and public UK guides, and did not run a lab test, on 21 October 2026. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

The next job is a shelf, a bracket or a hole in a kitchen panel, and the box leads with a piece count and a gold finish. That does not say whether the hole is in brick, mild steel or thin sheet.

Our top picks

Bosch Bosch 34-piece X-Line

Best overall

Bosch Bosch 34-piece X-Line
9.6/10about £10.63
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Bosch Bosch 50-piece X-Line

Best value

Bosch Bosch 50-piece X-Line
9.3/10about £14.49
View offer
Bosch Bosch PointTeQ 19-piece HSS

Alternative

Bosch Bosch PointTeQ 19-piece HSS
8.6/10about £14.12
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Match the bit to the material
  2. 2.Read the sizes, not the piece count
  3. 3.Steel, coating and point
  4. 4.Shank and what this set will not do

Match the bit to the material

Wood, masonry, metal and thin sheet are different bits, even when they share a case. A brad point or a spade bit is for wood. A masonry bit is high-speed steel with a carbide lip, for brick, block and stone. An HSS twist bit is for mild steel. A step bit is for thin sheet, where a twist bit grabs. If the masonry bit is missing, the word mixed on the title does not drill the wall. Screwfix, Toolstation and UK Drills use that same fork, and cobalt only when the steel actually contains it. Titanium nitride is a coating on HSS, not cobalt in the alloy. None of the sets in this comparison is a clearly specified M35 set. Shelves and plugs are the drill bit set for wood, metal and masonry. The spade set here is for softwood and particleboard, not hardwood.

Read the sizes, not the piece count

The 34-piece pattern here stops metal at 5 mm and masonry at 8 mm, and it does include 5.5 mm and 7 mm. Larger X-Line cases go to 10 mm masonry and still stop metal around 6.5 mm. A 19-piece HSS run from 1 mm to 10 mm in 0.5 mm steps is one product. A 230-piece box with 32 bits at 1 mm and one each at 9, 9.5 and 10 mm is a drawer of spares. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 9, judges quality against the description and the price, so a title full of duplicate 1 mm bits is a weak description of coverage.
Bosch Bosch 34-piece X-Line

Testsieger

Bosch Bosch 34-piece X-Line
9.6/10about £10.63
View offer

Steel, coating and point

HSS means high-speed steel, used slowly and with cutting fluid. UK Drills puts cobalt in the steel. Buy a cobalt set only when the listing says HSSE or M35. If two fields disagree, prefer the bullet. One step listing here says high-speed steel in the title and cobalt steel in the material field. Another prints 118 degrees in a bullet and 1183 degrees in the angle field. A 135 degree split point is the usual self-centring metal tip. A 118 degree point can walk until you centre-punch the mark. Bosch’s GB TiN page, which is not these ASINs, asks for coolant and says not to use that bit in aluminium. Less force, a sharp bit, and a pilot are the fix, on the how to drill without snapping a bit page.

Shank and what this set will not do

A round shank suits the three-jaw chuck on a combi drill. A stated 1/4 inch hex suits a drill-driver. Ignore an SDS-Plus cell on a mixed screwdriver set when the bullets never mention SDS. That field is a listing clash, not a licence to put a household bit in a rotary hammer. UK Drills puts brick and block on a masonry bit in a combi drill, and sustained concrete on an SDS bit. ISO 5468:2017 is not a hammer-drill standard. A mixed set does not control silica dust. Ask what the hole is in, whether that bit is in the case at the right millimetre, and whether the shank fits. Piece count and the word titanium come last.

Common questions

What drill bit set do I need for home DIY?
For shelves, wall plugs and flat-pack screws, a mixed set that lists masonry, wood and HSS bits in the sizes on your plug pack is the usual first case. Add a step bit only if you also cut thin sheet. A metal-only run from 1 mm to 10 mm is the better buy when the afternoon is steel and nothing else. A high piece count does not replace a named diameter.
Is a titanium drill bit the same as cobalt?
No. Titanium nitride is a coating. It wears off, and the bit underneath is still HSS. Cobalt is an alloy in the steel, and you should see HSSE or M35 on the listing before you treat it as a stainless bit. A gold colour on the photo is not that claim. If the title says HSS and another field says cobalt, the steel is not settled.
Can a masonry bit in a mixed set drill concrete?
It can drill brick and block in a combi drill, which is the shelf job these sets are sold for. Sustained concrete wants an SDS bit and dust control, which this category does not cover. HSE CN3 still applies: capture silica dust where practicable, and use RPE at APF 20 when RPE is required. One plug hole is not a morning of concrete.
What sizes should a home set include?
Read the plug packet first. Mixed sets here typically list masonry around 4–10 mm, and their metal bits often stop at 5 mm, 6.5 mm or 8 mm. A 5.5 mm or 7 mm plug is a common miss. A metal-only set in 0.5 mm steps from 1 mm to 10 mm covers clearance holes a short HSS row skips.
Why do small HSS bits snap?
They are thin, and they snap when you lean on them, run them blunt, or skip a pilot for a larger hole. Heat turns the tip blue, which means it has been rubbing rather than cutting. Slow down, use cutting fluid on steel, and clear the swarf. Spare 1 mm bits do not fix the pressure.

Related pages

Best drill bit set

HSS drill bit or step drill

Drill bit set

How to drill wood, brick and steel without snapping

Home mixed drill bit set for wood, metal and masonry

Sources

Public UK sources from the research digest, plus the ISO 5468 catalogue entry cited there. Shelf prices and star lines are the amazon.co.uk figures in the display file.

  1. HSE CN3, drilling with hand-held rotary tools (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  2. HSE, cutting and sanding wood (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  3. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 9 (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  4. GOV.UK, General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  5. Bosch Professional GB, metal drill bits (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  6. Bosch Professional GB, TiN HSS twist bit (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  7. Cromwell, HSS step drills (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  8. ISO 5468:2017, carbide masonry bits (retrieved 22 October 2026)