Review on Fisch FSF 283911 32-Inch High-Speed Steel by Tyler Dorsey

I have been working with wood for a long time and bought some great solid head drill bits from my local woodworking shop many years ago. Used primarily for drilling holes for dowels, they were absolutely amazing drill bits. Every hole was perfectly round and absolutely clean. They worked very well and became "transition" bits whenever I needed to create a clean hole in an application that Forstner couldn't use. Of course, they faded over time and finally fell into disrepair about five years ago. Unfortunately, without a manufacturer's name on the bits I couldn't find an exact replacement, so I ordered a few bits from different manufacturers, some of which have very reputable names, and checked them out in my shop. Unfortunately, I didn't find anything that met my expectations. Some pulled back into the workpiece uncontrollably, some required excessive force, some weren't perfectly straight, and virtually none of them produced the perfectly clean, round, smooth-sided surface entry holes I was looking for. About a week ago I came across the name Fisch in an untitled post online and did a quick search here on Revain. They showed up and I ordered a ¼" and a 3/8" to test. They arrived a few days ago. When I took them out of the box and looked at them, I didn't have high hopes because they didn't have the proud, knife-like outer spurs of my faithful old friends. Since then I've run a series of tests. , featuring them in pine, maple and red oak, with a drill, jig and hands-free with a cordless drill. I'm happy to report that I've finally found these beats to be a worthy replacement for my faithful old friends. Perfectly round holes without chips are cleaned to the bottom, regardless of the depth. When drilling by hand or with a dowel bar, they don't require any real pushing force and most importantly no uncontrolled pulling into the workpiece like I've experienced with some manufacturers. Drilling with these bits is fully controlled and fun. Having had them for less than a week I can't confirm their durability or if they will last as long as my old friends, I've just ordered more in ¼", 3/8" and ½" to myself keep the rest of the time alive.