later These are HSS bits. Good price - good results. You want great results and longer life - Carbide, you pay a lot more for that great result. Perhaps domestic or European HSS drills offer some advantages in terms of geometry or chip handling, but in the end Chinese drills are hard to beat in terms of price per hole. They can be sharpened. This is best done at a source that has a resharpening tool, but a man with a good eye, equipment, and a little patience can do it. It's the Chinese. I bet that 90% of the offshore ring dispensers shipped from Asia are made by the same manufacturers. I'm not sure, but I haven't seen two that are noticeably different from the other two. Because of this, I grab the cheapest ones I can find when I need them. They work best if you leave them alone. The machine and chisel work together to drill a hole. If you build on it, if you smoke it, if you skimp on lube, you'll get the same results as people who take the shortcut. Let the machine provide the power and let the chisel do all the work. Ring chisels are designed for use with a magnetic drill. This connection produces a good result and importantly the hole saw works in tandem with the Weldon magnetic chuck to eject the bullet. The benefit should be obvious to anyone who has used a hole saw on a piece of plywood or 2 and then has to worry about getting the ball out of the hole saw. You can get a mill, pillar or lathe to mimic this function with a little planing. How much is your time worth? Otherwise, you can make or buy a Weldon chuck to fit one of these machines, but sacrifice the ejection feature. Is it still drilling a good hole? Of course. Is it optimal? no Unsolicited Advice. Consider getting a magnetic drill if you don't have one. The prices are frightening, but the Chinese have cut prices by orders of magnitude. It used to be a complete drill set and the machine cost between four and five thousand dollars. You can get a new basic magnetic drill and a basic cutting set for 500 these days. Ring bit sets? I bought this 11-bit set because it's almost superfluous. When I cut a hole in a steel profile, something almost always has to be screwed on. Standard set of 6 items: 1/2, 9/16, 11/16, 13/16, 15/16, 1-1/16. 1/2 is a hole for a 3/8 or 7/16 screw shank, a 9/16 bit for a 1/2 screw, 11/16 for a 5/8 etc. Double that 7/16 for a 3/8, 1/2 for 3/8 and 7/16, 9/16 for 7/16 and 1/2 screws and so on and so on. Also, on the rare occasion that I need to be the size of one of the extra bits in this set, I have it. A standard 6-bit set is sufficient for most home players.