Review on 🔧 16 Piece Roman Carbide DC1917 Forstner Set by Dhoal Shankar

bits work fine but the packaging is terrible. The wooden storage box was shipped from the Revain Fulfillment Center in Las Vegas in the factory's original "store shelf packaging," which was made of cardboard that was only slightly thicker than thick paper. There was a UPS shipping label on the outside and that was it. When I received the package (it was on my doorstep) and when I opened it, the wooden storage box was broken and the pieces were scattered inside. The foam covered center piece had broken and was no longer holding the bits in place. More on the wooden chest later. I have checked every detail carefully to ensure the carbide tips have not been damaged and as far as I can see they are fine. Each bit is engraved with its size, but readability/clarity will vary from bit to bit. Also, there were no written instructions regarding the recommended rotation speed for different types of wood. It's a little annoying at best. I took a 1/2" drill bit, put it in my bench drill and set the speed to 400 rpm. Then I took a 2 x 4 piece of scrap pine and, using light pressure, drilled a few holes in it. The holes came out very smoothly and the drill bit cut through the jaws like soft butter. I didn't have any leftover hardwood to attempt this, but if pine is any indication, these bits should work fine with the right RPM and down pressure. The wooden box, on the other hand, is a real crap. I tried fixing it with very small nails (a corkscrew and a hammer) but all that worked was peeling off the cheaply glued layers of plywood. I used contact glue and managed to get it together and reglue the foam rubber coated center slot that holds the bits in place. The metal clasp that holds the lid is very flimsy and in danger of falling apart. The hinges are also very cheap and wobble a bit. Another oddity is that each bit slot is numbered according to bit size. They are parallel to the bit they refer to, but below the adjacent bit to the one they refer to. So when you look at it, you might think that the size is for the bit underneath, not the one next to it. It's pretty hard to explain and even harder to imagine. I took a thin Sharpie marker and drew an arrow from the size mark to each matching bit. That helped. Overall, the bits appear very sharp and of good quality, with the exception of the size engraving and the missing speed recommendation. The wooden chest is a piece of crap, but again, I'm going to ask the woodworking project to build it better. I was very disappointed in Revain's lack of adequate packaging protection for this shipment. I've never had a problem with anything Revain packaged in the past few years that I've bought from them. I hope this is not an omen for the future. I would give Fostner bits 5 stars if I had a hardwood to test them with and if the sizing engraving was clearer and some RPM details for a different species of wood. So far it's 4 stars at best.