1. DeWalt DWA1240 Cobalt 14-Piece — the set most sheds want
For most people drilling the odd bit of metal — a shelf bracket, a trailer repair, a hole through steel angle — this is the set to reach for. All fourteen bits are cobalt, so they keep cutting when the hole heats up, where a plain steel bit would go soft and stop. The tips are pilot-point: a small starter point that bites straight in so the bit doesn’t skate across a smooth steel face before it catches. That skating — also called walking — ruins the hole and blunts the bit in seconds. So a tip that bites in cleanly matters more than the number of sizes in the set.
What wins it the top spot is cobalt at a price that doesn’t sting. You get the sizes a home job needs without paying for a big professional set you’ll only half-use, and the bits hold their edge in mild and stainless steel alike. If you’re not sure cobalt is the steel you need, our drill bits guide sorts the types out first. The set drops into any drill — the Makita DHP484 or whatever’s on your bench — and for weekend metal work, it’s the one to buy.
2. Milwaukee RED HELIX Cobalt 19-Piece — built for hard steel
If you drill hard steel or stainless often — fabrication, a run of gate or trailer work, thick plate — the extra money here buys bits that last. The grooves that spiral down the bit — the flutes — change angle as they go. That clears the swarf (the curly shavings a bit throws off) faster, so heat doesn’t build in the hole. Heat is what kills a cobalt bit early, so shifting the shavings out quickly is half the job. A 135-degree split point starts the hole without a centre punch, and its nineteen sizes cover more diameters than the DeWalt’s fourteen.
Matt would take this set on the spec sheet alone, and on outright cutting life he’s right. What holds it off the top spot is the money — you’re paying roughly twice the DeWalt, and a few holes a year won’t ever wear these bits out. That changes once you drill steel often: an edge that lasts means fewer stops to swap a blunted bit, and that saved time adds up faster than the price gap. You won’t see Milwaukee on the shelves at the big hardware chains here, so buying online is usually the easiest route to the whole set. Any drill with a standard chuck takes it.
3. Bosch HSS-R Metal 10-Piece — the cheap way in
Not every job needs cobalt. If you drill metal once in a blue moon — a hole in some aluminium, a bracket, a number plate — a plain high-speed-steel set does the work for a fraction of the cost, and this ten-piece Bosch pack is a trusted-brand way to get one. The “R” in HSS-R means the bits are rolled instead of ground — cheaper to make, and fine for soft metals and timber, which keeps the price down.
Be clear on what it won’t do. Plain HSS blunts fast in stainless or hardened steel, and ten bits is a starter spread — push it into hard metal and you’ll cook a bit in seconds. Joel’s take is that most sheds should start here and buy cobalt the day a job demands it. No sense paying up front for steel you won’t use. For light, occasional metal and everyday timber it’s the cheapest sensible way in, and you can step up to one of the cobalt sets the day a harder job lands. It fits any drill, so nothing about it locks you in later.
Matching the set to the metal
The steel is what your money buys. Plain HSS is fine for timber and soft metals and blunts quickly in hard steel; cobalt holds its edge in the heat of stainless and thick steel, which is why it costs more. So pick the set around the metal you drill: cobalt if steel is a regular job, plain HSS if it isn’t. Two habits stretch any set: let the bit pull itself into the work under light pressure, and keep the drill speed down in metal so the tip doesn’t overheat. And if a set arrives faulty or a bit shatters on a fair first job, that’s a manufacturing fault — under Australian Consumer Law you may be entitled to a repair, replacement or refund, so keep the receipt.
The verdict
You drill metal now and then and want one set that copes: the DeWalt DWA1240 cobalt 14-piece. Real cobalt, the sizes a home job needs, and a price that doesn’t punish you for it — the pick for anyone whose metal work stays occasional.
You drill hard or stainless steel regularly: the Milwaukee RED HELIX 19-piece. It’s the dearest of the three, but the quick swarf clearing and longer-lasting edges earn it back once you’re drilling steel most days of the week.
You barely touch metal and want the cheapest sensible option: the Bosch HSS-R 10-piece. Plain steel for light mild-steel and timber jobs — start here and step up to cobalt only when a job forces it.
Whichever you pick, buy for the metal you drill — cobalt is money well spent on steel and money wasted on the odd hole in aluminium.
