What Are Black Oxide Drill Bits Used For? A detail Guide

What Are Black Oxide Drill Bits Used For?

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You may find a variety of materials for which the black oxide drill bits have opted but before that, let’s get to know more about black oxide drill bits so that you can opt for them for your desired purpose with complete competence and expertise?

Drilling is not possible unless you own a drilling machine with the required drill bits. The drill bits are of various kinds and materials, but today’s focus will be on the black oxide drill bits and their purpose, uses features, design, and performance.

The black oxide drill bits are general-purpose drill bits that can be opted by various personnel for carrying out their daily job tasks.

black oxide drill bit

For discussing the black oxide drill bits, this handy guide will dive you into the world of black oxide drill bits and make you clear about using them for desired materials and drilling purposes. 

Let’s get started!

What Are Black Oxide Drill Bits Used For

Versatile yet efficient drill bits include the Black oxide bits that can be opted to drill an immense variety of materials?

These drill bits can opt for all-purpose drilling, and for that following are the most common materials opted for drilling with a black oxide drill bit opted in the drilling machine.

They are suitable for materials that are in the below table. Any item made of these will be favorable to the black oxide drill bit for drilling it out per the desired purpose. 

A quick review lies in the table below;

Material Types 
WoodOak, Maple, MDF, Pine, Hardwood, and Softwood
SteelCopper, Aluminum, Brass
Drywall
Plastic
PVC
Composition boards
Carbon steel
Alloy steels
Acrylic
ABS
Nylon 
Composite

Black oxide drill bits are more opted than HSS drill bits because they can last up to 50% longer than un-coated standard HSS bits.

Whether it’s drilling holes in the woods or steel, nylon, or plastic,  the black oxide drill bits are efficient in doing their job.

They are powerful drill bits with anti-rust and anti-corrosive properties opting for them suitable for operation. 

Using a black oxide drill will ease the process by increasing the speed due to less friction between bit and workpiece. 

What makes them quite impressive is their superior durability and highly optimized speed. If you desire a general-purpose drill bit, the black oxide drill bits are the most common and better choice.

Black Oxide Drill Bit

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Formation When high-speed steel drill bits are coated with black-colored conversion coating, the black oxide drill bits exist. But wait! Do you know how the black finished coating proceeds?

Let’s get to know about it;

  • The HSS drill bits are taken and dipped in an alkaline solution consisting of sodium hydroxide, nitrates, and nitrites. The temperature of the solution is maintained at 285°F. 
  • It is the hot oxidation process. The presence of oil will create a smooth and friction-free surface.
  • After placing the drill bits, add oil. 
  • Now the outer layer of the HSS drill bits starts to convert to magnetite (Fe3O4). The outer coating of magnetite converts it into a black oxide drill bit with a black finish.
  • The oil functions as a surface smoother during the hot oxidation process to create a reduced frictional surface.
  • After that, the bits are taken out from the solution, and further processing leads to the finished form of black oxide drill bits. It’s now ready to be used for general purposes.
  • These drill bits work best for drilling ferrous materials along with other kinds of metal and alloy as well (including steel, copper, and aluminum).

Get the high-quality black oxide drill bits to make your drilling job easy and efficient, covering an immense range of materials for drilling out?

Any module, device, item, or stuff made of the above materials is suitable to be drilled out as per the desired purpose.

Types Based On Conversion Mechanism

Hot Black Oxide Drill Bits

The Conversion of the HSS surface into magnetite (Fe3O4) using sodium hydroxide, nitrates, and nitrites at 141 °C (286 °F) is termed hot black oxide.

Mid-Temperature Black Oxide Drill Bits 

The Conversion of the HSS surface into magnetite (Fe3O4) by using sodium hydroxide, nitrates, and nitrites at medium temperature, lower than hot, is termed a mid-temperature black oxide drill bit.

Cold Black Oxide Drill Bits 

The Conversion of the HSS surface into magnetite (Fe3O4) by using sodium hydroxide, nitrates, and nitrites at 20–30 °C (68–86 °F) is termed the cold black oxide drill bit.

Pros– less abrasion resistance. 

Cons– less performance than hot and mid-temperature black oxide drill bits.

To add immense properties to the drill bits, they are subjected to many treatments to get their final finished looks.

Features 

  • Fast
  • Accurate drilling
  • 135° split point tip 
  • Prevent walking
  • Reduced slipping
  • Corrosion-resistant
  • Increase lubricity 
  • Anti-rust 
  • Versatile
  • Reduced shank diameter 
  • Use in 1/2″ chucks

Black Oxide Drill Bits Intended Use Case

While purchasing the black oxide drill bits, it’s of prime importance to know which works best on what requires drilling.

After all, as a handyperson, you may probably have several types of bits in your toolbox, each of them reserved for a specific use case, but having black oxide drill bits helps you cover the majority of the materials with ease.

drill bit

Black oxide drill bits can also handle softer materials like wood and plastic and hard materials like metals. 

Wait! You might be thinking about the cost of black oxide drill bits.

The combined drill bit is a relatively lower price than the rest of the drill bits that making them the perfect choice for most DIY workers, regular woodworkers, steelworkers, and many more like them.

Design and Performance

The black oxide drill bit comes with accuracy that features a split-point tip engineered for No-skate, clean and accurate starts in various drilling applications. It may include wood, plastic, and light-gauge metal.

They possess a Longevity performance with durable nature, and all is possible due to the unique bit design and heavy-duty black oxide coating.

By producing low frictional forces, the set provides longer life than standard drill bits.

Another Reliable feature consists of the Three-flat shank on bits 3 16 in. that promotes better grip and guards against possible slipping.

Versatile

Black oxide drill bits occur in various brands and designs, and they may include immense sizes ranging from 1 to 16 in. 5 64 in. 3 32 in. 7 64 in. 1 8 in., 9 64 in. 5 32 in. , 11 64 in. 3 16 in. 13 64 in. 7 32 in. 15 64 in. 1 4 in. , 5 16 in. 3 8 in., 1 2 in.

Pros 

Here is a table full of the pros of black oxide drill bits.

Entry Level CoatingLong-lasting 
Black ColorAvailable in Various assortment
Conversion CoatingAvailable in jobber length with 3/8-Inch
Best opted for softwood, hardwood & ferrous metalsclosest to everyday bight HSS bits
Good corrosion resistance and chip flow.Inexpensive
increase tool life than ordinary bright HSS bits (1.5 to 2 times)versatile
last 50% longer than standard untreated HSS bitswidely available

The performance of black oxide drill bits may vary depending on the quality of the drill you are opting for and your usage patterns in terms of materials.

No skating

The advantage of this feature is it helps to reduce bit walking by eliminating the need for a center punch for a clean & accurate star.

Eliminate chatter and vibration

With the help of black oxide drill bits; a balanced double flute opts to eliminate chatter and vibrations given out during the drilling process.

Personnel use 

Universally accepted

Black oxide drill bits are considered Universal drilling bits designed and opted for by contractors, electricians, and tool pros. The personnel that requires accurate and reliable bits for general-purpose use can go for these black oxide drill bits.

Tip 

They are general purpose use drill bits, but, it’s not being opted for non-ferrous drilling metals.

Conclusion 

After discussing the black oxide drill bits now, it’s time to end the guide by going through a quick go-through guide. We hope it might help you select the drill bit for your desired material as per your need. 

Versatile yet efficient drill bits include the Black oxide bits that can be opted to drill an immense variety of materials.

These drill bits can opt for all-purpose drilling, and for that following are the most common materials opted for drilling with a black oxide drill bit opted in the drilling machine.

The materials include wood (oak, maple, MDF, pine, hardwood, and softwood), plastic, steel, metals (Copper, aluminum, brass), carbon steel, nylon, PVC, Alloy steels, plywood, drywall, composition board, poly carbide, ABS, acrylic, and composite.

The performance of black oxide drill bits may vary depending on the quality of the drill you are opting for and your usage patterns in terms of materials. Grab the black oxide drill bit to ease your drilling job.


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