Which Wood Drilling Bits Brand Wins?
A head-to-head test of 12 wood drilling bits options with the measured results for each. See how they ranked and watch the full test video. Shoppers cross-shopping forstner bit, auger drill bit, diablo forstner bit and brad point wood drill bits land here for the head to head that settles it.
Comoware Spade (cheapest at $1.80 each, though slowest in every test)
Price shown in test: $10.79 for six bits ($1.80 each)
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | 2x4 speed (3 holes) | Oak speed | Durability (100-hole retest) | Nail strike damage | Post-nail-strike 2x4 speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1DeWalt Spade$11 for six bits ($1.83 each) | 7.2s, 8.9s, 7.4s, avg 7.8s - fastest start of the test | 5s - fastest of every brand tested in oak | averaged 7.8s before drilling 100 holes; 7.8s after, no measurable slowdown | held up fairly well but blade shows some damage; nearly removed the nail | 7.8s before, 13s after the nail strike |
| 2Diablo Spade$11 for six bits ($1.83 each) | 7.6s, 7.8s, 7.5s, avg 7.6s - fastest average, took the lead from DeWalt | 5.2s - second fastest | averaged 7.6s before drilling 100 holes; 8s after | one of two spurs took a small amount of damage | 8s before, 8s after - no slowdown |
| 3Bosch DareDevil Spade$15 for five bits ($3 each) | 7.7s, 7.9s, 8s | 5.7s - third place | averaged 7.9s before drilling 100 holes; 8.1s after | held up really well, looks as good as new | 8.1s before, 8.1s after - no slowdown |
| 4Hilti$39 for six bits ($6.50 each) | 8.1s, 8.1s, 8s | 5.6s | averaged 8.1s before drilling 100 holes; 8.4s after | held up really well, no visible damage | 8.3s, essentially unchanged from its pre-nail time |
| 5Bosch Nail Strike$35 for six bits ($5.83 each) | 9.5s, 9.6s, 9.4s | 6.9s - narrator calls it 'definitely a rough cut bit' | averaged 9.5s before drilling 100 holes; 9.9s after | held up really well, first bit to fully drill through the nailed board, still looked as good as new | 9.7s - essentially unchanged |
| 6Bauer$11 (stated only as 'also costs 11'; per-bit price not separately spoken) | 8s, 7.9s, 7.9s | 6s - moved into third place behind DeWalt and Diablo | averaged 7.9s before drilling 100 holes; slowed to 8.6s after (spurs showing wear) | both spurs bent, quite a bit of wear | 8s before, 16s after the nail strike |
| 7Irwin SPEEDBOR Spade$17 for six bits ($2.83 each) | 9.1s, 9.2s, 8.3s, avg 8.9s | 6.1s | averaged 8.9s before drilling 100 holes; slowed to 10.5s after (visible wear) | spurs took quite a bit of damage | 8.6s before, 18.6s after - the largest post-nail slowdown of any spade bit with usable data |
| 8Milwaukee Spade$22 for six bits ($3.67 each) | 10.4s, 10.1s, 9.2s, avg 9.9s - slowest of the standard spade bits | 5.8s - fourth place | averaged 9.9s before drilling 100 holes; 10.4s after | blade broke on nail contact (narrator notes these blades are not designed for nail contact) | 10.4s before, 139s after the nail strike despite the broken blade |
| 9Comoware Spade$10.79 for six bits ($1.80 each) | 34.1s, 41s, 34.8s - by far the slowest brand in this test | 44s to drill through the half-inch oak | averaged 36s before drilling 100 holes; slowed to 43s after (visible wear) | one spur bent from hitting the nail | slowed from 43s to 143s |
| 10Irwin Auger$27 for six bits ($4.50 each) | 6.9s, 6.6s, 6.8s, avg 6.8s - fastest 2x4 time of any brand at the point it was tested | 15.1s - much slower than the spade bits on hardwood | averaged 6.8s before drilling 100 holes; 6.8s after, no measurable wear | small amount of damage | 6.8s before, 6.3s after - slightly faster after the nail strike |
| 11Bosch Auger$39 for three bits ($13 each) | 10s, 9.8s, 9.9s - slower than Irwin Auger, which held the sub-category lead | 6.6s | averaged 9.9s before drilling 100 holes; 10.2s after | held up really well, only minor damage | 10s before, 10s after - unchanged |
| 12Lenox Self-feed$220 for seven bits ($31.43 each) | 5.7s, 6s, 6.1s, avg 5.9s - fastest raw 2x4 time of every brand in the video | 5.3s - third place behind DeWalt and Diablo in the closing oak recap | became clogged with wood chips and stopped making progress; did not complete the retest | looks pretty dull after contact with the nail | clogged with wood chips again and stopped making progress, same failure as the durability test |
How it was tested
- drilling speed through a 2x4 (3 holes each, drill press with fixed 54 lb downward force, 250 RPM)
- drilling speed through half-inch oak (1 hole each)
- peak torque during 2x4 and oak drilling (aggregate averages only: 87 in-lb for 2x4, 120 in-lb for oak, not broken out per brand)
- durability: speed retest after drilling 100 holes through half-inch particle board
- damage inspection after striking a 6-penny nail embedded in a 2x4
- drilling speed through a 2x4 after the nail strike
Data notes and caveats
Not a single head-to-head: this video covers three mechanically distinct sub-categories bought and priced differently - 9 standard spade/boring bits, 2 auger bits (Irwin vs Bosch, narrator explicitly calls this 'not an apples to apples comparison' vs the spade bits), and 1 self-feed bit (Lenox, alone in its category, also explicitly flagged as not apples to apples). The closing verdict splits by nail-exposure use case rather than naming one overall winner: DeWalt and Diablo are named the best affordable picks for nail-free wood, Bosch DareDevil is praised as pricier but excellent, and Bosch Nail Strike is named specifically as the best pick for wood likely to contain nails - so winner is left null with both use-case picks captured here and in the relevant products' notes. Note the closing oak-test recap oddly ranks the Lenox self-feed bit (5.3s) directly alongside spade bits (DeWalt 5s, Diablo 5.2s, Hilti 5.6s, Bosch Spade 5.7s, Milwaukee 5.8s) even though it is a mechanically different self-feed bit; that cross-category comparison is preserved as narrated. Products array is ordered spade bits (best-for-nail-free-wood first) then the two auger bits then the self-feed bit, rather than one forced global rank, given the three incompatible categories.