Best Drill Bits for Wood of 2026

The pilot point is the whole argument for this set. That stepped tip touches the wood before the cutting edges do, so the bit starts where you put it instead of skating across the surface, and on a finished board that is the difference between a hole and a repair. It is why the DW1361 is the set we tell most people to buy first: 21 pieces running from 1/16 inch to 1/2 inch, every one of them with that tip.

What surprised us is how often the rest of the box earns its keep. The titanium nitride coating and tapered web are there so the bits survive metal and plastic as well as wood, and the same set ends up handling a stripped hinge screw, a plastic electrical box, or a bracket in light steel. For a household with one drill and one drawer, that flexibility is worth more than a specialty bit that does one thing beautifully.

The case is the part you live with, and DEWALT got it mostly right. Every bit sits in an indexed slot with the size marked beside it, the lid latches, and the whole thing drops into a tool bag rather than demanding a toolbox. The small sizes are held tightly, though, so pull them out by the shank rather than the tip unless you want to fish a 1/16-inch bit off the floor.

What it is not is just as worth knowing. There is no brad point, no spade, and no Forstner bit in the box, so a shelf-pin hole with a clean rim in oak calls for the IRWIN set instead. This is a general-purpose twist set that behaves well in wood, and it is the one we grab for pilot holes, clearance holes, and hardware.

It costs a good deal less than our top pick and comes with seven fewer bits, and for plenty of shoppers that is the better trade. The 14 pieces are high-speed steel under a black and gold oxide coating, and the sizes above 3/16 inch carry a 3-flat shank, three grinds that let the chuck jaws bite instead of slipping when you lean on the drill.

We think it is the right first set for someone who drills wood once a month and does not want to pay for sizes that will never leave the case. The 135-degree split point does the job the pilot point does on our top pick, biting instead of wandering, and it does it in metal too. The limit is range: the set tops out at 1/2 inch and skips some of the in-between sizes a 21-piece box covers, so it is a poor fit for cable, dowel, or pipe work, but for pilot and clearance holes it does everything the bigger set does.

The tip on these Daredevil bits is threaded like a screw, and that changes how the drill behaves: instead of leaning on the tool to push the bit into a stud, the bit pulls itself in. The full-cone thread does the feeding, the contoured paddle throws chips clear, and a big hole through a 2x4 stops being a fight with the drill.

Thirteen spade bits on a 1/4-inch hex shank, which means they lock into an impact driver as readily as a drill, useful up a ladder running cable through joists. The spur and reamer tips score the rim before the paddle lifts the wood, so the hole comes out cleaner than a plain flat bit leaves it, with less breakout on the exit side.

Control is the trade. A screw-fed bit wants to go, and it will not stop at a set depth the way a Forstner does, so for a recessed hole or an angled entry you want a drill with a clutch, a stop collar, or a drill press. Freehand through framing lumber we have not found anything in this group that removes wood faster, so keep the speed down and let the thread do the pulling.

A Forstner bit does not drill so much as excavate. The rim scores a clean circle, the cutting teeth shave the wood inside it, and the bit bottoms out flat, leaving an edge you can run a fingernail around. For anything where the bottom of the hole shows, hinge recesses, magnet pockets, plug and dowel work, nothing else here comes close.

The Marples set is 14 carbon steel bits with teeth ground for hard and soft woods, and IRWIN rates them as cutting significantly faster than traditional Forstner bits. What stuck with us is the entry: the brad point centers the bit, so a Forstner in a hand drill does not wander off the mark the way a big paddle can.

The reduced shanks are the detail to understand before you buy. The largest bits, at 1-1/2, 1-5/8, and 2 inch, turn on a shank small enough for a 3/8-inch chuck, so you do not need a 1/2-inch drill to swing them. That is a thoughtful piece of design, and it means this set works on the drill most people already own.

Our reservation sits at the small end: bits under 1 inch can run wide of their marked size, so if a recess has to fit, test on scrap first. As the most expensive set here, it earns its place for anyone cutting joinery or doing cabinet work. For pilot holes and general repair, the twist sets above do more of the everyday jobs for less.

Every other twist set here expects a keyless chuck. This one carries a 1/4-inch hex shank that clicks straight into an impact driver, which is why it lives in our impact case rather than the drill drawer: nothing to tighten, nothing spinning in the jaws, no adapter to lose. Fourteen pieces from 1/16 inch to 1/2 inch, TiN coated, each with a 135-degree split point, and Makita rates the coating at two and a half times the life of an uncoated bit.

The trade-offs are plain. There is no manufacturer warranty on the set, and 1/2 inch is the ceiling, so it will not bore for pipe or dowel. In a standard chuck the hex shank buys you nothing that a round shank does not; in an impact driver it is the difference between a bit that stays put and one that works loose halfway through a pilot hole.

Two 1/8-inch bits is the giveaway: this set doubles up on the size people break most, so a snapped bit does not stop the job. Around them sit 14 gold-oxide bits running from 1/16 inch to 1/2 inch, each with a split point, in a case that holds them in marked slots.

It is the cheapest way here to get a set that reaches 1/2 inch, and for pilot holes in pine and flat-pack furniture that arrives with no hardware, that is enough. The edges do not hold like the DEWALT bits above: the small sizes want a light hand in hardwood and will skate on steel. The 1/2-inch bit alone justifies keeping it around, since plenty of cheap sets stop at 1/4 inch and leave you short when a dowel needs to pass through.

Six bits, starting at 3/8 inch and running to 1 inch, nothing small and nothing in between, which is exactly right for a spade set. These are for holes bigger than a bolt: pipe, cable, dowel stock, planter drainage. Each one has a self-centering spade tip and a titanium coating over carbon steel, and the straight shank fits an ordinary drill chuck.

In softwood, PVC, and fiberglass they cut the way spade bits should: quickly, with the point locating the hole before the paddles start lifting chips. The catch with any paddle is lever length, so the big sizes need a squared-up drill and a steady hand, and the work wants clamping. Start slow, let the point find its mark, then lean on it.

Where this set makes sense is as filler: the sizes you need twice a year and do not want to buy one at a time. Think of it as the drawer set rather than the one you reach for on a project. Give it a pouch or a slot of its own, because nothing in the box holds these together, and loose spade bits lose their edges against everything else in a tool bag.