# Daredevil or auger?



## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

Depending on how cheap you can find them, you can buy ten to fifteen Daredevils for the cost of a good auger bit. A Daredevil with an extension is a tough combination to beat. You can take off the extension to get into tight spots and Darevils eat wood like crazy. Until they hit a nail that is. Then they're useless.

If you're doing a big wood frame job like an apartment, what's best, augers or Daredevils? Should we learn how to sharpen augers or just go with the disposables, the Daredevils?

And, yeah, I don't know how to sharpen an auger so I'll call myself a shmuck before you guys do  . In terms of production, though, it might be best to toss a dead Daredevil, grab a fresh one and keep on going.


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## Wpgshocker (Jan 25, 2013)

I use a combination of an auger, spade bits and mini self feed style augers. I keep hex spades for the impact for quick holes and the auger / mini auger for resi . Self feed hex augers in an impact are obscene. Fast and clean.

That said, I don't think that spades are really all that worth trying to sharpen or reuse. They never seem quite the same. Augers are ok to sharpen a few times but even then, I think you would need to properly grind and sharpen them for best results. 


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

I would think wiring apartments would be exactly the same as wiring houses, in which case an auger bit is what you need. Daredevil bits and whatnot are for room additions and remodels, not production style jobs. You want your guys to drill and drill and drill until there's nothing else to drill n. Only an auger will give you that.


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## papaotis (Jun 8, 2013)

augers will eat a few nails, but it sucks they stop working! spades are easy to sharpen on a bench grinder with a little practice. iuse them till theres not much left to sharpen or they hit a nail that bends them


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## chewy (May 9, 2010)

Auger in a mixing drill for a general drill out then a spade in a cordless hanging off my belt as Im pulling circuits.


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

SparksMcGee said:


> I'll always use an auger bit for drilling out a big wood frame, but I keep a daredevil with me on a cordless while pulling wire so I can do quick spot drills as required.
> 
> I like them both and they both have their place.. I wouldn't do just one or the other.


..................


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

Unfuzz me fellas....Daredevil seems to be a colloquialism i'm unfamiliar with ~CS~:blink:


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## Rollie73 (Sep 19, 2010)

chicken steve said:


> Unfuzz me fellas....Daredevil seems to be a colloquialism i'm unfamiliar with ~CS~:blink:


A "daredevil" is a brand name. Its an aggressive spade bit made by Bosch. In fact......bosch makes an entire line of cutting and drilling tools under the "daredevil" line.


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

Thx Rollie....so these guys?>



















~CS~


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

That's them. And they are aggressive.


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## Rollie73 (Sep 19, 2010)

As 99 said chickendude......that's the monsters. They'll chew up wood faster than any termite, when they're sharp. The entire daredevil lineup is an awesome cutting tool.....the augers are wicked, the holesaws keep an edge for a long time and the recip saw blades rip through anything in their way. 

I've had great luck with them doing renovation work around the old farmhouse here.


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## Spunk#7 (Nov 30, 2012)

How much are they? Can they be purchased separately?


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## mdnitedrftr (Aug 21, 2013)

Get a Daredevil auger bit. 2 birds, one stone.


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

Has anyone tried Wood Owls?

www.kmstools.com/blog/woodowl-auger-bits/


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

Rollie73 said:


> As 99 said chickendude......that's the monsters. They'll chew up wood faster than any termite, when they're sharp. The entire daredevil lineup is an awesome cutting tool.....the augers are wicked, the holesaws keep an edge for a long time and the recip saw blades rip through anything in their way.
> 
> I've had great luck with them doing renovation work around the old farmhouse here.



Well we seem to have a lot of the three flute variety here>










they're great for the bat drill , and i've learned to use a dremel to tune 'em up

methinks we refer to them as speedbore or speedbits....?

the fire and alarm guys seem to use them exclusively

~CS~


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

Spunk#7 said:


> How much are they? Can they be purchased separately?


On a good day, I can buy a 3/4" for around three bucks. Home Creepo charges five. That's Canadian pricing, though.

Yes, you can buy them separately. I did a price match with HD and cleaned out their stock. They weren't impressed :laughing: .

I don't buy the sets. You end up with sizes you don't need.


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## Sparkysparknz (May 15, 2015)

We have nail biter auger bits, all you feel is a little twist as you eat through nails, I have seen these looking like they won't cut butter because they are so beaten but just keep trucking, a quick file brings them back to reasonable sharpness


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## WIsparky71 (Mar 7, 2015)

chicken steve said:


> Well we seem to have a lot of the three flute variety here>
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The speed bores work really nice for drilling TGI's when they're sharp. Pretty nice bit for clean up drilling too.


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## 3DDesign (Oct 25, 2014)

I use Bosch Daredevil Auger bits. They don't look anything like the Daredevil in post #10.









Edit: I see now that Bosch makes a Daredevil Spade


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## 3DDesign (Oct 25, 2014)

I recently bought two Milwaukee battery M18 Fuel Hole Hawgs. It's an outstanding drill and it's all my employees want to use. I also have three corded Super Hawgs and two 28V right angle.
We recently wired a 4,000 sq ft house with no corded drills. The only bit we used was the Daredevil Auger


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## B-Nabs (Jun 4, 2014)

I always hated spade bits, until I bought my Daredevils. The selfeed feature makes all the difference.


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## wildleg (Apr 12, 2009)

when I did those 2 hotels, we had 2 gas powered drills and a couple right angles. The problem with bits (any bits) is guys who don't know how to drill. The guys who hit a nail and keep spinning the bit full speed, or spin it full speed all the time, will eat bits because they ruin the entire cutting edge of the bit so that it can't be sharpened. Even the nail eaters will only eat so many nails and then the guys spin em until they are trash.

I tried every kind of bit on that last hotel, and I kept a grinder in the trailer, and I'd sharpen bits a couple times a day when we were drilling a lot (red neck roughneck sharpening, not machine shop sharpening). You lose the temper that way, but it seemed cost effective in the long run, cause we spent a bunch on bits.


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## B-Nabs (Jun 4, 2014)

Having to sharpen bits that often would make me lose my temper too haha


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## 3D Electric (Mar 24, 2013)

We use the Milwaukee fuel hole hawg. Love being cordless. When we bought it they gave us a free 7/8" x 18" auger. Its working pretty well so far. I've never tried the daredevil auger but I will give it a shot when this Milwaukee is all used up. We do use the daredevil paddle bits all the time. They seem to be the only ones that hold up and are cheap enough to replace easily.


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## chewy (May 9, 2010)

I file spadebits rather than grind them.


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## Grogan14 (Jul 16, 2009)

I was probably 50/50 between using a standard ship auger in my large corded right-angle and a Daredevil spade in my cordless until I got my M18 Hole Hawg, with the 7/16" Quik-Loc. I use that probably 90% of the time now. 

I sharpen the augers, but the Daredevils I just chuck. If you haven't tried the self-feeding spades in your cordless, you don't know what you're missing.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

I'd like to get a daredevil to drill out my holes. Evel Knievel seems to be unavailable. Anyone have Steve-O's cell phone number? :jester:


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

Those of you who are using the Fuel Hole Hawg - how is battery life? Did you spend the extra money for the 5 a-h batteries? I have all M18 stuff but only 4 a-h batteries and I'd like to get some more Fuel stuff like the Hole Hawg.


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## wildleg (Apr 12, 2009)

I like cordless tools and all, but when you are drilling a 4 story hotel cordless aint gonna cut it.

my boss bought 2 of these things to go along with the hole hawgs. these things kick a$$ !


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

wildleg said:


> I like cordless tools and all, but when you are drilling a 4 story hotel cordless aint gonna cut it.
> 
> my boss bought 2 of these things to go along with the hole hawgs. these things kick a$$ !


You're a better man than me. I'm a skinny little chit. That thing would own me :laughing: .


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## wildleg (Apr 12, 2009)

99cents said:


> You're a better man than me. I'm a skinny little chit. That thing would own me :laughing: .


I thought you said you were the foreman ?:laughing:


I think we rigged a right angle on one of them. the size isn't ideal, but they do some drillin.

plus, they're good to have around. when the plumbers or sprinkler guys are in the way just run one for a while and blow the smoke in their direction till they decide to work on another floor.:laughing:


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