Stainless steel drilling exposes weaknesses quickly. Chips don’t break, heat builds fast, and any instability at the cutting edge shows up as work-hardening, chatter, or sudden failure. The Better Edge stainless steel drill line is designed specifically around those conditions, with geometry, carbide, and coating choices aimed at predictable performance rather than general-purpose compromise.

Point Geometry Designed for Control
The Better Edge stainless drill series uses a 135° point angle, selected to reduce thrust forces and stabilize the drill as it enters stainless steels such as 304 and 316. This point angle helps limit work-hardening at the surface and supports a more controlled start in tougher austenitic materials.

Rather than a conventional split point, the drill features Better Edge’s Bat Wing point geometry. This design uses contoured gash thinning to shorten the effective chisel edge and initiate cutting quickly. The gash shape is curved and symmetrical, which improves self-centering behavior and reduces axial load without weakening the core. The result is a cleaner start with less tendency for the drill to walk, even in harder or uneven surfaces.

The cutting edges incorporate a radius edge preparation instead of a sharp corner. This radius increases edge strength and improves durability when drilling heat-generating, gummy materials. It also contributes to stable centering at entry and helps maintain edge integrity during continuous feed drilling.

Helix Angle and Chip Control
The drills use a 30° helix angle, which makes a good between balance chip evacuation and tool stability. In gummy materials like stainless steel, the flute design allows chips to flow smoothly without packing, while maintaining enough core strength to support deeper holes.

After coating, the flutes are polished, further improving chip movement through the flutes. This combination allows the drill to run in continuous feed without pecking, which helps maintain a consistent cutting action and reduces work-hardening at the hole wall.

BALINIT® PERTURA Coating – Built for Heat-Intensive Materials
The Better Edge stainless drill series is coated with BALINIT® PERTURA, an AlTiN-based PVD coating applied using arc deposition technology. This coating is designed for drilling applications where heat concentration, cutting pressure, and edge stability are the primary challenges.

That being said, while these drills are optimized for stainless steels such as 304 and 316, the coating and substrate combination also supports drilling in titanium, nickel-based alloys, and other heat-resistant materials. In these materials, thermal stability and oxidation resistance are critical to maintaining edge integrity and predictable tool life.

The smooth coating surface contributes to reduced coefficient of friction at the cutting interface and this leads to consistent chip evacuation, particularly important in materials liek the ones we are talking about that tend to smear or gall. PERTURA is compatible with internal coolant, external coolant, MQL, and dry machining, allowing flexibility across different machine platforms and setups.

Diameter Range and Length Options
The Better Edge stainless steel drill line covers diameters from approximately 1 mm (0.040") up to 13 mm (0.512"), addressing both small precision holes and common production sizes.

Multiple length-of-cut options are available, including standard 4×D drills and extended 6×D configurations. This allows machinists to select a drill length appropriate to the hole depth rather than defaulting to over-length tools, improving rigidity and chip control in tougher materials.
Metric and inch sizes are available, with typical delivery in one to two weeks, and coolant-through options are offered for applications requiring additional chip evacuation support.

Application Focus
These drills are optimized for:

• Stainless steels, particularly 304 and 316
• Nickel-based alloys
• Applications where continuous feed drilling is preferred

The geometry is suitable for both through holes and blind holes, and the design intent is to eliminate peck drilling where possible to maintain stable cutting conditions.

Shop-Floor Perspective
From a machinist’s standpoint, the value of this drill line is in how the pieces work together. The Bat Wing 135° point angle geometry reduces entry stress, the 30° helix and polished flutes manage chips, the K40UF carbide maintains edge stability, and the BALINIT® PERTURA coating handles heat and friction.

The result is a drill that runs predictably in materials that tend to punish marginal tooling, with the added benefit that regrinding and longer overall tool life can contribute to real cost savings over time.  

Want to try some out in your application?  Get in contact with our team here at F&L Technical Sales and we'll get you set up for some testing!  You can also CLICK HERE and take a look at the online Stainless Steel Drill offering from Better Edge right now!

When it comes to high-performance drilling solutions, manufacturers need more than just off-the-shelf tooling. They require precision-engineered, application-specific tools that optimize performance, reduce cycle times, and extend tool life. Better Edge, a leader in custom cutting tool solutions, excels in delivering tailored drill designs with industry-best lead times.

Custom-Designed Specials – Engineered for Performance
Better Edge specializes in the design and production of custom drills, including:

• Specials: Step drills, high-performance reamers, and custom geometry tools
• Diameter ranges from 3mm (0.1118") to 20mm (0.787")
• Max overall length of 10" 
• Coating options for extended tool life and enhanced performance
• Min Qty 3 pcs
• Max Qty 12pcs

With their expertise in geometry optimization, Better Edge ensures that each tool is designed to maximize material removal rates while maintaining superior surface finish quality. Their ability to engineer application-specific drills enables manufacturers to achieve higher productivity and improved machining efficiency.

Fast Turnaround – 3-4 Weeks for Coated Specials
Unlike many tooling providers that require extended lead times for custom drills, Better Edge delivers fully coated, application-specific drills in just 3-4 weeks. Their streamlined production process, combined with in-house coating capabilities, ensures customers receive their custom tooling solutions faster than industry norms.

Rapid Edge Program – 3-Day Express Service
For those who need tooling even faster, Better Edge offers its Rapid Edge Program, which provides an expedited 3-day turnaround for special drills at a 30% upcharge. This premium service is ideal for urgent production needs, reducing downtime and keeping critical machining operations running smoothly.

Why Choose Better Edge?

• Expertise in custom drill design for a wide range of materials and applications
• 3-4 week standard delivery with full coating options
• 3-day Rapid Edge turnaround for time-sensitive projects
• ISO 9001:2015 certified, ensuring top-tier quality and consistency
• Proven performance enhancements through geometry optimization

For manufacturers looking to gain a competitive edge with high-performance special drills and unbeatable turnaround times, Better Edge is the clear choice. To learn more, visit Better Edge or Rapid Edge Program or just get in contact with us here at F&L Technical Sales and we can help you out! 

Well known throughout the United States and Canada, the Better Edge team has been providing cutting tool reconditioning services for over 25 years to metalworking end users in the Automotive & Transportation, Aerospace & Defense, Heavy Equipment, Tool Manufacturing, Medical and Energy Industries.
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With state-of-the-art CNC 5-Axis grinders, sophisticated inspection equipment and in-house coating capabilities, they service a wide range of drills in a variety of tool styles, including multi-step and chipbreaker type tools. They are also experts in applying close tolerance edge preps and corner geometries on standards and blue print special drilling tools.

Better Edge will restore drill points to original specifications all top brands of solid carbide high performance drills, including Kennametal®, Widia®, Garr®, Mitsubishi®, Sumitomo®, Sandvik®, OSG®, Titex® and Hanita®.
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No matter the degree of wear, Better Edge will restore like-new performance - GUARANTEED.

Get in contact with us and we'll get you started!