Bosch 1x EXPERT Self Cut Speed Spade Drill Bit (for Softwood, Particleboard, Ø 22.00 mm, Professional Accessory Rotary Drill/Drivers)

I replaced an ancient hole cutter of a similar design, also for 22mm holes, with this one. I was intending to cut holes in the side of a door to take a mortice lock. Using the old hole cutter, it just spun around and didn't take very much off at all. This Bosch hole cutter is exactly the opposite. It drags itself in thanks to the spiral tip, and chews through the wood at an almost alarming rate. I was using a hand brace and all my force was going into turning it as it pulled itself into the wood, taking a fairly hefty cut for each rotation. I didn't need to push on the brace at all (absolutely no push force required at all to get it to cut). It made a neat and tidy series of connected holes. The holes were overlapping to create the mortice lock cavity, and having measured when I was going to start each hole, the drill never veered off even though there was about 7mm of overlap between the holes. The wood didn't split, even though I was into the door by about 80mm, and drilling by hand. Because of how effective this drill bit is at getting through wood with a 22mm diameter, it has to be 5 stars. I'm just wondering what would happen if I put this into a power drill where the slowest speed was still say 1000rpm. I think it would just fly through the wood in milliseconds and perhaps not be very controllable. I'd say that if you're planning to use this with a power drill, make sure it has a slow start / infinitely variable speed control and take it very slowly. It'll need to have quite a lot of torque to turn this due to the depth of cut. Provided you can provide enough strength in your arm to stop the drill wrenching out of your hand, hole cutting this way will be fast, almost effortless, very effective, and neat.

A brilliant drill bit which did the job perfectly, making a clean hole in my plasterboard wall. Worth every penny and now a permanent fixture in my tool kit. 10/10!

I bought this Bosch EXPERT Self Cut Speed spade bit set because I wanted the larger size range rather than one of the smaller, cheaper sets. I did consider saving money, but past experience with budget spade bits has usually ended in frustration. At £41.95 this set isn’t cheap, so expectations were high. Build quality is excellent. The bits are well finished, sharp out of the box, and feel substantially more robust than generic spade bits. There’s none of the rough grinding or uneven edges you often see on cheaper sets. Drilling performance is where these clearly separate themselves from budget options. In softwood and particleboard they cut very fast, but more importantly they stay centered. Cheaper spade bits tend to wander at the start of a hole or grab unpredictably, especially at larger diameters. These don’t. The self-feed tip pulls the bit in smoothly and keeps it tracking straight, which noticeably improves drilling accuracy. Ease of use is better than expected for such aggressive bits. They bite quickly, but they’re predictable if you let the bit do the work. With cheaper bits I often find myself fighting the drill or backing off to regain control. That hasn’t been the case here. You do still need a firm grip on higher torque drills, but the behavior is controlled rather than wild. Size coverage is the main reason to buy this set. Having everything from 10 mm up to 32 mm means you’re rarely improvising or forcing the wrong size. That alone avoids a lot of the compromises you end up making with smaller or mixed-quality sets. These aren’t precision Forstner bits and aren’t intended for fine cabinetry. They’re designed for fast, accurate drilling where speed, control, and consistency matter more than a perfect finish. Overall, this is a high-quality spade bit set with excellent drilling performance and noticeably better accuracy and control than cheaper alternatives. Expensive upfront, but if you’ve ever been frustrated by wandering or grabbing budget bits, the difference here is very obvious and worth paying for.

Great quality

An amazing product, makes drilling holes a breeze compared to traditional spade bits. Ideal for drilling holes into joists where it was tight for space and unable to put pressure on the impact driver. This self screwing mechanism made it a breeze.

Quick and fast delivery

only part way through my second hole did I realise how these work properly. I read the blurb and watched the videos but it needs to actually happen for you to understand it. The threaded tip has to bite into the wood and pull the bit through. This means it goes through the wood MUCH faster than a standard spade bit. however as it does this the side points engage - which is where the speed comes from - at this point a lot of torque is needed to keep it moving otherwise it jams. drilling through joists with the 30mm bit requires some force to get the thread to engage and then a lot of strength to hold the drill against the torque , particularly worse when also using a right angle adapter. hard to find the right balance of slow speed (control, not jamming, handle the torque) and just fast enough to pull through . But with the right torque and right speed and hold just the right amount of pressure, it was probably 10x faster than previously drilling the same distance through a joist with a "normal" spade bit. don't use them for anything other than wood. holes in plastic sheets or pipes, use something else.

Had marks on the blind on arrival