TiN coated HSS ok for my needs?

[mitchejc]

Ive had mixed experience with hss Co8 cutters vs carbide on wood. I have not tried the ones with the coating you refer to but with the hssco8 cutter it depends very much on the type of wood e.g. Mdf kills them quickly but on something like cherry wood the give good life. The other thing to maybe consider is that drilling deepish holes sometimes generate a lot of heat in the cutter especially if the hole is deeper than the flute length which kills hhs quickly but does not seem to bother carbide cutters too much. Carbide or hss, I would consider using something with less fluttes when cutting wood. All that said if its a small amount of cutting and no deep holes on a one-off job im sure a 2flute hss will get the job done.

[Blackrat]

since using carbide bits, sheesh i wanna throw anything that has hss printed on it .....

id rather go for the carbide, cause then you got the bit ... even handheld router bits with brazed tips are better than hss , and they not too pricey