Left handed drill bits are a drill bit with the helical flutes running in a left-handed direction as opposed to the standard drill bit, which is right handed. Left-handed drill bits are available in a variety of sizes and types similar to be not as expansive as standard drill bits.

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What types of Left Handed Drill Bits are available?

Left-handed drill bits are usually of the twist drill type. A twist drill is a drill with two flutes running in a helical pattern around a round bar. The flutes are sharpened at a specific angle and the end of the bar is sharpened to a fine point. This allows the drill bit to initially bite and then bore into the material being drilled. The grooves or flutes allow and escape path for the material being removed. Left handed drill bits can be used for most of the same functions as a standard drill bit, they just must be turned in a counter-clockwise direction. Left-handed drill bits are available in a range of sizes commonly from a #60 through ½ inch for standard industrial applications. Larger bits may be available for special applications. Left-handed drill bits are available in split point both 118 degree and 135 degree and in high speed steel as well as cobalt steel. They are also available with standard round shanks or flatted shanks. Flatted shanks will allow more rotational torque to be applied than a round shank.

How were Left Handed Drill Bits originally used?

Left-handed drill bits were originally designed for use in repetitive machine operations where spinning the drill bit in an opposite direction from standard was more efficient in a particular operation or where a spindle could not be easily reversed. These operations are much more rare with today’s modern computer controlled equipment so left handed drill bits are much less commonly used in standard manufacturing operations.

How are Left Handed Drill Bits used today?

Today, left-handed drill bits are primarily used to extract screws or broken drill bits as the opposite rotation of a left-handed drill bit will tend to loosen the screw or broken drill bit. In fact there are specialized left-handed drill bits designed for this exact purpose. They are called “Screw Extractors”. A screw extractor has a sharply tapered thread and is inserted into a pre-drilled hole in the damaged screw or broken drill bit. Appling counter-clockwise rotation force will help dislodge the screw or drill bit. Because the screw extractor is also exerting an expansion force to the lodged item they are usually designed with four parallel edges which will reduce the self tightening effect of the screw extractor.

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