How do you sharpen you drill bits?

[Papa Charlie]

I have always sharpened by drill bits by hand. Graduated from a wheel grinder to a belt which greatly improved the outcome. I have tried cheap drill sharpeners but was less than happy with the results or the performance.

Of course I would love to buy one of the specialty drill sharpeners but I don't have an extra $1500 to spend on one.

So I was wondering, what do you use to sharpen your drill bits and what are the Pros and Cons you feel are in your method.

 

[DavidR8]

Definitely watching this!
I tried sharpening a 1/2" bit that was beyond dull. Used my belt grinder and I was very surprised at how well it cut considering I had never tried sharpening before.

 

[Masterjuggler]

I'm also quite interested to hear how other people do it.

For several years I was hand sharpening on my bench grinder and got quite good at it. Eventually I switched to one of those swinging craftsman jigs that works on the side of the wheel, and I'm even happier lol. Doesn't split the point of course, I usually do that on a diamond bench stone if I bother at all.

I may be in the minority here, but I also sharpen my tiny drill bits. I 3d printed a version of this jig and use a small dremel 3-jaw chuck to hold the bits. I find it works quite well.

 

[BGHansen]

I use a Drill Doctor 750 for most stuff. Bits over 5/8" are hand-ground, use one of those cheap General protractor/drill guide to check the angle and depth relative the center.

Bruce

 

[cathead]

12 inch disc & 80 grit sandpaper & occasionally a bench grinder
View media item 91469

 

[nnam]

Eventually I switched to one of those swinging craftsman jigs that works on the side of the wheel, and I'm even happier lol. Doesn't split the point of course, I usually do that on a diamond bench stone if I bother at all.

I may be in the minority here, but I also sharpen my tiny drill bits. I 3d printed a version of this jig and use a small dremel 3-jaw chuck to hold the bits. I find it works quite well.

I have that swing tool, but haven't get a good use of it. I will give it another try. I like the idea of holding the bit with a small chuck.

 

[Masterjuggler]

That craftsman grinding jig is a little finicky to get set up right. You have to:
- Bolt it properly to the table the grinder is on for stiffness
- Set the stopper tip to just catch the drill bit by about 1/32", so the edge is vertical
- Position the jig about 1/16" from the wheel (very close)
- Lock the thumb wheel with every pass

I only advance the thumb wheel by about 1/8 turn each time, and take several slow passes until sparks stop flying. Take passes on both edges before advancing, rotating the drill bit 180 degrees and positively registering it against the stopper tip. It helps to have a grinder wheel that runs true instead of wobbling. Once it's set up well though you pretty much never have to mess with it again, it just works.

 

[Winegrower]

When I was about 10 or so, my dad, who was a toolmaker at McClellan AFB, taught me to sharpen drill bits by hand. I never forgot, and it's worked fine so far.

 

[Aukai]

You Tube videos, and any sharp edge is better than no edge, but it takes me several tries, and I think thinning the center web helped too.

 

[Norseman C.B.]

By hand is my go to, though I did buy one of those bench mount swing jig things a while back to handle a bunch of
drills in one whack ...