How do you sharpen you drill bits?

Drill Doctor 750, though I had to watch some YouTube videos because the sharpener was producing disappointing results. Oddly, several settings have to be moved away from the Drill Doctor's own recommendations to make the drills work like they should.
 
I have a Weldon sharpening fixture for the cutter grinder, but usually just sharpen by hand, due to the time required to set it up; the Weldon makes the S shaped chisel point.
 
I learned how to sharpen drills by hand over 50 years ago, in high school shop class. The instructor, John Widmar said "If you ever get a job where you need to sharpen drills and can't, don't you ever claim to have been in my class!". Every time that I sharpen a drill, I think of and thank that man.
Come to think of it, he also said the same thing about lathe tool bits!

Richard
 
I have a Darex Drill Doctor that is at least 20 years old. I like it for smaller bits and split points, and use it often. Big stuff goes on the Deckel clone (swing attachment), as does anything needing a faceted point.

I am not an artist, so I prefer to grind everything in a fixture. Fixtures hold precise geometry, my fingers don't!
 
Check out John Moran's website: https://www.gadgetbuilder.com/DrillSharp.html where he describes a machine for sharpening drills and has a lot of other information on the topic. I recently finished building my own drill sharpener based on his design and it works very well. Maybe it's just my crummy technique but sharpening by hand gives me no confidence that the point will end up in the center which matters a lot, especially with the smaller drills.
 
I sharpen mine by driving across the river to Oregon Carbide Saw and handing them to the nice lady at the counter.
It's so cheap I'm not willing to buy a quality sharpening machine, and I don't trust myself to do it by hand.
 
Masterjuggler said:
... 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.
Click to expand...

36588-2.jpg


That is very cool. I could see that being very useful for small Number bits which are relatively expensive to buy.

Craig
 
I have the craftsman version of the swing thingy (Like that name for it). Mostly I get good results yet sometimes not so good. Using the side of a grinding wheel gives me pause at times. I have also notice that I get a groove in the side of the wheel and have to dress the side. Maybe my wheel is too soft. I have no idea what make or grit it is.

I have seen a swing thingy used on a belt sander. Plan to try that out on my belt sander. The 1" belt may be too narrow.

I have wondered if there are wheels that don't cost an arm and two legs that don't risk exploding. I'd like to add a disk to my belt sander for sharpening drill bits. Might have to make a combo disk/pulley. There is enough length on the motor shaft to add a disk. Oh well. Another project for another day.
 
I sharpen by hand on a bench grinder, big drills get done on the belt sander. I learned in machine shop class at the JC. We were required to be able to sharpen a 3/8 drill in less than 2 minutes. Harry maintained that if you couldn't do it that quickly it was more economical to through it out. Just like a tungsten sharpener, I never saw the need for a drill sharpener.
 
BGHansen said:
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
Click to expand...
I just recently bought a Drill Doctor 750 as well. I was beyond pleased with the result. I sharpened a good half-dozen dull bits, and they now cut like new. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

Regards
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top