Re-learning how to sharpen twist drills

markba633csi

markba633csi

Mark Silva
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My shop teacher could do a fair job of drill hand-sharpening but I never had much luck doing it.
Recently, I needed to make a drill extension so I wanted to use a "junk" drill; I needed to put a new edge on it.
I found a tutorial on YouTube by a guy named Tom, he uses a two-step method first grinding the edge angle and then doing the relief afterwards, all freehand, but using a protractor to measure the angle.
I watched carefully and tried it- success! Tested the drilled hole and it was only .001" over the shank diameter. And I just eyeballed the angle and relief- pretty good for a first try.
Mark S.
 
Interesting, can you link to the YouTube video?

Dave H. (the other one)
 
paoldschool said:
Sharpening a drill by hand is a black art... Not really, but it is something that you get better at with practice.
Click to expand...

agreed, it took me about 2 inches until I finally sharpened my first drill bit correctly. i'm still not that great at it, but practice does help a lot. be patient.
 
i started doing this back in my mid teens, couldn't afford new drills, no neighbors knew how, had to figure it out my self,now 40 years later i can do it great,best to learn on big drills that way u can see what u are doing,, u can sharpen end mills too for ruffing,just radius the corners, or the sharp edges will dull too soon.
 
Last edited:
Not bragging but...I've successfully sharpened drills as small as .038, not every time, but enough that I keep trying. It's just a matter of feel at that size.
 
Here is the link (I think) to Toms Techniques the YouTube tutorial I watched...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0SQkzScQk0

Mark S.
 
Thanks, I'll have a watch later!

Dave H. (the other one)
 
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