Sharpening Drill Bits

[Flute Maker]

What do you guys use to sharpen your drill bits? Is the drill doctor 750x or 500x or (Ddxpk at Lowes)

I see the DD750x priced at $149.95 at several places but I see it for $69 at Uncil. Something must not be good with Uncil??

 

[blackhawk]

I use a Drill Doctor. It works really well and I have had it for years. I can't remember the model.

 

[Bill Clemmons]

I use a Drill Doctor. It works really well and I have had it for years. I can't remember the model.

Same as Brad. I usually save up until I have a bunch of bits to sharpen, then I sit at my bench and do them all at once.

 

[Mike Davis]

I learned to sharpen drill bits by hand on a bench grinder in Machinist school back in 1989.
It is so much faster and easier than using any jig or machines and you can customize bits for specific work.
I'd be open to teaching if anybody is interested.

 

[bob vaughan]

For metal drilling drill bit tips I did like Mike and used my bench grinder for many years. One day I ruined many hours of machine shop work with a badly sharpened bit. I bought a Darex M-5 and it is wonderful. If I pull out a brand new metal working drill bit, the first thing I do is to take it to the Darex for sharpening. New drill bits are unacceptably dull in comparison to what the Darex does.

Darex M-5

For small (3/4" to 3/16") wood boring bits, that's a totally different world due to the material. I mount a Norton A60OBNA2 1/32" wheel on my bench grinder and make wood boring bits out of metal cutting bits. A light and magnifying glass are very helpful.


The results in wood from a properly sharpened bit is amazing. The below shows some holes from a so-so sharpened bit. The sides of the hole are shredded more than I like. A little honing on the cutting spur cleans this up. The exit hole has little or no tear out.



Having wood boring bits makes a big difference and the only way I've found to get good performance is to make them myself. I've tried lots of so-called brad point bits from various makers over the years. Describing what I thought about the performance is something not fit to discuss on an open forum.


Here's some Harbor Freight bits I sharpened. My opinion is that it wasn't worth the time because of the bent shafts of so many of the bits.


Some of my drill bits. Most are metal cutting drills but on the top left are the wood boring bit sets.

For boring in wood, a cut off nail will worry a hole in wood. A lot depends on the precision your current woodworking project demands.

 

[bob vaughan]

I'll submit a PS
The Drill Doctor, originally a Darex product, is sort of an abbreviated M-5 sharpened. The Drill Doctor is specifically made to sharpen drill bits with a metal cutting tip rather than a wood cutting tip. Sure, a metal cutting bit will worry a hole through wood, but often the entrance and exit part of the hole needs to be a bit less shredded.

 

[Hmerkle]

+1 for a drill doctor. For metal (118 degree point)

But since most of us cannot afford (money and space) a Darex M-5 @Mike Davis offer to teach you to sharpen bits is a good one - it does take some practice and evaluation of the hole since the flutes MUST be equal or you will have problems in your drilling...

 

[bob vaughan]

+1 for a drill doctor. For metal (118 degree point)

But since most of us cannot afford (money and space) a Darex M-5 @Mike Davis offer to teach you to sharpen bits is a good one - it does take some practice and evaluation of the hole since the flutes MUST be equal or you will have problems in your drilling...

Unequal flutes is EXACTLY what got me. Not only was the hole slightly over sized but the deep hole I was drilling actually curved. If it was in wood, this probably wouldn't have been a big problem.

 

[Mike Davis]

Unequal flutes is EXACTLY what got me. Not only was the hole slightly over sized but the deep hole I was drilling actually curved. If it was in wood, this probably wouldn't have been a big problem.

That is one of the most important and hardest learning curves.

 

[tvrgeek]

Sold my drill doctor. Junk IMHO. Results looked great, but maybe 1 of 10 actually cut. Smaller than 1/4 I just toss. Buy in bulk. ( 1/8 of course) Larger you can do on a bench grinder. I have learned to only do split point now. Chisel point should join the dinosaurs.

Mikes offer for a class sounds like a great idea.

 

[Hmerkle]

Sold my drill doctor. Junk IMHO. Results looked great, but maybe 1 of 10 actually cut. Smaller than 1/4 I just toss. Buy in bulk. ( 1/8 of course) Larger you can do on a bench grinder. I have learned to only do split point now. Chisel point should join the dinosaurs.

Mikes offer for a class sounds like a great idea.

@tvrgeek it is disappointing that you had a bad experieced with the Drill Doctor I think it is one of the easiest and cheapest methods of getting the lands of the drill evenly ground. There is a method of grinding a split point, but I have not used mine that way, yet... agree that below 3/16" and maybe even 1/4" it is not worth regrinding drill bits..
I am curious, @Mike Davis are you offering a class to learn to grind split point drill bits? (I see that as a pretty complicated grind and would think the only (effective) way to re-sharpen that would be with a Darex M-5 or similar (read expensive) drill grinder.)

 

[Mike Davis]

I haven't hand ground split points, that was not part of the discussion until you brought it up.
I do sharpen bits below 1/8 inch.

Give me a little time to research and practice and I may be able to do the split bit.
We did practice thining the web of large bits which will need some work after being resharpened several times.

 

[tvrgeek]

Split point is just grinding closer to the point.
The higher end Drill Doctors claim to do split point. I had the base model.

Mike must see better than I if he can grind 1/8 inch!

 

[Hmerkle]

Split point is just grinding closer to the point.

no it isn't that drill geometry is very different - land grind back grind and the split grind - 3 surfaces to grind AND make near perfectly!

 

[tvrgeek]

Yea, but really just more aggressive relief. The back grind is not that critical.
Fortunately, even the Borg has been carrying more and more split point as well as Cobalt in the small sizes.

 

[Flute Maker]

Thanks all for the input. A class with Mike would be ideal but I have to go another rout for a while. I need to get my feet wet first experimenting. I am a newbie on drill bits… shouldn’t be but am..Plus a lot of pokers in the fire!!!

 

[Mike Davis]

Thanks all for the input.A class with Mike would be ideal but I have to go another rout for a while. I need to get my feet wet first experimenting…Plus a lot of pokers in the fire!!!

I can understand, it is 2 1/2 hours each way. If I travel to your place it is $250 for a 4 hour class. If you travel to my place it is $90 for six hour class.

 

[Dee2]

Mike needs to be on YouTube with a gazzilion followers so he can get advertising honorariums.
Let me know if, or when, you do a class and if you would be willing to have a video made. Any video editors out there?

 

[Mike Davis]

Mike needs to be on YouTube with a gazzilion followers so he can get advertising honorariums.
Let me know if, or when, you do a class and if you would be willing to have a video made. Any video editors out there?

Oh, please don't. I have a very grating and disjointed delivery and a face even a mother can't love.

I would be happy to help train a beautiful presenter for the vids.

 

[Dee2]

You could wear a mask.
We could mute the audio and provide close captioning - like silent movies. Or pretend you speak some alien language like Southern and write the captioning with a Mid-west accent.
There are a lot of mothers out there!
Train the trainer(s)? Great thought.

Enough, I know.
Let's talk at the Extravaganza.