Dull Drill Bits !!

[GeorgeS]

OK, we all have lots of Chewed up, dull Drill bits!! ----And, New, good ones are expensive !!

 

I have an " old model " Drill Doctor drill bit sharpener, bought about 10 years ago on

E-Bay. It works, to a degree, but I never had much luck doing a good job of sharpening chewed up, old bits. It makes them " Look Good " but they just don't work like a "New, Expensive drill bit"

.

I have lots of High Quality, Cobalt Bits, and they were ALL DULL!!!

 

This week I bought a New Model, " Drill Doctor " Much Improved in design from the Older one I have. ( $78.00 plus tax at Lowes )

 

Long story short --- This thing Works !!!!!!!!! The OLD MODEL, did not !!

 

Over the last two days, I sharpened about 150 of my Old, Chewed Up, drill bits, of all size's, and they NOW WORK !!

 

If you have the old model, Drill Doctor, and were not happy with it, try the New Model!!

At this point, I use the old one to get a Bit, looking good, and then run it thru the NEW Unit, and WA LA, !! Cuts thru steel like butter !!

 

If you buy one--- Be sure to read the Instruction's that came with it !! ( Then read them again !! ) :cool10: :)

 

P.S. Practice, makes perfect !! in this case ----

Edited November 9, 2013 by GeorgeS

[Eck]

I should do something like this too. I bet I have 200 drill bits and every time I need one it is dull as heck or the tip is broken or chipped.

I used to sharpen drill bits on an old stone bench grinder years ago.. I wish I had a good bench grinder now.

[SilvrT]

I've had a Drill Doctor for appx 5 yrs. This one ---- > http://reviews.canadiantire.ca/9045/0542741P/drill-doctor-drill-doctor-bit-sharpener-reviews/reviews.htm

 

Is the one you have different? (I see there are a few different models)

 

Mine seems to work fairly well.

[GeorgeS]

I've had a Drill Doctor for appx 5 yrs. This one ---- > http://reviews.canadiantire.ca/9045/0542741P/drill-doctor-drill-doctor-bit-sharpener-reviews/reviews.htm

 

Is the one you have different? (I see there are a few different models)

 

Mine seems to work fairly well.

 

That one is " newer " then my " OLD ONE "

 

I found that on " Bad Bits " you need to run them thru the complete process 2 or 3

times, ie: repeat the " Alignment " more then once.

 

I have also been useing the Maximum ( + ) " Relief " setting.

 

Some folks, can sharpen them on a simple grinding wheel, but I never could get them correct with that simple method.

Anyway, I'm a happy camper now !!!

[Flyinfool]

The trick is to never let the bits get that bad. As soon as I notice the first sigh of dulling I either grab another bit or go to the grinder to tough it up. when the job is done I sharpen all of the used bits so they are ready for next time.

 

Letting the bit get very dull will cause heat, heat can take the temper out of the tip of the bit. Once the temper is gone, no amount of sharpening with any type of sharpener will get it to cut well again.

[Eck]

The trick is to never let the bits get that bad. As soon as I notice the first sigh of dulling I either grab another bit or go to the grinder to tough it up. when the job is done I sharpen all of the used bits so they are ready for next time.

 

 

If one has a bench grinder to do this, but as I stated in my case, I do not have a bench grinder but sure wish I did, so I have no other option at the time I am drilling but to just grab another bit....

[Yammer Dan]

The trick is to never let the bits get that bad. As soon as I notice the first sigh of dulling I either grab another bit or go to the grinder to tough it up. when the job is done I sharpen all of the used bits so they are ready for next time.

 

 

If one has a bench grinder to do this, but as I stated in my case, I do not have a bench grinder but sure wish I did, so I have no other option at the time I am drilling but to just grab another bit....

 

Harbor Freight has a pretty fair grinder. I've used mine quite a bit. Had it for 10 yrs or better.

[Marcarl]

Some year ago I bought what looked like the cat's meow, paid like $60 for it and it's supposed to sharpen everything, all kinds of do-gadets with it and it looked impressive. Sometimes I could get decent results, sometimes not so good, so I went on line and watched some videos,,,,, along with a bunch of other videos that weren't on the schedule. As usual, it only took about 2 hours to see the video that I was looking for and in the end I learned a lot about other things that I had never even thought of before.

What I do now is to sharpen all my twist bit on my bench grinder. Couple of things to keep in mind: Angle must be at 60 degrees, and 30 degrees up, flue must be at the top of the bit as it's sharpened, use only very light strokes with an upwards movement, and most important is to never let the end of the bit get hot, so lightly does it. When I get in a hurry, and take off too much the results are lousy, because I got the very end of the bit too hot.

Just my thoughts.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkDe8IatSw0]Sharpening drill bits - YouTube[/ame]

[Eck]

 

Harbor Freight has a pretty fair grinder. I've used mine quite a bit. Had it for 10 yrs or better.

Thanks Dan,

I have seen the HF grinders before but I just never bought one. Figure why buy one now for I wont be drilling (or grinding) many things over the next 10 years anyway.....

 

I'll be darned if I'm buying one just so the kids can fight over it when I'm gone.

[Phoneman1981]

I learned how to sharpen drill bits on a bench grinder when I was in FFA during my highschool years. I still occasionally use that skill from many years ago. Thanks for the info on the new device.

[Yammer Dan]

I had forgotten what carl said. Slow and easy or you take the temper out of the metal and it won't cut.

[SilvrT]

I had forgotten what carl said. Slow and easy or you take the temper out of the metal and it won't cut.

 

heh ... now I understand why I was having such a tough time drilling out the CATs in my header pipes ... the bits were red hot! LOL

[saddlebum]

I have been sharpening drill bits free hand my hole life. I agree it takes a certian knack but wants you got it down I see no reason to use a drill Dr. or equivalent. At work guys tend to leave them on my tool box for me to do up in my spare time. Big thing is not to overheat the drill both when sharpening or when drilling. One of my favourite cutting oils is believe it or not WD40. I was drilling tool steel one day when I ran out of Kool tool. Out of desparation I grabbed a can of WD40 and darn didn't it work better than the more expensive Kool Tool. To the point were I was drill faster and stopping less often to resharpen my bit, Go Figure.

[Marcarl]

I have been sharpening drill bits free hand my hole life. I agree it takes a certian knack but wants you got it down I see no reason to use a drill Dr. or equivalent. At work guys tend to leave them on my tool box for me to do up in my spare time. Big thing is not to overheat the drill both when sharpening or when drilling. One of my favourite cutting oils is believe it or not WD40. I was drilling tool steel one day when I ran out of Kool tool. Out of desparation I grabbed a can of WD40 and darn didn't it work better than the more expensive Kool Tool. To the point were I was drill faster and stopping less often to resharpen my bit, Go Figure.

I do think this needs some editing, or is that the Mods job?

[rickardracing]

I am an old school toolmaker. I do all of mine on a bench/pedastal grinder.

[saddlebum]

I do think this needs some editing, or is that the Mods job?

 

OK ,1st I never claimed to be a typist, and second I blame the keyboard, sometimes it gets dyslexic. But to keep from overworking the Mods I edited it. Happy Now