Drill Bits

[skiracer]

So, how does everyone sharpen their bits?  Being that it is getting harder to find quality drill bits, I need a sharpen my growing collection of dull ones.

1976 250 MC5 Original Owner
1976 Penton 175 XC

[Toolsurfer]

As a toolmaker/machinist I was taught to use bench grinder with fine grit gray wheel for all except carbide and that required the green extremely fine wheel . Wheels have to be dressed to get a smooth cutting edge . I believe most require 59 degree included angle with back flute relieved . You can use a new bit as a reference . Hope this helps and with practice it get easier. William

[slvrbrdfxr]

Yes, there's nothing that makes a job easier and safer than using a good sharp drill bit or reamer. I've been working in commercial aviation for the last 35 years and our company literally goes through thousands of drill bits and reamers a week. At one time years ago, our company had a tooling/machinist department with 4-6 people that sharpened used bits and reamers all day every day. This undoubtedly saved our company a tidy sum of money over many years by having these specialists employed. They did a great job for us and I was always appreciative of their skill and quality of their finished product. Unfortunately, as it happens in life, the workforce in that particular department got older and started to retire. The company apparently did not see the value in their product however and never retrained new employees to backfill these positions and so this department eventually faded away and is now gone from our company. I guess management decided they would rather spend more money to buy new bits and reamers for us instead of repairing and reusing these tools. It's a shame that much of the world today has become so wasteful when it comes to managing resources like this. In my opinion, the tool&die and machinist trade is slowly becoming a lost art with automation taking over much of the work that was once accomplished by these highly skilled tradesmen. I certainly hope that sometime soon the industrial world will wake up and realize that a machine cannot replace a these valuable members of our workforce. Kudos to you William for keeping up the good work !

[skiracer]

Thanks William!

quote:Originally posted by Toolsurfer

As a toolmaker/machinist I was taught to use bench grinder with fine grit gray wheel for all except carbide and that required the green extremely fine wheel . Wheels have to be dressed to get a smooth cutting edge . I believe most require 59 degree included angle with back flute relieved . You can use a new bit as a reference . Hope this helps and with practice it get easier. William

1976 250 MC5 Original Owner
1976 Penton 175 XC

[Daniel P. McEntee]

I can sharpen a drill bit by hand and eye if I have a nice, flat grinding wheel to do it on and the bit isn't too far gone or broken. It's more or less just "dressing up" the original cutting surface. I can do this down to about 1/8" Below that I throw it away and get a new one. It's like anything else, it takes some practice also. At a few places I have worked, they had one of those Drill Doctor sharpening machines, and after some practice, those seem to work very well, especially on a broken bit where you need a whole new point. Beyond that, I am not aware of any other way.
   Type at you later,
  Dan McEntee

[skiracer]

Thanks Dan. So, when you use the grinding wheel, are you working on the face or side of the wheel?l

quote:Originally posted by Daniel P. McEntee

I can sharpen a drill bit by hand and eye if I have a nice, flat grinding wheel to do it on and the bit isn't too far gone or broken. It's more or less just "dressing up" the original cutting surface. I can do this down to about 1/8" Below that I throw it away and get a new one. It's like anything else, it takes some practice also. At a few places I have worked, they had one of those Drill Doctor sharpening machines, and after some practice, those seem to work very well, especially on a broken bit where you need a whole new point. Beyond that, I am not aware of any other way.
   Type at you later,
  Dan McEntee

1976 250 MC5 Original Owner
1976 Penton 175 XC

[Daniel P. McEntee]

Always work on the face of the wheel. I was taught to never side load a grinding wheel, that they are not designed to be used on t he side. If you have a decent pedestal grinder, and good quality wheel and a wheel dresser are worth having if you use your tools a lot. A typical set up is a coarse wheel on one side and a fine wheel on the other. Do not use them for aluminum or other soft non-ferrous metals. And of course, a good pair of safety glasses. You can buy a gauge just for checking the cutting edges of drill bits also that has the proper included angle that has already been mentioned. This is a good skill to have.
  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

[skiracer]

Thanks again Dan. That is the sep up I have. Now I just have to use it to its potential. Sharp bits, what a novel concept.......

quote:Originally posted by Daniel P. McEntee

Always work on the face of the wheel. I was taught to never side load a grinding wheel, that they are not designed to be used on t he side. If you have a decent pedestal grinder, and good quality wheel and a wheel dresser are worth having if you use your tools a lot. A typical set up is a coarse wheel on one side and a fine wheel on the other. Do not use them for aluminum or other soft non-ferrous metals. And of course, a good pair of safety glasses. You can buy a gauge just for checking the cutting edges of drill bits also that has the proper included angle that has already been mentioned. This is a good skill to have.
  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

1976 250 MC5 Original Owner
1976 Penton 175 XC

[Timothy Walls]

I was taught how to sharpen a drill by my Dad who worked as a cutter /grinder for FoMoCo . It's a skill thats easy to learn and sure comes in handy at the worst of times . You know when it's sharp if your getting long curly - q's comming off the metal your drilling . Just Google it .

Timothy Walls

[JP Morgen]

Start by holding the cutting edge flat against the grinding wheel, with a slight upward tilt to the drill, cutting edge is high end. Lightly grind with out moving bit, then tilt further and spin drill away from cutting edge at the same time, this motion grinds the clearance necessary for a drill to cut. Buy and use a drill guide to check the angles and even out the point. Hope that helps!

[Alan Mason]

I'm a retired machinist but still do some work in my garage machine shop. Good sharp drill bits are necessary to do good work. I bought one of these listed below and for not much money it works great. Needs to be mounted to your bench grinder and sharpens bits up to 3/4 inch. A little learning curve to using it, but does a great job. Much easier than sharpening by hand.
"General Tools 825 Grinding Attachment"