Drill bit sharpening

deereman75 · May 13, 2012

You may remember many months ago, I asked about sharpening drill bits on a grinder, and I said I had someone to teach me. Well I never did get around to talking to him, but I had watched a few videos. Yesterday, I decided to grab a dull bit, and try sharpening it on the new grinder. All I can say is wow. It cut steel like a new bit.

I have since gone through my assorted dull dormers, some old post drill bits, and a bunch of morse taper bits, sharpened them, and they all cut aluminum like butter. I am for the first time getting curly shavings with a hand drill. It is so easy to do, and takes so little practice, I am shocked more people dont do this. After learning it in 1 bit, I cant believe those drill doctors sell at all. Now I cant wait to set up a bit only grinder. :drool:

vwnotrunning · May 13, 2012

As we get older - reflexes and eyesight may not be sufficient to hand sharpen drill bits. I used to be able to hand sharpen them, but lack of practice and father time has me looking for the drill doctor!

deereman75 · May 13, 2012

vwnotrunning said:
As we get older - reflexes and eyesight may not be sufficient to hand sharpen drill bits. I used to be able to hand sharpen them, but lack of practice and father time has me looking for the drill doctor!

OK now that makes sence. I guess you also get shakey when you get old, and that would not help either. I think I still have another 50+ years before that starts.

Steave · May 13, 2012

You'd be surprised how many folks don't resharpen their bits. I have lots of bits I've picked up over the years while on construction jobs. They are laying everywhere, some broke but most just a little dull. I have one box that is dedicated for 1/4" bits only. I have since retired and give them away whenever a family member or neighbor needs one.

I resharpen them by hand also. If they are chipped or burnt I grind that part down while keeping the bit cool as possible in the process. If they just need touching up I do that on a small belt sander using fine 320 grit.
Most of the time it only takes a few seconds on each side then I touch off the heel a bit.

We used auger bits also but we sharpen them with a file carefully as to not mess up the screw.

When or if I have to buy a bit its always a good carbide bit. They just do so much better and last longer that a high speed steel (HSS) bit and not to much price difference and you can sharpen them the same way.

Good luck on your resharpening, not all of them will be successful.

deereman75 · May 13, 2012

Steave said:
You'd be surprised how many folks don't resharpen their bits. I have lots of bits I've picked up over the years while on construction jobs. They are laying everywhere, some broke but most just a little dull. I have one box that is dedicated for 1/4" bits only. I have since retired and give them away whenever a family member or neighbor needs one.

I resharpen them by hand also. If they are chipped or burnt I grind that part down while keeping the bit cool as possible in the process. If they just need touching up I do that on a small belt sander using fine 320 grit.
Most of the time it only takes a few seconds on each side then I touch off the heel a bit.

We used auger bits also but we sharpen them with a file carefully as to not mess up the screw.

When or if I have to buy a bit its always a good carbide bit. They just do so much better and last longer that a high speed steel (HSS) bit and not to much price difference and you can sharpen them the same way.

Good luck on your resharpening, not all of them will be successful.

When you said carbide, did you mean titanium? Those last longer, and cost the same. Carbides cost about 10x the price, and a grinder wont sharpen them. Also, what do you mean by grind the heal, havnt heard of that?

Jesse masterson · May 13, 2012

Were did you learn to sharpen on a grinder I heard it could be done I tried it it was a miserable failure

kenmac · May 13, 2012

I worked in a machine shop 1 summer as a young Lad. 1st thing I learned was, how to sharpen a drill bit

bcp · May 13, 2012

Three methods:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GID_kRsWnZk]Drill Bit Sharpening - YouTube[/ame]

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

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW7kGFcM2sc]How to Sharpen Tools : Sharpening a Drill Bit - YouTube[/ame]

More videos are on Youtube.

Bruce

Jesse masterson · May 13, 2012

Thanks Brice I'll check it out , will save me lots of bucks if I can master it

Steave · May 13, 2012

deereman75 said:
When you said carbide, did you mean titanium? Those last longer, and cost the same. Carbides cost about 10x the price, and a grinder wont sharpen them. Also, what do you mean by grind the heal, havnt heard of that?

You are correct except for the titanium part. I should have said Cobalt instead of Carbide. You can get the cobalt with a titanium coating but I get the uncoated or Bright bits.

On the heel I was referring to probably should have been called the landing. This is the area behind the cutting edge. On a lot of bits you'll see this area cut down slightly to keep the bit from binding.

I probably didn't describe it very well and neither does this paragraph below I got from Bosch tutorial describing different parts of a bit:

Minor cutting edge (land, heel): The flutes are equipped with two heels. They are very sharp and contribute additional cutting work on the side walls of the drilled hole. The quality of the wall around the drilled hole depends largely on their structure. Drill bits for wood sometimes come without any heels. This improves drill bit guidance.

Yes you can sharpen the Cobalt bit same as HSS they are just harder steel.

Carbide tipped bits are what we used for masonary drilling with a hammer drill.