Drill Bit Sharpener?

[Agrantina]

Tired of going thru drill bits left and right is there a good drill bit sharper out there. What about this Drill Dr.? any suggestions

AndyG

 

[Ductape]

Do a search on here for a good thread on them. I have the Drill Dr. 750 which sharpens up to a 3/4 inch bit. I love mine...... finally got two full sets of drill bits !

 

[crazyal]

I have the Drill Dr that does up to 3/4" bits (750 I think). It works well for larger bits but I haven't had much luck with smaller ones. My take on it is if you have lots of larger bits, over 1/4" and use them on a semi regular basis then it's worth it. If you have a good eye and don't mind them not looking perfect you can use a grinder and save some money.

I have a number of bits that had been sharpened by hand and I just got tired of each time they needed to be touched up I would grind them and each time they would further loose the original shape. When I got the sharpener I spent lots of time getting them back to the correct angle and removing the chips from the cutting edge. Having done that I would suggest it would be better to get the course grinding wheel to get them close.

I have sharpened at least 100 bits and I'm still using the original grinding wheel, a number of them needed a lot of grinding. The biggest problem I had was not tightening the bits tight enough and they would rotate a little in the chuck and instead of sharpening them you would actually grind the edge off the bit making them dull as ****.

Now any time I need to do any drilling I spend a minute or two to touch the bit(s) up. Over all I'm glad I bought it.

 

[Deano]

Drill Doctor here. I LOVE mine. Borrowed my brothers for a couple of months, then, went and bought my own when he took his back.
I have sharpened smaller than 1/4" with no issues.

Deano

 

[grnspot110]

I use a 1" wide belt sander, doesn't heat the bit like a grindstone! ~~ grnspot110

 

[big bubba]

what's the correlation between a drill bit sharpener and Kubota owning & operating? would it not be better placed in a machinist/tool thread? hope you find what you're looking for...drilling into wood or metal? the angles will differ. good luck bb

 

[Rob-D]

Tired of going thru drill bits left and right is there a good drill bit sharper out there. What about this Drill Dr.? any suggestions

AndyG

I have a Darex I got at auction. Not cheap new but excellent down to small bits.

Rob

 

[Casco1]

what's the correlation between a drill bit sharpener and Kubota owning & operating? would it not be better placed in a machinist/tool thread? hope you find what you're looking for...drilling into wood or metal? the angles will differ. good luck bb

The holes are going to be drilled in a Kubota

 

[Tollster]

I love my drill doctor, granted I prolly do not use it as often now that I have a press, but when I need a sharp bit, it goes to the doc!

 

[crazyal]

I have a Darex I got at auction. Not cheap new but excellent down to small bits.

Rob

Nice find. They look nice in the pictures but I've never seen one and they are way too expensive unless you run a professional service.

It would be nice if we had a dedicated section just for tools on TBN.

 

[Kernopelli]

You can do it by hand on a grinder. I'll admit it takes some practice but between a buddy and my step Dad, they shamed me into figuring it out. I also have the old style sharpener that swings the bit at an angle across the side of a grinder wheel....very basic but very effective. You can put a factory point on a bit every time fairly quickly. I got mine from Harbor Freight but I don't see them on their website now. Sears carries one just like it though. http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...alogId=12605&expCheckout=&orderEmail=&langId=

On edit....this got me in the mood so I went out and sharpened some bits. I have to say the by hand/ grinder method does take technique but the sharpener that I posted is super easy and exact...albeit a little crude compared to the power sharpeners. While I was out there my son was working on the metal lathe and needed a bit sharpened to center drill a 2" deep hole in some fairly hard bar stock and the Sears type sharpener produced a perfectly "new" bit in less than 60 seconds start to finish. I gotta say, for a man on a budget, that thing is hard to beat.

 

[Agrantina]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Sorry for posting on Kubota ops forum, but its something for the Kubota I thought to put it here? I am lazy and I have made a hitch moving trailers and I needed to drill some exact holes and didn't want to plasma cut them and dang if I could not find a sharp bit out of the entire bunch I had Want to make an arm to latch the trailer hitch to the ball WITHOUT getting off the tractor

AndyG

 

[czechsonofagun]

You can do it by hand on a grinder. I'll admit it takes some practice but between a buddy and my step Dad, they shamed me into figuring it out..

I went the same way, got a priced to sell Dr. at Home Depot, but it goes only to 1/2".

Some of my bits are bigger, even 1" and one day I just got pi ...er... excited while drilling something like 3/4" hole in steel and it would not drill. I just took the time and worked it out on a grinder and now I can do them by hand if I have to. Skill is always better than a jig:thumbsup:

 

[ovrszd]

I also have the old style sharpener that swings the bit at an angle across the side of a grinder wheel....very basic but very effective. You can put a factory point on a bit every time fairly quickly. I got mine from Harbor Freight but I don't see them on their website now. Sears carries one just like it though. http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...alogId=12605&expCheckout=&orderEmail=&langId=

While I was out there my son was working on the metal lathe and needed a bit sharpened to center drill a 2" deep hole in some fairly hard bar stock and the Sears type sharpener produced a perfectly "new" bit in less than 60 seconds start to finish. I gotta say, for a man on a budget, that thing is hard to beat.

I'm with ya. I've got this sharpener and it works great!!! My wife bought it for me for Christmas. I must say she did good or was very lucky because she knows nothing about shop tools.

 

[actionaj]

I have had a Drill Doctor for several years now. It makes old drill bits new again does a fine job. I wouldn't be with out one. :thumbsup:

 

[bigdad]

I've had a Drill Dr. for about five years and wish that I would have had it thirty years ago!
I bought the 3/4 chuck later. I little tip would be to keep the bits "tuned up" right after use. As soon as you give a bit a good workout, hit it with the Dr.

 

[wdchyd]

Drill Doctor is great as friends give you their old junky drill bits instead of throwing them out.....:thumbsup:

 

[crazyal]

Drill Doctor is great as friends give you their old junky drill bits instead of throwing them out.....:thumbsup:

Don't forget work. I've just got 3 coffee cans full of bits deemed too dull to use that range from 1/4" to 1". Good old American made ones.