Do drill bit sharpeners work?

Drill bit sharpeners - fact or fiction? I have huge piles of dull bits. It seems like somewhere I picked up the idea that they're a gimmick. What say you?

i sharpen mine on a small upright belt sander...i had an OLD machinist teach me how. works like brand new!

I use a grinding wheel. I think it works as good as a sharpener like Drill Doctor, but more robust and reliable.

Drill doctors do work well....Sort of.

I have worked with old timer machinists who have been hand sharpening for 40-50 years and a Drill doctor is more consistent than they are. I don't mean that their bits aren't sharp. They are and they cut like crazy but a drill doctored bit cuts a more accurately sized hole almost every time. If you have a precision ground 1/4" roll pin, take a well hand sharpened 1/4" bit and a drill doctor sharpened 1/4" bit and you will see the difference. The doctored bit hole will have a tighter tolerance fit.

And by sort of what I mean is that after 4 drill doctors I sort of have a problem with them. Perhaps I forgot how to use them but they sharpen up to 3/8" with perfection but as the bits get larger They start getting ground with negative relief and simply won't cut. I can't figure out why. They didn't always do this.

I've used a Drill Doctor at work a few times. As Ditchdigger said, it works well for smaller bits, but as the drill gets bigger relative to the grinding wheel the effectiveness decreases.

Bob

I teach highschool metalwork.

I had a drill doctor. I find it a bit too time consuming. I, too, noticed the reduced accuracy of the Drill Doctor on larger bits - annoying.

I sharpen about 5 to 10 drill bits every day for students - I use a grinding wheel and can sharpen them lickity-split. They may not be "perfect," but they work for the accuracy that my students can muster (we use 3/16" roll pins in one project - man, I've sharpened a lot of 3/16" bits).

We've got one at work.

I use the grinder.

If you can't sharpen drills, they work great.

If you know how to sharpen bits, the drill doctor sucks.

Shawn

I can sharpen bits by hand. Learned to do it years ago.

I've had various sharpeners and jigs for sharpening bits as well. Overall, I've never been impressed by them.

Then I got a drill doctor. Wonderful tool. Read the manual and you will not use it right. Watch the video and then you will. I got the one with the large bit attachment so I can grind my 3/4" bits, does it just fine. Only when I get down into the 1/16 bits or so do I start really having trouble sharpening them with the drill doctor.

I have nothing to add except that I have a pile of dull HSS bits in the .128 to 5/16ths range and need to know whether I'm throwing them out or dropping $40 on a drill doctor.

I can sharpen them by hand, until they get small enough I can't see the faces anymore...those that I can't sharpen seem to be getting bigger every year.

The Harbor Freight drill sharpener is just as good as the drill Dr. I use it for up to 1/4" and hand sharpen the rest including all sizes of plexiglass drill bits.

GPS, if you're really contemplating the DD, look at this page and consider the various features of the various models, as well the accessories.

http://www.drilldoctor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=159&Itemid=15

I've got the 500, I think. But it might be the old 750. I also have the 3/4" chuck, as well the left hand chuck.

I absolutely could not learn to work it right reading the manual. Only by watching the video did I figure it out.

I hardly ever use the big chuck, and I don't think I've ever used the left hand chuck.

It's done fine at dressing dull bits, and even setting a whole new face on broken bits. Some day I'll have to replace the wheel I suppose, but it's been years now and its still going strong.

Somewhere down below 1/4" things start getting difficult to set. It can be done, just right fiddly. Reading glasses probably would help.

I do not regret having bought it. Not at all.

I have a Drill Doctor. It works well for me. It was a bill, which buys a lot of drill bits, but the time it saves when you need to cut a hole in a chunk of stainless and all your bits in that size are dull makes up for it. I got the large bit chuck for it as well. I didn't know they made a left hand one. I only have a few left hand bits, used only for taking out busted stuff. A little dull probably helps there.

I have a dril dr and it works great but like said above kind of time consuming.. after using it for a few years and seeing how it grinds the bits, I have started to do it on my grind wheel a lot faster..

Dr. Hess wrote: I have a Drill Doctor. It works well for me. It was a bill, which buys a lot of drill bits, but the time it saves when you need to cut a hole in a chunk of stainless and all your bits in that size are dull makes up for it.

As long as it works - considering they are not too much money to have sitting around and can save me from having to drive 20 miles round trip to get a drill in the middle of a job... sold.

My dad has one, and he loves it!

Joey

I've got a Drill Doctor, used it every six months or so. Works well.

Sometimes.

I have a Drill Doctor. Don't use it too often.

I can do it (well) with a belt sander, a bench grinder, or a portable grinder.

But I usually do it with a file. Bastard. Nothing personal.

I've gotten a generic version that works well. They don't seem to stay as sharp as long after sharpening though.

My buddy is a carpenter. He goes thru a lot of drill bits. I recomended a drill doctor. I work in a die shop. I sharpen them by hand. The key if you need accuracy is to use a 6" scale (Starrett or General brand are easy to find) and make flutes even. You can also get a drill gage. The gage can be used for different drill point angles. (If you try to drill plex with a 118 deg. angle it will blow out). You can also learn to make sheetmetal drills. If you are not sure look at new drill bits & copy.

In reply to SVreX: I would like to see someone sharpen with a file !

Umm, well ok:

Sharpening a drill bit with a file

Same concept, but a twist drill is a lot easier than an auger bit.

You understand, don't you that drill bits existed in the average person's toolbox long before power tools did, right?

I used to work as a timber framer. I have a full compliment of rather significant hand joinery tools (like a 2' long slick (chisel) for mortising large timbers). Nothing quite as fun as cutting a large timber joined truss with mortise and tenon joints held together entirely with pegs and joinery cut only with hand tools.

I'll try to upload a few pics of some of my timber work. It's all from my pre-internet days.

Im not a lumberjack...But I think Im ok... I see your application, but that wouldnt work with hardened drill bits. On a kinda related note, I was watching Mike Hukabee show and he was interviewing his wife. Subject; Habitat For Humanity, She helps build houses. Kinda neet.

Like one of the other guys above, I sharpen drill bits on a bench grinder for my students almost every day (I teach in a community college MET program).

I try to get the kids to do it: some are better than others. A drill gauge helps. We have a Drill Doctor too, but I'm usually too impatient to mess with it.

I use a belt sander at home to do this. A hand stone can be useful too.

redrabbit wrote: Im not a lumberjack...But I think Im ok... I see your application, but that wouldnt work with hardened drill bits. On a kinda related note, I was watching Mike Hukabee show and he was interviewing his wife. Subject; Habitat For Humanity, She helps build houses. Kinda neet.

If you say so. I do it all the time, but I guess it doesn't work.

I spent 10 years with HfH. Deeply loved what it was. Not too impressed with what it has become.