… by having over 25 dull, up to 1/2" in my tool box, is there a
electric drill bit, which actually works?
Like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZfW-hP4gLk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5yzpwH3ltY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e4RQpLYKsQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0SQkzScQk0
Does anyone have personal experience with “electric drill bit sharpeners”?
(What a waste by throwing drill bits away, which only need sharpening to fill their purpose
For general home use a sharpener can work. For heavy duty use, mechanic, commercial etc the cost to sharpen may not be worth it, buying a new bit might make sense. If you are not careful when sharpening, the bit can heat up and get soft, making it more difficult to cut through the material. My father in law worked for Ford many years ago and they did not waste time sharpening dull bits, they tossed them. I still have a bunch, some are OK some not worth my time to sharpen. Depends on how much your time is worth.
I’ve never had much luck with an electric sharpener. I sharpen all of my bits with 2 hands and a bench grinder. Takes a little practice and you have to hold your mouth right…
I used one for many years and it sharpened dozens of drill bits. I wish I could remember the name of the tool. It might have been an older Dremel but I can’t be sure. It sharpened them better than new.
I’ve just sharpened them by hand on the grinder. Watched a youtube on it by tubalcain. The only ones I bother with are the large ones. For $20 at Harbor Freight I got a whole index from small to large. I don’t know how good they are but so far seem to be fine. Broke one already though. I’ve probably got a hundred old bits that I should just throw away. Otherwise I think the Drill Dr is what most folks seem to use if you have to have one.
The HF titanium bits will drill through pine.
I have an electric drill sharpener. Drill Doctor, I think its called. Bought many moons ago from Sears. It is a bit fiddly to use but it does make a good drill point. It has kept many a bit sharp around my shop.
I’ve sharpened them by hand on a bench grinder, too Like @ok4450 said, you gotta hold your mouth just right! There is a groove in the tool-rest with the right angle for that purpose.
At work we had a fixture for the grinder that would sharpen bits. That was as easy to use as the Drill Doctor.
I have an electric bit sharpener, a bench grinder sharpener attachment and a bench grinder slotted guide angled for high speed bits which is the only one I ever use anymore. Smaller bits get ground up too quickly using any of the special tools and I can do a much better job on 3/8" and larger bits watching closely and keeping the bit cool by dipping it in water. And even without the guide I can get bits sharp on the bench grinder quicker and with greater success than the special tools. 1/4", 1/8" and 1/16" bits I just toss and replace.
In the 1980’s Paul Harvey would advertise every day as part of his radio program during my lunch hour for drill doctor. What was that program called, The Rest of the Story ? It was a fun-listen whatever it was called, admittedly a little biased, but who isn’t. I never bought one of those drill doctors, even though his sales pitch was really smooth. I discovered I could do a pretty good job at sharpening drill bits using nothing but sandpaper and a flat surface believe it or not. I use a piece of thick plate-glass for the flat surface, lay the sand paper on it, and holding the drill bit in my hand start with something like 180 grit Al O2 sandpaper, working my way toward 320 grit. I mark the sharpening part of the bit with a black Sharpie pen, and watch to make sure the black is disappearing evenly, so I know I’ve got the sharpening angle correct. I sometimes touch it up with a knife sharpening stone, Arkansas stone think. I’d have never thought this would work, but I tried it, and it works pretty well actually. The downside is it is somewhat time consuming. But I only have to sharpen drill bits once or twice a years, so not a problem from my perspective. If you just have a few bits to sharpen, definitely should be considered for a diy’er. In a pinch this can be done with only sandpaper, no flat surface, but that method needs some practice.
1st job was dong time studies at large factory machine shop. setup sheet said to drill 30 holes that were 7/8" dia and 13" deep in 100 parts. setup sheet said drill at xx rpm and xx feed. foreman would come to me at end and say they needed more time. i would look at their job sheet and they were running at 1/2 feed rate times 3000 holes. duh. no wonder. we did not throw away 1" and larger drill bits when they got dull
foreman and i got along fine after he started to read my instructions
I’ve been using hardened drill bits for years, they last a lot longer, but can’t be successfully resharpened.