[slashmaster]

I know you're supposed to resharpen large drill bits and throw away small ones but not sure exactly where the boundary is between throwing away and keeping. Also what's a good drill sharpener to get? Are there ones you can attach to a benchtop grinder?

[Starleper1]

I sharpen all my drills by hand but my personal cut off is .250" Anything under that is just a waste of time because they are so cheap. Plus, it becomes very hard to visually see the cutting edge.

~Scott

[neilw20]

0.4mm solid carbide by hand.
How.....

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/toolgr...sharpener.html

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/polls/...s_hand-19.html

[alex781]

I bought a jig like this once for 5 bucks, works down to 1/4" easily and probably a bit less if I had any smaller. Sharpen Your Drill Bits

[TXFred]

I'll try to resharpen any drill bit, no matter how small.

I may not succeed, but I'll try!

[christinandavid]

I sharpen all my drills by hand but my personal cut off is .250" ~Scott

Surely you wouldn't deny a poor old beat-up 6.3mm drill a second chance to shine?

DP

[arizonavideo]

I asked for a Drill Doctor for Fathers Day.

Nice tool.

I sharpened 40 bits the first few days just learning the thing. Easy to use after a few.

They have a nice diamond cutting wheel that works great.

[mwood3]

Surely you wouldn't deny a poor old beat-up 6.3mm drill a second chance to shine?

DP

lol, not a 6.35mm...but a 6.3mm junk pile

[slashmaster]

I asked for a Drill Doctor for Fathers Day.

Nice tool.

I sharpened 40 bits the first few days just learning the thing. Easy to use after a few.

They have a nice diamond cutting wheel that works great.

Is this the cheap kind where you have to keep pulling the bit out to see if the tip of the drill is in the center? Or is it like the one alex781 was talking about? I use to have something close to this Sharpening Systems - Plasplugs it would get it nice and sharp but the tip would almost always be off center.

[christinandavid]

Anyone else down to their last few useful drill bits from their original full set?

You get to the stage where you deliberately grind them off-centre to achieve the desired hole size...that's a situation where a drill doctor may actually prove useful...

DP

[slashmaster]

Anyone else down to their last few useful drill bits from their original full set?

You get to the stage where you deliberately grind them off-centre to achieve the desired hole size...that's a situation where a drill doctor may actually prove useful...

DP

That's funny! I'm wondering if I can try that sometime when I need a hole size in between 2 drill sizes I have. Like if I want to make something with an interference fit.

[christinandavid]

I wonder which is more difficult - learning to grind a drill to cut size 'first time', or offsetting it and getting that cutting the desired size 'first time'.

Probably the latter - once a hole has been started, whatever you do to the drill it will only then follow or cut smaller...so you may have a nasty surprise on the next hole...

DP

[arizonavideo]

They have three different Drill doctor's. I have the 750X and it has worked fine. The chuck is plastic and I would expect some runout compared to some kid of a collet system but for higher precision holes I use a new bit if I can.

A link

DRILL DOCTOR MODEL 500X

The lower end products do look like the may have more problems judging by the sales pitch of the 750.

Hand sharping drill bits is a skill that I never master completely. The grinding stone needs to be fairly flat so you need a dresser and for smaller bits I just never got them right most the time.

Some bits I have had for 20 years and now they cut like new.

Great Fathers day gift.

[RomanLini]

I do them by hand down to PCB drills 1mm and 0.8mm (which I usually make a mess of, but they are "sharper" and keep cutting).

With small stuff 3mm and under I have a little 3 jaw chuck and hold them in that, it makes it a TON easier being able to hold a 25mm knurled chuck (and set angles and turn 180' etc) than to try to hold and turn a tiny drill bit.