Sharpening drills

I have been sharpening drills mainly by hand usually ok since I was an apprentice F&T in the 1960s. However in recent years my eyesight had deteriated and some drills I sharpen do not turn out as good as desired. After reading about this subject on the Metalwork forum I decided to investigate some types of usually Chinese made drill sharpeners. The Metalwork forum poster obtained from Alibaba a  "MR13 drillbit grinder, there are 3 variants of it, the G has all features". The MR13A is the basic machine suitable for drill bits from 3mm to 13mm size with a standard profile. The one on the metalwork forum was a 13D able to do 4 facet and split point grinds.
These machines are available from eBay, Aliexpress, Amazon etc. Possiblly made by only one or a few manufacturers but available from many resellers probably rebranded. I bought a model 13A from Amazon AU which arrived this quickly this week and which I used for the first time yesterday. Sharpened a selection of drills from approx 7mm to 13mm in inch and mm sizes. After reading the manual I managed to sharpen the first couple but then it became faster as I knew what to do. All drills look satisfactory and I will attach some photos to this post. The machine cost $410 including free delivery using Amazon Prime. There are models able to sharpen drills up to 20mm size. Other models are dearer than my 13A model.            Sorry I seem to have duplicated the photos somehow.

That's a informative write up. That machine does a nice job. 

I've tried a few methods. Free Hand for me is hit and miss,  I seem to have more success with the 4 facet style of grind. 

I have a Indian made Addison Tool & Cutter grinder with the drill sharpening fixture but the workhead isnt great quality ,  Ive been thinking of buying a ER style chuck and adapting it to fit the workhead. 

I find cheap drills at swap meets, if they are $2 each it's worth it. Sometimes they have a Morse Taper Shank so nobody wants them.  The Asian made drills vary in quality, the Aldi ones are terrible but some other Chinese  brands hold up surprisingly well. 

P&N or Sutton or whatever it's called have a drill making factory in N.Z. there's a utube video tour of the old factory and some of the process was still done by hand . The old 1940s era building burnt down and they then built a new modern facility.  



This is the old factory before it burnt down






 

I bought a "Drill Doctor" about 10 years ago from Trade Tools. They seem to be the local industry standard carried by Total Tools, Sydney Tools etc. The beauty is they also carry   replacement grinding wheels

Unlike a lot of skilled blokes on the forum I am self taught so my results are often hit and miss but this unit makes sharp drills for me every time. Mine is just the cheapest one below and has done hundreds of drills.

Shot of the current Total Tools web site.

 

This guy has lots of good utube videos. This one is a wake up for us all ! 

Some good ideas but probably not a solution for every day operations which involve going to the drill with all shapes and sizes of material for a quick hole in works in progress. You would have to be more patient than me to set up for the specific job every time.

I thought that is what a drill vice was supposed to do. If it does not fit the vice I use vice-grips. Lots of cuts, including stitches, tell me I am an impatient idiot and now very, very wary of holding any material likely to spin and chop my hand.

I will try to remember to get a picture of the Bosch drill bit grinder tomorrow. It attaches to a drill n sharpens 1/8" - 3/8" or 1/2"

Here we go, similar to this one 
   

I have a mate with one of these. He operates it well and makes perfect drills every time but it relies on the magic touch to get the right back slope on the tip. Square cuts are crude but can work in many cases if you just shove it in. If you just twist with even pressure as you are grinding, the resulting back of the slope can hold the cutting edge off the work. I found all this out while helping him and using his Bosch tool.

The Drill Doctor and similar fancy machines not only give the correct angle they move in and out as you are turning to give the correct back face from the cutting edge. Any ham-fisted operator like me can do A1 work.

All very interesting stuff, I'm certainly no expert and have very good days at drill sharpening and then some times I feel I make it even worse than were I started

Angle I hold the drill
The speed I twist the drill
And counting to make sure each side has the same amount removed

All these things help

Paul

I sharpened the boat guys drills , he wasnt used to sharp drills ,they grabbed ,so I had to blunt them again .....he was in the unit next to me at Oxley ..........nearly every day he would drill into his hand ........one time he drilled into his leg and the drill wouldnt come out ......he wouldnt call the ambulance for fear they would cut the new fibreglass hull he was working on., so I cut the drill off with a disc wheel.

I have one of these but haven't tried it out yet. These are a old 1950s design , but they are still in production. There are a few variations with these, they look the same but depending on how old it is, they changed the pivot angle of the stem a few degrees. 

They are fiddly to set up , patience is needed. 

Some use the side of the wheel but that method is deemed to be hazardous as it stresses the wheel . 

www.instructables.com/Sharpen-Your-Drill-Bits/