cheap carbide drill bits and sharpening them

[jbunny]

my tip of the weak. the cheap concrete carbide drill bits when properly sharpened
will drill through files, bearings, planer blades ,hard knifes, ect. i use the drill doctor
machine. i set up for sharpening a reg 3/8 drill bit, then i cut a notch in the drill
holder for a refferance for sharpening masonary drill bits as can be seen in the pic.
use mild steel backing plate behind the hard material u are drilling to stop breakage
of the bit when u are commeing through the hard material. the split point is a must.
do not buy the drill doctor that can't do split points. u can grind the sides of these
bits to to get precise hole sizes.
jb
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q273/MOUICH/carbidedrillbits.jpg

[Charlie Sometimes]

And to think that I've just been throwing them away when they wouldn't drill concrete anymore!

I think my Drill Dr will do the split points.
I have to check- it's been a while since I used it.

Thanks.

[StarMetal]

I've been doing this for years metal working on my lathe. I have the Drill Doctor, but bought some various difference shapes of diamond grinding wheels from Harbor Freight that work well for sharpening them too.

Joe

[jbunny]

yes diamond wheels are the best however when it comes to grinding wheels,
hard material- use a soft grinding wheel. usaly green. soft material- use a hard
grinding wheel.
jb

[Bret4207]

I thought I was the only one! I resorted to using a concrete bit this past summer on some horribly tough junk steel. I didn't use a split point, wish I had thought of that.

Good tip!

[shotman]

If you dont have the Drill Doctor Harbor freight has the diamond sharping set . 3 in the package cheap. you can do them by hand. It takes longer but cheaper. the split point is best but if you start the bit slow it will do pretty good. One thing about the hand set is you can do the sides easy

[JesterGrin_1]

Is the Drill Dr worth it? And if so which one?

[jbunny]

that depends on u. if u only drill 6 holes in metal a year, then i would say no. if u do
a lot of metal work and have metal lathe, ect yes, it's woth in IMHO.
deffinetly get the one with the split point sharpening capabilitys. i got the one that
sharpen up to 3/4 in bits.
jb

[Bret4207]

Do as JB says. The elitist machining guys will tell you they're junk compared to their Darex, but they get things sharpened to a useful point and you can alter things from there if needed. Very handy for guys who can't see close up anymore/.

[Charlie Sometimes]

...... they get things sharpened to a useful point and you can alter things from there if needed. Very handy for guys who can't see close up anymore/.

AMEN! Ditto- especially the can't see part! :lol:

Mine does the split point, but I don't have the larger bit collet.
The Drill Dr. takes very little getting used to and learning to fine tune your bit positioning- it's a great piece of equipment to have in my shop.

[Sprue]

Just looked at them today at Lowes while wondering about. From what I remember the Drill Dr 350 doesn't do the Split Point and cost $49.

The the second model I looked at DID do the Split Point and cost $79. I don't remember the exact model number but it was something like PDX , PKX ??

Anyway that was the two that I noticed.

[machinisttx]

Do as JB says. The elitist machining guys will tell you they're junk compared to their Darex, but they get things sharpened to a useful point and you can alter things from there if needed. Very handy for guys who can't see close up anymore/.

I've tried using one and I am 100% unimpressed. In the time it takes me to set the thing up and regrind a drill, I can do nearly as good a job just freehanding it on a bench grinder and be back to drilling holes. I've used Black Diamond and Darex machines, and they're junk if they aren't set up correctly or someone fiddles with the adjustments. They're pure joy to use when they're set up right. No comparison at all between the drill dr and those machines.

[Mk42gunner]

Very handy for guys who can't see close up anymore/.

I can see just fine up close, (everything closer than 18" is supposed to be fuzzy, right).

Robert

[mold maker]

I can see just fine up close, (everything closer than 18" is supposed to be fuzzy, right).

Robert

I think that's correct, but as you get more "youth deficiency challenged" (older), that fuzzy distance increases to infinity.

[Charlie Sometimes]

Yea, and don't get the shakes, or severly out of shape- it's hard to hold steady enough to hand grind a bit any more, let alone see the end of it!

[Big Dave]

I learned to hand grind drill bits over 40 years ago and still do anything over about 3/32, the little guys I buy in packs of 10 and throw away cause they break to easy.