Anyone use this drill sharpening gadget?

[Rich Jakowski]

Hi Guys,

Always thought sharpening drills was something best left to experts and many of these guys say trying to hand sharpen anything smaller than a 1/4 inch drill is impossible. Smaller drills seem to require specialized (read expensive) drill sharpening machines to do the job right. Then I saw this thing which is rediculously cheap and made out of plastic.

http://www.drillgadget.com/

My gut reaction is that it can't really work, but thought I'd ask if anyone here has as ever used one.

Love to hear what some of you may have to say.

Rich

[Stophel]

I have a different one, called the "Drill Doctor" I think.  It works, but not for the smallest drill bits....which are the ones I need resharpened most!

[Acer Saccharum]

buy small drills by the dozen. toss them when dull.

I can sharpen 1/16 OK by hand, but smaller, it's nip and tuck. A diamond wheel is best for fine grinding of these small sizes.

Cobalt drills, with a spit point, are very nice, cut pretty hard steels, don't tend to walk much at all. Above all, I like polished flutes the best. They clear the chips, and I think are more precise than the black surface finished bits.

Acer

[Acer Saccharum]

Drills wear on the diameter as well as just the cutting edges.

With this wear, the tip diameter is smaller than the body of the drill. This causes heat to build as the drill feeds into the work. On some steels, the heat and pressure causes workhardening, and the steel becomes undrillable. Until you get a solid carbide drill or anneal the stock, normal drills will not cut this workhardened steel.

So toss your drills when they squeal, change color from heat.

[Brian]

I can sharpen 1/16 OK by hand, but smaller, it's nip and tuck.
Acer

I can't even SEE 1/16 and smaller never mind sharpen it!   

[Scott Bumpus]

don,t know about the one listed but can say the "drill doctor" works great.  My father was a machinest and could sharpen anything with a cutting edge, he tought me to sharpen drills and i can do a good job, but what took him 3 minutes takes me 15 to 30, so he bought me the drill doctor for christmas one year.  Acer is right about the little ones buy a pack and trash them when dull  same thing on small taps.  Just some ramblings from tennessee. 

[David Rase]

I agree, I LOVE my drill Doctor.
DMR

[44-henry]

We've got a Drill Doctor in our lab that we use more than a professional grinder; however, I have long since given up trying to grind the smaller bits and now only use it for the larger sizes (doesn't get used much). I buy the smaller sizes we use more frequently by the dozen from Enco and have been quite pleased with their quality and price.

[northmn]

For critical work like drilling and tapping I agree with Accer.  For others less critical work like drilling through soft steel for Honeydo projects etc. I have sharpened smaller ones by hand.  My main experience in sharpening bits came from buying cheap sets from outfits that go around and do truckload sales out of local armorys, restaurants or whatever.  I bought a set of 9/16 through 1" for the price of a good bit in one of those sizes and had to sharpen them all to cut through mild steel.  Lesson learned.  I have a drill sharpening jig that works with a bench grinder.  Like Accer stated, for common size drill bit I own a bunch of them.  Sometimes when tapping I have had need to back off and resharpen to avoid getting the metal too hot.  Use a lot of oil coolant too.

DP

[Curt Larsen]

Acer's method is obviously the best, but what about Rich's initial question?  Is the $6.95 drill gadget effective?  The drill doctor is $50 at Amazon.com and $75 directly from Drill Doctor's website.  That's quite a difference in price.

[Seven]

I have that drill gadget thingie.  While it will clean up an edge on a drill bit it is anything but a precision instrument.  I haven't used it a lot because it isn't precise and I have trouble getting repeatable results.  Maybe with some practice I could get a lot better at it.  It seems like a great concept and a halfway decently put together piece of plastic.  I guess for $6.95 I didn't expect a whole different than what I got.  -Chad

[t.caster]

I thought I got a "bad" Drill Doctor, but sounds like others have the same problem with the smaller (under 3/16") bits too. I have also gone to buying multiples of the smaller number size drills from 24 to 60 .

[George F.]

My son bought a drill doctor. It does a good job, but as stated above, the smallest it will sharpen is 3/32". I can sharpen a 1/16" bit with a diamond stone by hand as long as I wear the head gear.Without them, at that close distance, forget it I get dizzy trying to see anything closer than 2'   ...Geo.

[Kelhammer]

Well knowing how to sharpen a drill myself, I do not see how that thing could possibly work?

[tuffy]

Hey, it's $6.95 and it's got a 30 day unconditional guarantee. Can't lose. Gotta be worth a try.

[Rich Jakowski]

I'm inclined to agree with Tuffy. It's less than a $10 experment including the shipping and you can send it back within 30 days for a no questions asked full refund. Seven's response is a little worrisome though.

[larryatcc]

Wish I knew something about long rifles but I don't. I know a little about drill tips though and the DrillGadget as well. It is not a grinder like the Drill Doctor is. It's a little tool to have in your tool box that allows you to accurately dress the cutting edges as well as the chisel tip of a drill bit to bring it back to high performance. Nothing more. It does what it's advertised to do. If you have time, visit www.drillgadget.com for lots of information. And as several of the posts said, I will be glad to send your money back no questions asked if you don't care for the product.  Please enjoy your long rifles and this great forum....LD