I was thinking about buying a Drill Dr. bit sharpener. I was wondering if anyone on here has any input (good or bad) about the product. I drill mostly in metal so I do burn through bits quite a bit and I think it might be worth the money.
Looks like a good idea, but there are some of them around where the "chuck" doesn't work accurately, owing to a manufacturing fault. In the UK there's no product backup and you're stuck with the useless thing. Darex are on my "Don't buy another of their products" list.
Spend 5 minutes writing a spreadsheet and _know_ whether it's worth it!
There was a thread about this back around Christmas that resulted in me buying a model 300 Drill Dr at Home Cheapo for only $50 or so. I thought it was a good deal then and I still like it.
The Drill Dr can't sharpen every type of bit but it does just fine on common ones.
It's your money, but I'd suggest you stop by a local machine shop and ask the operator to show you how to sharpen a bit on a belt sander or a grinder. It's really quite simple once you develop the knack for it and developing the knack is not at all difficult. Stick the $100 or so in your pocket for something you really need and impress your friends at the same time. The advantage is that you can resharpen any bit yourself. Even broken ones that really don't work in the sharpening machines. Once you know the basic profile of a drill bit - and you will if you learn how to grind them, then you can put it on a bit that's been broken off and suddenly you have a working bit again - albeit shorter. You can't really screw up - if you grind the bit badly you'll know it immediately since it won't cut any better than it did before you started, and maybe worse. So - go grind it again. It takes longer to unchuck a bit than it does to grind a new profile on it. Can't say that of the sharpening machines.
The only bits that become a pain to sharpen are the very small ones - for obvious reasons. So - buy spares and keep them with your index. Compare the cost to keep a couple of each of your really small sizes to the cost of a Drill Dr. With almost no practice and a modicum of hand-eye coordination, you can easily sharpen bits down to 1/8 in size.
The Drill Doctor handles broken bits just fine--if there's too much of a spur projecting you may have to grind it off first, but that's a minor problem.
Well, it takes about the same amount of time to grind a new profile on a bit with the Drill Doctor that it does to unchuck it, so that's not an issue either.
Try using one for a while--it's not a panacea but it's not what you seem to think it is, either.
IMHO if you are young and trying to build up a workshop you can probably find a better place to spend your cash.
If you are an old coot like me and have boxes and coffee cans full of drill bits around the shop it is a very nice investment. I have been able to sharpen all of my day-to-day bits and put together bit sets for 3 tool boxes I use here and out of town. I have owned the Model 500 for a few months and enjoy having it (can't beat it as a gift hint).
CAUTION: I could be wrong, but I believe the lower end machine requires some kind of silly service to replace the grinding stone. It might require sending it to the factory. Anyone else have experience with this?
and your post about finding one for $50 was a great deal for ME...
I asked my neighbor if he'd heard of the drill dr. and he hadn't... but asked if I had dull bits.. I told him that I had boxes of them, some that were my dad's.. I figured later that I had about 100 dull bits..
He came over one morning and sharpened ALL of my bits in about 2 hours... what a great deal!
The guy that sharpened my bits checked his angle/profile by holding the sharpened point up against 2 hex nuts laid side-by-side... I thought that was an interesting trick..
My local dealer said he stopped carrying them because people figured out it was cheaper to buy "jobber" bits than to bother sharpening them. I've never had trouble sharpening by hand - if I keep up with the bit long enough to get it dull. Funny how the little ones seem to get lost while they are still sharp.
Oh, I just realized I'm using brad point bits now. I don't think the drill doctor can handle those.
Bob
Of course it can't. But it is great at what is for.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.