On 5/7/2019 12:13 PM, Puckdropper wrote: > Gramps' shop wrote: > >> A couple of years ago I bought a box of about 100 drill bits in various sizes for a few bucks. The box was branded ?Skil.? I almost exclusively use my Dewalt brand brad point bits but I needed to drill some 2-inch deep 7/64 holes so I grabbed my bargain bits. First one broke, then second one broke. Fortunately the location of the holes was not critical. Also fortunate that the break was beneath the surface. > > You'll probably find a good many of those bits are sharpened poorly as > well. A bit that's sharp will eat its way through wood quickly, a dull > one just kinda pushes its way through it. > > Learning to sharpen or buying a drill doctor will help in both reducing > breakage and poorly sharpened bits. > > Puckdropper >
Heck. Learning to sharpen bits free hand (1/8 is about the smallest I am comfortable with) properly will save you a ton of headaches even if you don't have a drill doctor or you are using bits to large for a drill doctor.
I wish I had learned it when I was younger and I still had Superman vision, but having learned it a little older I just use a magnifier lamp over my bench grinder. Under 1/8 inch is iffy, but I have done it a couple times on a finer grit wheel in a pinch down to 1/16.