Are drill bits consumables?

[455dan]

I missed seeing where it was said that the ER32s were of different outside sizes or angles than standard ER32 collets. It is clear that the Vevor and like machines use the collets in the reverse orientation, but so far I've not seen or read anything that says a standard ER collet doesn't fit the Vevor style collet chuck. I tried to point out above that the Vevor style collets in the smaller sizes don't have jaws that bear the full length of the collets, which would preclude using those collets in a standard ER collet chuck. But I see no reason the opposite is true, that standard ER collets cannot be used in the Vevor style collet chucks.

Below are drawings showing dimensions of ER20 and ER32 collets. I checked the drawing against the ER20s in my Vevor set and they match, at least close enough. No drawing or specs I've seen yet shows the inside geometry (but no images show them from the back either), so my assumption is that they are the nominal ID the full length.

If you have ordered both, you should be able to try them out and let us know.

ER20
View attachment 479289

ER32
View attachment 479290

It looks like the Vevor orders should arrive Monday.
I am excited to compare to my old Drill doctor, and confident this machine should do a much more precise job of it.

It shure would be nice to be able to sharpen some bits larger than 1/2" I thought about ordering the large Vevor unit, but at virtually double the price -just could not justify buying it.

Wonder if there is a work around with the collets or a way to make a new holder ...??

 

[RickKr]

...snip...
It shure would be nice to be able to sharpen some bits larger than 1/2" I thought about ordering the large Vevor unit, but at virtually double the price -just could not justify buying it.

Wonder if there is a work around with the collets or a way to make a new holder ...??

I could also not abide the nearly twice the price to be able to do the larger sized drill bits.

You'll have to evaluate for yourself the possibilities for making a larger holder once you have the machine in hand and compare to ER32 collets and nut/chuck. The size of the pocket the Vevor ER20 chuck fits into is a about 1.1" in diameter. The exit hole for the ER20 collet small end is 0.56". Due to the taper for the collet, the size at the other end of the taper in the nut is about 0.76" (not the full OD of the ER20 collet body). If you could find drawings for an ER32 collet and work through compatibility... maybe... Be quite the challenge and I like challenges, but I don't think I'd be taking this one.

Rick

 

[woodchucker]

I do not understand the need to do large bits. The larger the drill bit the easier I find it to grind, it's the small guys that are getting tougher and tougher.

 

[pontiac428]

I do not understand the need to do large bits. The larger the drill bit the easier I find it to grind, it's the small guys that are getting tougher and tougher.

True, but with fixture grinding, it's much easier to achieve two perfect spirals of swarf from evenly ground edges. It's hard for the eyeball to compete with a mechanism that ensures a symmetric grind.

 

[455dan]

The 13B Vevor arrived.
Like was pointed out above, there is no realistic way to go larger than a 1/2" bit, at least that I can see.
Between the grinding wheel widths and OD of the collets, they designed it to 1/2" as a maximum size.

No need to redesign the wheel here, and it definitely gives me a reason to keep the old Drill Doctor around for the larger bits to 3/4".

Nothing missing and the motor and wheel run real smooth, quiet, and true. It was almost comical turning on the loud drill doctor next to it.
All the bits I sharpened and tried worked well. Played around with regrinding to both 118 and 135* with and without a split point.
Also found a couple old drill doctor fails that I had in a cup that the cut angle/relief managed to be reversed on. The 13B had to take 2 cuts to get the profile back to normal but then drilled very nicely.

As a final test I found a broken bit and took it to the big bench grinder to put 2 rough angles on it and then 2 cuts on the Vevor and had a good as new stubby bit.
Doing a comparison of the drill doctor bits that had come out "well", I did notice one difference and that was the initial cutting of a non piloted hole where the drill doctor bit cut the initial inner diameter quicker.
Once the bits were at the outside diameter it seemed they were equal. Project Farm also noted slightly faster cutting with DD when he ran his sharpener test
The Vevor 13B gets a thumbs up from me, it is consistent at producing a sharp bit that will cut.

As to the thread title, No , drill bits are no longer consumables- because I have to "save" bits to justify the cost of these sharpeners

 

[projectnut]

The 13B Vevor arrived.
Like was pointed out above, there is no realistic way to go larger than a 1/2" bit, at least that I can see.
Between the grinding wheel widths and OD of the collets, they designed it to 1/2" as a maximum size.

No need to redesign the wheel here, and it definitely gives me a reason to keep the old Drill Doctor around for the larger bits to 3/4".

Nothing missing and the motor and wheel run real smooth, quiet, and true. It was almost comical turning on the loud drill doctor next to it.
All the bits I sharpened and tried worked well. Played around with regrinding to both 118 and 135* with and without a split point.
Also found a couple old drill doctor fails that I had in a cup that the cut angle/relief managed to be reversed on. The 13B had to take 2 cuts to get the profile back to normal but then drilled very nicely.

As a final test I found a broken bit and took it to the big bench grinder to put 2 rough angles on it and then 2 cuts on the Vevor and had a good as new stubby bit.
Doing a comparison of the drill doctor bits that had come out "well", I did notice one difference and that was the initial cutting of a non piloted hole where the drill doctor bit cut the initial inner diameter quicker.
Once the bits were at the outside diameter it seemed they were equal. Project Farm also noted slightly faster cutting with DD when he ran his sharpener test
The Vevor 13B gets a thumbs up from me, it is consistent at producing a sharp bit that will cut.
As to the thread title, No , drill bits are no longer consumables- because I have to "save" bits to justify the cost of these sharpeners

They still are consumable. It just takes longer to consume them. A tool that formerly could cut 1,000 holes and be thrown in the trash can now cut 100,000 holes before being thrown in the trash. They still wear out and break, just at a slower rate.

As I mentioned in another post when I was a kid in school, I worked at the GM Assembly Plant in Janesville WI. One of the jobs I had was to drill holes in truck fenders for bright trim. The machines had around 120 different drill heads for different patterns. The machine kept track of how many cycles each pattern had been run. When a pattern had been run about 500 times the maintenance crew would change out those drills. The most popular patterns would be changed out every couple weeks or so depending on the line speed. The drills would be sharpened until there was only 1 rotation of the flutes left. The most used drills may have lasted a year or so, but they were eventually consumed.

Regardless of how long they last, they always fail when you're in a hurry. To that end I always have several spares of all sizes in stock. I put the failed drills in a can next to the sharpener and sharpen the lot when I get 50 or so in the can. In times past I would sharpen a batch every month or so. More recently it takes 3 to 6 months to accumulate enough to do the job.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

The title says it all.

What's you're opinion?

Are drills..or drill bits...or twist drills.... consumables?

I say anything under 1/2 inch are consumables and should be tossed and replaced. Anything over has a chance at being long-term tooling.

Same, but I would say 1/4” and up as above 1/4” it’s easy to sharpen them by hand using a drill guide.

 

[David2011]

The Drill Doctor gives me very mixed results but when the sharpened bits do cut at least they’re symmetrical. I use it but I don’t love it. Free hand sharpening on the grinder rarely results in a symmetrical bit for me. Asymmetrical bits will make oversized holes but that might not matter if they’re going to be bored or reamed. I also have concerns that an asymmetrical bit could break more easily than a correctly ground one. I rarely use a hand drill; most of the time I drill using the lathe, mill or drill press.