Q and A about drills and sharpeners... where to buy and what sharpeners?

samthedog

samthedog

Token Aussie
Registered
Hello gents (and ladies). I am always struggling to find decently priced quality drill bits in metric. In Norway the prices can be quite crazy to the point I have considered buying a sharpener to recondition my drill bits. To put this in perspective, it would not be unusual to spend about 100 USD on a 19 piece drill bit set in HSS. This is for an average set - nothing fancy.

Since all of us use drill bits regularly, I was wondering if we might put up what brand and who we buy from. If you sharpen your drills feel free to chime in... and if you have specific sharpening equipment, let us know what it is and feel free to include pictures.

I still have a set of P&N drills I bought 15 years ago and have struggled to find anything that has come close in terms of quality.

This would be useful info for most of us and since we come from all over the globe any info is welcome!

Paul.
 
I have used (I am in Canada) Walter (German) & Dormer (British) with no complaints (usual disclaimers here). I have not purchased Dormer in many years (no local vendor). While expensive, these are industry, not homeowner "big box" brands I have found that they stand up. Rather than buy sets I but the individual sizes that I require. To date I have not purchased a lot of metric drills but given their European base I expect that would not be a problem. I have both regular length (jobber in North America) and stub (also called screw machine) length. The latter are considerably shorter and provide more rigidity - and on a small lathe or drill/mill more work space. I have also had success finding excellent drills in used tool stores. Surprisingly, many are in like-new condition.
 
I have the typical issue of incomplete sets since it's only the most used drills that get broken. I have typically used:

P&N - from New Zealand - these have been excellent
Frost - from Australia - again, excellent quality
Yestool - from Korea - these have been superb. Mine are secondhand carbide bits ranging from 9mm to 13mm. These have been very impressive.

The drill bits I prefer are split point or Nachi style - HSS. I have only had the pleasure of using 1 Nachi style 5.5 mm drill bit I found in the table of my drill press. I had just broken my regular 5.5 and chucked this one up. I drilled through 8mm steel with a fraction of the effort I usually use.

I am looking at replacing my old set with a more comprehensive full set of general purpose drills. I would possibly consider 2 sets. 1 for the lathe and mill, and one for the drill press. Having used carbide Yestool drill bits I have even considered trying a set of carbide to see how they perform. Drills are something I always use so I am looking at longevity with regards to edge holding. I will likely be shipping to Norway since we easily pay 2X - 3X what you guys pay.

Thanks for the help.

Paul.
 
I use A drill Doctor 750 for sharpening my drills. Been using it for 10 years now.
 
i use a drill doctor also i just got it.
i'm not in the shop but it the model that does up to 3/4 at 135 to 118 angles and will split the tip
at first taking it out of the box i was not impressed with all the plastic but it works great
the only change i want to make is the diamond wheel. it is a bit course for small bits and i see there are others available
i have taken broken bits and hand ground them close to shape then sharpened them for short bits and they are like new
I think it is a good purchase and will pay for itself really fast
steve
 
I have heard a lot of mixed reviews about the Drill Doctor 750. The general impression here seems to be pretty positive though. I have been considering one because this will open my options when looking for drill bits. I have a guy I buy used tooling and machine equipment from. He always has a range of bits that are usually a bit worn which are all industrial quality but need some TLC.

I was also looking at this machine:

http://www.sharperdrills.com/dgs180

I figured given the number of bits I could buy for next to nothing this would pay for itself in a very short time. The Drill Doctor is cheaper however given the fact I need to import it and all the replacement parts, buying a machine that is more robust and can handle more work might be a good choice. I just can't get over the price of it... some middleman is making a decent margin.

Paul.
 
I'll cast another vote for the DD750. I've had mine for about 3 years, and have sharpened at least 100 drill bits with it so far. It has paid for itself several times over.

Corm
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top