[TheForge] Re: Drill Doctor

Mike Spencer [email protected]
Sun Nov 16 20:46:01 2003


> One thing that is true is that it's hard to freehand sharpen a drill
> and have the hole be right on size.

I'd kinda like the holes to be as predictable as possible, y'know? :-)

Why I bought a drill sharpening jig:

When I was a Young Guy and din't know doodly-squat, I had a (now
forgotten) problem with a drill bit.  This Old Guy who was hanging
around the shop said, "Give it here, Sonny, and I'll show you how to
fix it."  Now this was within a few miles of Greenfield Tap & Die,
Millers Falls Tools, Atha Tools and several others so the hills were
full of Old Guys who'd spent 40 years as tool makers.

So I gave him the drill.  He went over to the bench grinder, went
bzzZZRRTTtt, bzzZZRRTTtt, gritz-grizz and said, "There you go, good as
new."  By the time I had conclusively determined that the drill bit
was totally FUBAR, he had wandered away.  Eventually I determined that
he ground the cutting edge more than the land behind it so it just sat
there and skated on the land with the edge a thou or two off the metal.

Gak!  Bought a jig.  I only grind by hand when a bit breaks clean
off.  Then I rough the point out by hand and just dress it on the jig.

- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~. 
                                                           /V\ 
[email protected]                                     /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^

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