How often do you sharpen your drill bits

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JimB

JimB

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I know there are a lot of variables but I'm just trying to get a general idea. I have the basic HF set (no fancy Ti coating or anything). My most used bit is the letter Z that I use for Sierra pens. It has drilled about 20 or 25 blanks of vaious types of wood. Is it time to sharpen/replace it? How many blanks do you drill before you need to sharpen your drill bits?
 
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With wood, I'd think not all that often... BUT once you figure out what a sharp bit can do, you'll want to keep it sharp. I got a drill doctor. Now for normal bits, I stick to cheap ones like the HF and just sharpen.... Often before I even use them the first time! Factory sharp is often not all that sharp.
 
If I'm drilling a segmented pen I will sharpen the bit before each barrel. On non segmented pens, I sharpen the bit every five or six barrels.
 
If you want a real eye opener, go out and get a "Z" size bit from Chicago and Latrobe, or Norseman and compare them side by side. The differences are immediately apparent. The better bit will last longer between sharpenings.
Both the Drill Doctor and the General sharpener are good tools and easy to use. Both need careful attention to detail to get good results.
 
In truth how often you sharpen depends on a lot of things. The final word is sharpen it when it starts to get dull.
some of the things that will make a difference in how long a bit stays sharp are.

material you are drilling. most people would not have a problem thinking that a bit will last longer drilling wood than metal. but this is not necessarily true. depending on what type of bit you have and what type of wood or metal it is you might get more holes in metal than the wood. different types of wood are harder on bits than other even.

the type of bit or metal it is made of. even in this case what might seem obvious is not always the case. you would think that a more expensive bit would last longer. but in some cases a cheaper bit actually does a better job.

The only real way to know your bit needs to be sharpened, is to know when it is dull.

of course over heat the bit. And you can just sharpen it right then and there, probably several times to remove the untempered metal.
 
Frank and Daniel - Thanks for the replies. I guess that is my question though - How do I know when they are dull? Even my most used bit ( a HF basic bit that has drilled about 25 Sierras) still drills OK but I'm wondering if I think that becuase I don't know any better. The bit does get hot (to the touch, it doesn't glow or anything) even after just drilling one blank. Is that an inidcator of a worn bit? I haven't blown out any blanks on the drill press yet.

Boy, am I starting to feel stupid with this question. I feel like I should be able to just feel they end of the bit and know that it's either sharp or dull.
 
JimB said:
Boy, am I starting to feel stupid with this question. I feel like I should be able to just feel they end of the bit and know that it's either sharp or dull.
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Not a dumb question, I'll bet a lot of us don't know.
The drill bits will get hot, even if they are freshly sharpened. The friction
causes heat. Good idea to get the drill bit out of the wood at that point,
though.

Knives are easier to tell ..(run your thumb across the blade, cut a sheet
of paper etc.) but without a definitive answer on bits (I don't have one) I'd
say compare a freshly sharpened bit to the one you are using. When the
drill bit takes longer to cut, it's probably an indication that the edge has
dulled.
 
JimB said:
Boy, am I starting to feel stupid with this question. I feel like I should be able to just feel they end of the bit and know that it's either sharp or dull.
Click to expand...

Not a dumb question at all. I have no definitive way to tell if a bit is cutting really well or just cutting, so my solution is to sharpen regularly, probably way to often. It only takes a minute on my drill doctor and is cheap insurance on a blank I paid money for or spent 6 hours building.
 
It may not be easy to tell when its "too dull", but if you get one nice and sharp - you can tell by feel if its not 'sharp'. Just don't feel for how sharp it is if its still hot right after using it - DAMHIKT.
 
JimB said:
Boy, am I starting to feel stupid with this question. I feel like I should be able to just feel they end of the bit and know that it's either sharp or dull.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat. I bought Norseman bits to replace the HF Ti bits that were used most often.

The 10mm has drilled 200+ cigar blanks and is still quite sharp (I think so anyway, it still cuts cleanly and quickly). Didn't Bill Baumbeck say he has drilled over 500 blanks without sharpening his Norseman bit?
 
randyrls said:
The Drill Doctor requires an exact attention to detail. Be sure the read and follow the instructions exactly! (Do I sound like Norm Abram?)
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Thanks Randy. I read the threads on IAP, read the instructions and watched the video 3 times. I'm glad I read one of the threads on IAP where it talks about the white line and when you need to align that. It wasn't until the second time watching the video I that I could see what they were doing with that.

Now it's time to sharpen som bits...
 
I would suggest trying the split point. It does great. I have had my 750 for about 5 years. Just about a year ago I started using split points for wood and I really like it. Seems to make drilling easier for some reason.

I sharpen mine when I know one needs it, but when I do that, I tend to go through most of my bits and touch them up whether they need it or not - if I have used the bit since the last sharpening.
 
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