Sharpening tiny drills

[mklotz]

The best way to sharpen small drills is to buy them by the dozen and discard the dull and broken ones.

Nevertheless, there's always the inevitable late Saturday shop session where you break your only #64 drill and you're dead in the water until you can order a new one on Monday.
Then it's nice to have a way to touch up a buggered drill.

Here's an approach I use on those rare occasions. Its operation depends on the fact that, for very small drills, there is no need to try to make a conical point as found on larger drills. Simple flat facets that create the cutting edges are all that is needed. (In some senses, this jig embodies the same principle that gemstone diamond faceters use, albeit with only a single faceting angle.)

The device consists of a small pin vise fitted into a piece of aluminum angle.

The pin vise is free to rotate about its axis and, when properly oriented, can be locked in place with the small black plastic finger knob where the arms of the L meet. After mounting the drill in the pin vise collet, the pin vise is rotated to align the drill web with the line where the two arms of the L meet.

Then it's a simple matter of turning the assembly over and stroking the drill along a grinding stone as shown in the following photo...

The top of the angle should be horizontal so a spacer the same height as the grind stone is used. (At my desk, my calculator was handy. In the shop, a block of aluminum is used.)

Now to create the matching facet on the other side of the drill tip, it's a simple matter of flipping the fixture over and repeating the operation...

Inspect the tip with a loupe. If the facets aren't quite equal, a quick swipe or two will fix it. Since the drill to stone angles are preserved by the jig, you won't have multiple facets.

Credit where credit is due...

This jig was made by and given to me by Norm Wells, the most prolific tool maker in our local metalworking club, SCHSM (see my sig for its URL). I'm not certain if the design is Norm's. I seem to remember seeing something similar in a magazine but I could be remembering diamond faceting tools - a mind is a terrible thing to lose.

 

[ksouers]

That's a neat little tool, Marv.
I just might have to make one up tomorrow ;D

And quite timely. I have a couple small drills that could use a touch up, and a couple broken ones that need a new point.

I had been considering the one on John Moran's site (gadgetbuilder). I think this will be quicker.
Thanks a lot!

 

[putputman]

WOW!!!!! Such a simple solution to a difficult task. Thanks Marv, that is well worth a Karma point.

 

[itowbig]

i knew somebody had an idea around here for those itybity bits and it dont surprise me that marv would be the one with the idea
thanks a bunch marv im on it :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: many bows to ya oh great one Thm:

 

[SBWHART]

Great Idea Marv, thanks for passing on, that's on my to do list.

Stew

 

[BigBore]

Thanks, Marv. You are a true and loyal follower of the K.I.S.S. method. Keep It Simply Simple or how ever you say it. I have this one bookmarked to my ShopTips file.

Ed

 

[Deanofid]

Finally, someone who knows how to spell "loupe"..
; )

I have one very similar to that somewhere around here. Been so long since I've used it I may
have forgotten how to implement it!

Dean

 

[mklotz]

Finally, someone who knows how to spell "loupe"..

Yeah, and I don't use a spell checker either.

 

[Deanofid]

Yeah, and I don't use a spell checker either.

Neither do the folks in China. I have one from there. "Loop".

My German one says "Lupe". But, they speak a different language, you know.

 

[mklotz]

Loupe is the French spelling.

English is a bastardization of Old German, Anglo Saxon and, thanks to William the Conqueror, French, so it shouldn't be any surprise that modern English is filled with French terms.

I'm not so put off by gear heads who struggle with French but I do wish they'd learn to spell some of the terms specific to the hobby. "Verticle" is just one example.

 

[jack.39]

........ "Verticle" is just one example........

Partical, guage, anceint, gaurantee, recieve, what's a "spell checker"? jack

 

[Lew Hartswick]

Marv That give a 90 deg point if the sliding surface is same hight as the stone.
Right? A little higher and it would get close to the 118 . Not that anyone
would see it.
...lew...

 

[mklotz]

Adjust as needed, Lew. I didn't think about tip angle when I set up the photo. Plus, as you surmise, it doesn't matter all that much for these tiny drills.

 

[Deanofid]

I'm not so put off by gear heads who struggle with French but I do wish they'd learn to spell some of the terms specific to the hobby. "Verticle" is just one example.

Verticle... You speeled that rong, Marv.

I'm about to the point where I would be happy with capitalization and punctuation;

i found the thing i though was like your sharpener it is really for sharpening gravers i dont use it very often it is easier to just do it by hand on an arkansas stone but i like youre idea it is something i will make to for those small drills i usually just buy extras in the sizes i use often there, that is, back on topic i think at, least it should be

dw


(a big)

 

[mklotz]

Between my webpage, metalworking club and the various fora I read, I have to process a lot of written material in a day. If the writer is a native English speaker, I invoke two rules...

If there is no capitalization or punctuation, I stop reading immediately.

If there are three egregious spelling/grammar errors in the first sentence, I stop reading. (It's frankly amazing how frequently this situation occurs.)

If folks care so little about what they're writing, I don't have any regret about caring too little to waste my time decoding their scribblings.

 

[GWRdriver]

Have you been listening to the younger TV announcers lately? Abysmal.
And here is a graver sharpener.

 

[zeeprogrammer]

If there is no capitalization or punctuation, I stop reading immediately.

If there are three egregious spelling/grammar errors in the first sentence, I stop reading.

Aha! Thanks Marv! I now have the code!

lets sea, al I gots do is...o!...fergot to capitoliz'd.

 

[ksouers]

If there is no capitalization or punctuation, I stop reading immediately.
...

If folks care so little about what they're writing, I don't have any regret about caring too little to waste my time decoding their scribblings.

I thought I was the only one who did this...

 

[BillC.]

Anyone heard of a 'wishbone' drill sharpener? I bit and bought one a long time ago and it is a marvel in simplicity and sharpens drill bits down to your own personal limit in size. I'll post some photos if anyone may desire to possibly duplicate one - easy to conceive, fabricate and use.....and you must use a loupe too with it.

Bill C.

 

[shred]

I try to read most of what's put before me, but I do also tend to glaze over very poor text, especially if I think the writer "should know better". It has caught me stereotyping though; long ago I did some volunteer work with head trauma patients. A few of them had extreme difficulty even forming words, let alone intelligible sentences, but had all manner of intelligent thoughts they were struggling to communicate. It was both shocking to me and sad at the same time.