How To Sharpen Drills

[JonnyAlpha]

Just resurrecting an old thread.

For fathers day I received this Drill Sharpening Attachment from Axminster Tools.
Then after a while I eventually bought this grinder.

The grinder was more expensive than I had planned but I wanted reasonable quality with a light and magnifying shield and this fitted the bill. TBH all the cheaper ones in Wikes / Srewfix / B&Q display models just didn't have the same build quality.

Anyway after I got the grinder home I noticed that the stones are almost totally enclosed which akes using my newly acquired attachment problematitic, I would need to remove the side covering to use it. There also looks to be a 'Warning' sticker on the side of the Clarke Grinding wheel that probably says something along the lines of (Do Not Grind on the Side of This Wheel)?!?!?!

Can I simply fit another wheel.

I would also like to buy a buffing wheel for it, do they just swap out or would it be imbalanced?

UPDATE Just been back on the MachineMart web site and they sell polishing wheels and also sell a Drill Sharpening Attachment which is pictured up against one of there Grinders??? Here

Think I'll give Clarke a call / email.
Thanks

 

[droopsnoot]

I picked up one of those from a local car boot sale, though it has the bench mount bit missing. In all honesty I didn't know what it was, but it looked interesting and said (I think) 'Eclipse' on the side, so figured it was worth 50p. I've never done anything with it, and I'd be concerned about removing the side shield. Isn't it possible to mount it somehow to use the "proper" edge of the wheel?

I've done some sharpening when I got fed up of buying new bits all the time, biggest trouble is getting the tip properly centred and it's refreshing to hear that's a common problem. For what I'm doing (drilling for plug welds, usually, or removing spot welds) it doesn't really matter. If you read back through that RetroRides 'Making Panels' thread there's a short tutorial on how to sharpen spot weld drill bits as well, which is useful as it can be used to convert a standard 8mm or 6mm bit into a spotweld bit. Biggest trouble with larger bits going blunt quickly is people tend to have the drill rotating too fast.

 

[brightspark]

yea the drill grinding jig which is a copy of the reliance drill sharpening jig that grinds using the side of the wheel u can cut away the cover plate suficient to use the jig if u wanted

 

[rtbcomp]

........Biggest trouble with larger bits going blunt quickly is people tend to have the drill rotating too fast.

And don't apply enough pressure.

 

[JonnyAlpha]

yea the drill grinding jig which is a copy of the reliance drill sharpening jig that grinds using the side of the wheel u can cut away the cover plate suficient to use the jig if u wanted

Change the wheel or use the one that's there?

 

[brightspark]

Change the wheel or use the one that's there?

use the ones that are on .your only sharpening drill bits with it if the drills are well worn or broke sharpen by hand till there near enough then finish them off on the jig . at 1st the jigs are a bit difficult to set up for each drill but u will gwt proficient with a bit of practice

 

[JonnyAlpha]

use the ones that are on .your only sharpening drill bits with it if the drills are well worn or broke sharpen by hand till there near enough then finish them off on the jig . at 1st the jigs are a bit difficult to set up for each drill but u will gwt proficient with a bit of practice

Sounds like a good plan, that way the side will only get used for putting the final finish on. The Bench Grinder has a Drill sharpening groove in it which is handy but no good for my Spot Weld Drills as I think the angle is slightly less than a standard drill. Been watching a couple of recommended 'Drill Sharpening' videos on You Tube and reading up on the info you attached previously - thanks.

 

[Laurie Tedcastle]

It's true you shouldn't grind on the side of a plain wheel, but most using a bench grinder for drill sharpening will do so.
What you should be using is a type 5 wheel (Google "grinding wheel types"). You will probably have to order one specially from your local (if lucky enough to have one) engineering tool merchant. You will also probably need to get a set of plastic bushes to adapt the grinding wheel bore to your grinder's spindle diameter.

Also remember to keep the pressure (cut depth) very low as most bench grinders have very poor axial thrust control on their spindles.

There are many different (cheap) copies, of the old reliance drill grinding jig, available today. Some work better than others. Few truly understand the geometry requirements for accurate drill sharpening.

Laurie

 

[johnakay]

I just sharpen my drills the normal way. I just couldn't be ass with all that set up jigs etc.
plenty of info on you tubes....
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=correct way to sharpen drills