HOW TO: Sharpen Drill Bits

Congratulations on clicking the Drill Bit Gauge "Sharpening" QR code to this video! Show this sentence to me for a free bonus mark! This is how I sharpen all my drill bits, and on THIS grinder, it is almost dead-on to the correct angles.
Lathe Bit Guage (Level 2): www.gwellwood.com/subjects/me...
Free Curriculum!

[@PatchManMary20]

You remind me so much of the shop teachers I had in Junior high and high school. Unfortunately, in California there doesn't seem to be shop classes anymore. I guess everyone is supposed to be a computer programmer. My 15 year old grandson has been hanging around my shop and his dad and is learning how to work on his truck, run a lathe, mill and to weld, but he'll never get the chance to have a great shop teacher like you. Shop is the only thing that made going to school worthwhile for me!

[@stevezaranec8966]

You were taught how to sharpen drills by a real honest to God toolmaker/machinist/cutter grinder. The old timers didn't waste time with drill sharpening setups or specialty machines. I have had job interviews where the owner of the shop took me out on the shop floor, picked up a drill, butchered up the end, and then told me to sharpen it. Based on how I went about sharpening it, determined if I "might" get hired. He then took the drill, chucked it up and drilled a hole in a piece of scrap. If it cut right, made respectable chips, and most Importantly - drilled a close sized hole - is what determined if I could fill out an application form to be hired. Drilling holes and using sharp tools is the basis of pretty much all machine tool work. If you can't sharpen a drill that will cut, you most likely can't do anything else that the shop will ask you to do!

[@benjohnson7170]

Finally,the dark magic spell has been broken,which (witch) has evaded me for decades. Cheers matey.👍. I knew it couldn't be as hard as i made it look.

[@shawnrenaud2252]

Update: It worked like a charm on my first try! Thanks again.

[@BenMitro]

Gathered around and learnt something that makes my shed life so much less confused. Thanks.

[@steverowe2167]

Thank you very much, I learn't how to sharpen drill bits while doing my apprentice ship and you are the only person who tells it the way I was tort. 👍

[@GregWellwood]

That's cool!

[@harveyedwards3725]

Love your videos. Thanks for sharing

[@IowaMercMan]

Oh yeah I’m trying this tomorrow! I can barely imagine sharp drill bits!

[@jaimecabrales8514]

Yes Sir. Thank you for sharing

[@shawnrenaud2252]

Very useful information, thanks!

[@lennybasaj1649]

Thanks, I needed that!

[@PEMason]

Really enjoy your videos!!!

[@GregWellwood]

Thanks! I enjoy making them.

[@brianbuckle2635]

Great video

[@miljenkovukovic2812]

Great, greating from Croatia !

[@G31mR]

Those are great, simple steps to a sharp bit. Two things you might have added: even before you turn the grinder on, make sure the grinding wheel is of a medium or fine type. If you use a coarse wheel, the bit will not cut as efficiently, as the edge will not be uniform. Secondly, make SURE the wheel is FLAT and SQUARE! Most wheels that have seen any use at all will not be flat and square and this is very important if your sharpening efforts are to bear good fruit. A good idea is to buy a new, fine wheel and keep it ONLY for sharpening bits. Thank you for a fast, simple video. You might want to do a quick video showing how to properly dress a grinding wheel?

[@kennethcarver9687]

Great video, I now know what I was doing wrong all these years, I was always hit or miss sharpening drill bits, my drill Guage is 2 nuts welded together on the flats and setting the drill on the flats giving me the angle of the drill which is close to a new drill angle

[@GregWellwood]

Oh! That's a sweet idea!

[@kennethcarver9687]

@@GregWellwood I think a drill bit angle is 59 degrees and the 2 nut flats are 60 degrees, free hand sharpening, you won't notice a 1 degree difference, I can't take credit for that tool,that would go to a gentleman who signed my apprenticeship papers in the late eightys for heavy equipment repair! P.S. feel free to use this information, you do a awesome job on your channel 🏁

[@johndonlan5956]

You make it look so easy!

[@GregWellwood]

Yeah, but I've sharpened one or two in my day. Now I'm sharing the magic with you fellers!

[@johndonlan5956]

@@GregWellwood Greg, maybe eventually you can do a video on how to do a split point. When I was a machinist..... Thinning out the web by doing a good split point increased accuracy quite a bit. We used to use a Black Diamond drill grinder in our shop, but I would also love to be able to see if it could be done by hand as well.... And I have a feeling you're just a man to show me how to do it!

[@GregWellwood]

I don't have as much experience with that, but I'll see what I can come up with. I do thin the web when the drill is getting really short. I also (cough) sharpen my milling cutters by hand too.... (cough)

[@johndonlan5956]

@@GregWellwood It's truly a lost art..... hand sharpening of tools. That's one thing I always admired about the old timers: their knowledge of how to sharpen. I remember one day I was working on a project involving brass, and the Foreman of the shop (an old German tool maker) helped me to sharpen my drill bit. And when he put "flats" on the leading lips of each flute..... I thought he was crazy! Then he explained that brass tends to 'pull' the drill bit too much -- that the flats help improve accuracy, and also protect smaller drills from breaking easily in brass. Who'd of thunk it? 😏

[@GregWellwood]

Yes, Brass you want no rake, or even negative rake.

[@youngbaeoh7417]

YOUR best 최고이십니다.

[@GregWellwood]

당신은 매우 친절해요

[@Threesixnine.c]

Great 👍👍👍

[@closertothetruth9209]

you make it look easy, i always screw it up, a freind said the best wheel for drill bits are the white ones something to do with heating the drill bit.

[@jjohnson2553]

Based on my personal experiences with white wheels, they tend to be a finer grit than the grey ones you typically find on bench grinders.

[@GregWellwood]

I used to have a very fine stone just for sharpening, but the kiddies would grind them to oblivion with everything except sharpening. For the home - use a fine stone. With kids - use a durable stone (and don't press so hard).

[@josepeixoto3384]

Eh Eh Eh some people got it some don't After some 7 or 8 videos i finally stopped here, i got it; THANKS

[@RogerPack]

So don't even worry about the cutting edge, just do the rolling motion? I assume you want it twisted so the sharp edge hits the stone first?

[@GregWellwood]

I don't do any "extra" action on the grinder, just what you see. I get a great cutting edge out of it.

[@selrahc2061]

I did it that way for years, get a drill Dr. 1 and done

[@GregWellwood]

I gave a Drill Doctor away....

[@ScreamingEagleFTW]

how can you sharpen a step bit? thank you.

[@GregWellwood]

I've run the grinder down the flutes to get a new edge, but I'm not very successful doing that. It's more of a stop-gap until I can go into town and buy a new one.

[@ScreamingEagleFTW]

shoot i was hoping you had a way to do it as good as for regular bits. Those step bits are expensive. @@GregWellwood

[@GregWellwood]

The GOOD ones are expensive (I sheared my Milwaukee step drill off - GRRRR!), but the cheap ones are pretty much throw-away when they dull. And they dull quick. Watch your speed with those - keep it slow.

[@grippgoat]

BRB, buying a bench grinder and ruining some drill bits. 😂

[@Threesixnine.c]

Make Single Point Cutting Tool Grinding Video

[@guitarswithgreg5248]

I wonder how many kids actually watch this… and if it’s in a booklet now 😂

[@GregWellwood]

The plans in the booklet get updated as I refine them or add QRs to them. You were in Level 3 by the time I started adding a lot of these. By Level 3 you shouldn't need these (grin).

[@thewolfin]

Aw man, you got levels? I didn't get any levels...

[@guitarswithgreg5248]

@@thewolfin yea the levels where great too. Started off easy and by the last level (4) you where planning and building your own stuff. So 10/10 would recommend this system 😂