Drill Sharpening Gauge / Protractor

[JonnyAlpha]

Hi;

I am looking for a gauge to help when sharpening drill bits.
Found some pics;

I like this one as I could use it for other metal working tasks:

But I guess any would do.

Where's a good online source?

Thanks

 

[Forestryengineeringservic]

2 hex nuts held together in the flats will give you 120deg angle close enough to 118deg cheap as chips and hard to loose.

 

[premmington]

Facom make the best drill bit gauge. Photo below! It sort of has a centre finder on it! (difficult to explain) Photo says a thousand words!

Sadly I can only sharpen big drills, I fail on little ones!

 

[JonnyAlpha]

Facom make the best drill bit gauge. Photo below! It sort of has a centre finder on it! (difficult to explain) Photo says a thousand words!

Sadly I can only sharpen big drills, I fail on little ones!

What's the angle on this tool 118?

 

[Kent]

its really not that hard to learn by eye, just takes practice! its a skill never lost once found

 

[Maker]

Here, there are more expensive ones which I imagine would be more accurate*. I've never tried grinding a drill but I like the idea of welding two nuts together. As for using it when marking out steel, I prefer to use trigonometry and a ruler, it takes slightly longer but I think it's more accurate*.


*Or precise, I can't remember the difference

 

[Kent]

Here, there are more expensive ones which I imagine would be more accurate*. I've never tried grinding a drill but I like the idea of welding two nuts together. As for using it when marking out steel, I prefer to use trigonometry and a ruler, it takes slightly longer but I think it's more accurate*.


*Or precise, I can't remember the difference

What you just need at this stage is to be handed a big box of old drill bits and told to sort them, after the first two days of solid drill grinding I got pretty good at it. An essential skill if your in the machine shop or fabricating

 

[Maker]

What you just need at this stage is to be handed a big box of old drill bits and told to sort them, after the first two days of solid drill grinding I got pretty good at it. An essential skill if your in the machine shop or fabricating

I want a better grinder first, I ground a threading tool yesterday from a piece of 1/4" HSS and when I was finished, the motor on my poor little Einhell was too hot to touch.

 

[Kent]

I have seen a guy sharpen drills with an upturned angle grinder in the field ( I cannot do it ) and I have tried quite a bit after watching him the drills he produced were not totally perfect but cut a lot better than they did before.

 

[Wedg1e]

I have seen a guy sharpen drills with an upturned angle grinder in the field ( I cannot do it ) and I have tried quite a bit after watching him the drills he produced were not totally perfect but cut a lot better than they did before.

I've done it as an emergency measure, usually after some muppet - sorry, colleague - had chewed the end off the last drill late on a Friday when we all wanted to go home (320 miles away) and there were just a few Rawlbolts left to put in but the steelwork had been drilled undersize...

 

[Kent]

I've done it as an emergency measure, usually after some muppet - sorry, colleague - had chewed the end off the last drill late on a Friday when we all wanted to go home (320 miles away) and there were just a few Rawlbolts left to put in but the steelwork had been drilled undersize...

Exactly the sort of situation why I had a go at trying to learn the trick

 

[antonio costa]

Hi Maker. I've an almost unused dewalt (it was my spare emergency grinder) with broken gears that I'm giving away and according to other forum members it's easy and cheap to get gears for them in the uk. But probably the shipping cost would kill the deal, it's kind of heavy

I want a better grinder first, I ground a threading tool yesterday from a piece of 1/4" HSS and when I was finished, the motor on my poor little Einhell was too hot to touch.

 

[Maker]

Hi Maker. I've an almost unused dewalt (it was my spare emergency grinder) with broken gears that I'm giving away and according to other forum members it's easy and cheap to get gears for them in the uk. But probably the shipping cost would kill the deal, it's kind of heavy

Thanks but I think you're right, postage would be too much. I'm going to follow in bsmith's footsteps and build my own 12" grinder.

 

[antonio costa]

And at least to me it's usually that "colleague",the same that destroyed the tip of drill, that holds the upturned grinder against the floor. Noway I'm gonna hold it with a knee. Nowadays safety really comes first.
Funny that a few years I was ok with grinders without guards and so on and now just the sight of it makes me cringe

I've done it as an emergency measure, usually after some muppet - sorry, colleague - had chewed the end off the last drill late on a Friday when we all wanted to go home (320 miles away) and there were just a few Rawlbolts left to put in but the steelwork had been drilled undersize...

 

[antonio costa]

Oh you're talking about a bench grinder for moments I thought you're talking about an angle grinder

Thanks but I think you're right, postage would be too much. I'm going to follow in bsmith's footsteps and build my own 12" grinder.

 

[optima21]

I dont have a grinder anymore have a clarke CBS1-5 Belt and disk sander

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cbs1-5-belt-disc-sander

I use the belt sander for sharpening hss drills, I just clamp a block of metal on the table at 59 degrees and use that as guide for drill, I just have the cutting edge horizontal, and lift the front of the drill as I grind (dont rotate the drill around its axis) it to get the clearance angle. I then use a vernier to check length of the cutting edge. seems to work for me drills from 3mm to 25mm.

I dont have the sanding disk anymore, I use a diamond grinding wheel so I can sharpen carbide tipped lathe tools

 

[Kent]

Thanks but I think you're right, postage would be too much. I'm going to follow in bsmith's footsteps and build my own 12" grinder.

Be very careful if you do their are many traps in building your own you might fall into safety wise. Even a cheapo bench grinder will do, mine is a right sack but my FIL was buying one for himself and thought I might like one they were so cheap he just turned up with it one day (never look a gift horse in the mouth and all that I am still using it a good ten years later) I just never got round to replacing it and likely wont till it goes pop