Hey all,
First-not sure if this is an "appropriate" thing to post-moderator delete if it's not. I am looking at getting a sharpener that does from 3/4" up to 2-1/2" drill bits - morse tapers included. I will need to sharpen others peoples bits to make it worth purchasing-it's pretty costly (for me anyway). Is there any interest from anyone in getting bits sharpened? Probably be in the $5-$10 range per bit depending on how large and how damaged they are. PM me if you'd like to.
Mark

Fastenal would be (some of) your competition. http://www.fastenal.com/web/en/16/tool-and-cutter-grinding

You might be able to beat their price but they cover a lot of ground. I'm not sure how many on this board use 3/4"+++ drill bits. You might try calling your local Fastenal and get a quote for a few sizes of drills. Could give you an idea of the price.

But good luck.

I was never very good at sharpening my own bits, not even with one of those B&D bit sharpeners, but luckily one of my old neighbors was a retired machinist and could do a wonderful job by hand, free hand on them. After he died I bought a jig that attached to my bench grinder but it only worked well on bits up to about 3/8", anything bigger than that and it just didn't get all the angles and reliefs right. So I just don't have a recommendation for the bigger bits. Good luck in your new tool sharpening business. Be sure to advertise it well so that it will draw customers.

I don't have any advise if you're planning on making a sharpener pay, making new tools pay for themselves is always a good policy but. . .

Dad taught me to sharpen my own, whatevers, wood, metal, and crafts shops taught us to sharpen our own tools. I did buy a wet sharpener at a garage sale many years ago and it does a really nice job being on a flat ceramic (really fine) wheel and wet. It's not that hard to sharpen your own edges once you learn the technique and practice some.

The one nod I had to pay to special tooling is a sharpening gauge as I'd started letting the drill bit bevels get too acute.

If we lived close enough I'd be more than happy to show you how it's done and let you practice on a coffee can of dull bits I got from the maintenance shop. It cost the shop less to walk to the tool room and get a new bit than to try sharpening a dull one, the main shop didn't even have a proper wheel for sharpening.

Anyway, I used to just swap coffee cans now and then, I'm thinking drill bits might make some pretty cool pattern welded stock. The point to this side track (yes there is one) is, most shops think (with good reason) it's cheaper to replace worn/broken bits than having them sharpened let alone paying someone to sharpen them on the clock.

Sorry, that turned into a ramble, I'm blaming the stupid tree.

Frosty The Lucky.

Large drill bits are easier to sharpen by hand than small ones. I'll echo what Sir Frosty said, a fair shop hand doesn't need a machine to do this. A $3 gauge with a 118 degree angle and some numbers stamped into it is all you need, plus a week of practice..even if you did get the machine, it's handy to go to the side of the wheel and thin the web a bit by hand without dinging the cutting edge as the bit wears down. My first week of tech school was nothing but sharpening drill bits. I got bored as all getout, but the move is now hardwired into my brain. If I was to hire anybody to work in my shop, one of the first moves in the interview would be to hand him a 3/4" drill bit and see what kind of mess he makes...

Mark, have you thought about going with annular cutters for the bigger stuff? I picked up a mag drill for cheap a couple months ago that came with a 1" annular cutter, and after drilling a few holes with it to test it out, I'm slowly switching over to those for everything 1/2" and up. They are much more expensive up front but don't require frequent sharpening, are much faster, and produce a cleaner and more accurate hole. Though they're most often used with mag drills, you can get an adapter for the drill press which apparently works well—I haven't done it yet, but will as soon as the need arises.

Here is a handy little video on free hand bit sharpening. http://www.projectsinmetal.com/videos/

The little jigs for using on a bench grinder are not worth the pot metal they are made from.

For the big bits I used either a belt sander, or a disc sander with a good disc. Sharpening was one of the first things they taught us in Machine Tool Tech class.

The big drills like you mention are cost effective to sharpen, as long as the margins are not worn down. When the margins go, you have forging stock.

Will the Drill Dr. machine sharpen 1/8" short (stubbies) bits?

Mark,

Back in the early 1980's I worked in the tool crib of a machine shop for a couple of years. Yes drill bits can be successfully sharpened by hand. I was taught by an old timer and can do a fair job of it. But each time the angle might be off a little bit more. You are talking about a large grinder with coolant - right? I would think that if you have many small machine shops near you, that you could do some of theirs to help you pay for it. I am not sure that you could do that over the internet, cost of shipping 2 ways and all. If I was looking at a dull $75.drill, I'd pay $5 - $10 to have it sharpened.

Bill

Hey Cross Pein,
I'm already on it. I worked in machine shops for a while and agree with you. I can't do it by hand-had an abrasive waterjet accident years ago-took out the sensitivity in my right hand to sharpen bits by hand. I really wasn't looking for advice on how to sharpen-I asked if there was any interest from others in getting their bits sharpened. I got about 200+ morse taper bits all the way up to 2-1/2" for 100 bucks-but needed a sharpener. As for the question about 1/8" stubbies in a drill doctor-you can do it, but it's a pain. I have a drill doctor-3/4" version. It works well for me. Not a factory edge, but quite good. I've had it a couple years and it has paid for itself many times over.