Thread: Hairy Forbes drill sharpener

Yeah, I know, but my eyes are getting old. I just can't see drills under about 10mm these days to sharpen them, and my magnifying glasses make it hard to set angles.

Has anyone got one of these drill sharpeners? https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/D070

I know it's not going to perform miracles but I'm hoping it's OK for my jobber drills 12mm and under. I still can hand grind anything much bigger than that (though the way my eyesight is going....)

Thanks, Phil.

Same thing https://www.tradetools.com/product-r...-bit-sharpener

Video here

Phil,
I have the next size up to what you are looking at, its not from H&F but is the same.
To set the drill in the chuck it has a reference blade that sets the cutting face of the drill relative to the collet before tightening down, if the face is in bad shape not an easy task. For drills smaller that about 4-5mm again not easy.
With the motor being 80 watts I think it will struggle with anything other than a touch up, even mine at 180 watts struggles at times when drills get above about 10mm. Being plastic not sure how well it will stand up longer term, the diamond dust is very abrasive, but if vision is not the best, then its probably worth a go at the price. All the best with it. Alan.

Correction: I see from the video posted by Chris that drill reference location appears to off the drill land, which is maybe better, so long as don't have to crank down to tighten.

What C-47 said.
Smaller drills are a problem because (on my unit anyway) the "chuck" can easily hold the drill off-centre, which results in an asymmetrical grind (one lip longer than the other). I always start by very lightly tightening the chuck, followed by a visual check end-on to look for even distribution of the sheet metal chuck jaws around the drill, and if necessary manually repositioning the jaws (if they are unevenly spaced) to centre the drill. When all's well I tighten the chuck.

On drill bits bigger than about 6mm metal removal is s-l-o-w due to limited power.
To achieve reasonable results I find careful attention is needed when rotating the drill holder in the receiving spigots (sharpening and faceting) because plastic parts and sloppy fits make for inconsistent results.
Over time I have developed a muscle memory for when to take up which bit of slack, so it can be made to work, but it's not a great tool.

Cheers,
Bill

The comments on this unit don't make it sound like the definitive solution to drill bit sharpening.

I got a Drill Doctor 360x as an interim solution until I get around to making a proper 4-facet sharpener (like the one covered in these forums some time ago: https://metalworkforums.com/f65/t198...nder-4-6-facet, originally described by John Moran, https://www.gadgetbuilder.com/DrillSharp.html).

I haven't taxed that little Drill Doctor unit much, but it has done the job on bits in the 3mm to 10mm range without trouble. Again, I would hardly say it's a great piece of kit but it is holding up ok, results have been symmetrical and sharp. I wonder what others think of the two units in comparison.

Incidentally the Hare & Forbes one seems to be a generic Asian product, the same as the one sold by Total Tools for $25 less.

Hello to Sp-Flip.
This is a pic of a drill grinding attachment from a post I put up 25-1-20. From the USA on Ebay. I think $118.00. Works up to 5/8" and has a micrometer adjustment. Easy to fit to a 6" bench grinder and works down to 3/32". The name is Ajax or Kalamazoo. You may be lucky to find one.
Regards
BC

Thanks everyone - especially Chris for the Trade Tools link. They've got it on special now for $59 with free delivery, so definitely worth a try at that price. Ordered one.

I need to get off my butt and build a Harold Hall grinding rest. I keep meaning to, but SWMBO keeps finding things for me to do and we all know what the priority queue looks like when she's involved!

Phil.

Hi Guys,

With the help of guys on here I built the John Moran one, you don't appreciate how good a four facet drill properly ground is till you have used one ! I highly recommend this one.

One like that shown by BC, would be the "Picador" drill grinder. Graham Meek did an article on them in ME, I found several in the local scrap yard and picked one up, when I went back for the others I found someone had been and bought them all. Obviously they must have seen Graham's article too.

I must admit that I was taught how to grind drills by hand, but found it difficult to master. Bigger drills were much easier. So early on I made several jigs to help make grinding easier and more accurate.

Originally Posted by BaronJ

.....One like that shown by BC, would be the "Picador" drill grinder.

Golly! .... (ancient memories surface)..
....(scrabbling in dusty corners of the shed)..
... (sounds of objects falling and muttered profanities).
...(the object finally comes into view):


That would be one of these?
1 Picador 9 box.jpg

.. more detail
2 Picador9 box front.jpg
.. it's the "Improved" version!

Still untouched...
3 Picador 9 jig.jpg

... except for the receipt (silverfish!)
4 Picador 9 receipt.jpg


Baron, thanks for jogging my memory, I really should get around to setting this up, and seeing if I can make it work.
Cheers,
Bill

Hi Bill,

Yes that is the one. They work quite well once you have got the hang of setting it up. I used to run mine on the side of the wheel, if I remember correctly the instructions say to use the face. But I found that it vibrated badly then, it was much better using the smooth wheel. The only downside that I recall was if you used the front edge of the face the grinding rest got in the way. Moving to the other side, away from the rest, you got showered in sparks.

The sharpener arrived from Trade Tools this morning. I set it up and took an old 8mm drill that had one flute broken off. It did a great job and sharpened it up first go.

I then did a 3.5mm drill for the heck of it: I usually just toss drill below 4mm and replace them. It did a great job with that, too.

The wheel is fairly coarse and leaves a lot of tool marks and burrs, but they're quite shallow. The burrs come off with a finger swipe and then a couple of quick wipes with a fine diamond hone on the edge and they're as sharp as I could ever want, with an even grind.

The sharpened drills start on their own without wandering (which isn't how I use them but it means the chisel point is even) and produce clean, even chips in mild steel.

The trick was obvious from the start. It takes a lot off with each sharpen, about 0.5 to 1mm, so you have to just lightly touch the drill to the wheel, turn and keep turning and feeding lightly. The wheel has plenty of power. Took about two minutes a drill, much faster than I can hand grind a 4 facet, but doesn't cut as well as a 4 facet (not as much clearance as I'd like).

I haven't tried the point splitting feature. Overall, for $60 delivered to my door that was money very well spent. Thanks Chris and everyone else.

Phil.