How To Sharpen A Drill Angle Grinder

How to sharpen a drill for metal

A correctly selected device will significantly reduce time costs and perform the work as accurately as possible. Find out below how to sharpen a metal drill on a sharpener.

In addition to the main unit with an electric motor and a circle, you will need to purchase special devices that hold the drill in a stationary state. These stands allow you to control the angle of inclination and tool feed during turning.

Many devices allow debugging of cutting products for metal with a diameter of 3 to 19 mm. For turning twist drills, you can use special machines that have a built-in electric motor and a feed mechanism.

Unlike using a conventional sharpener and holder, professional equipment can cost tens of thousands of rubles. Therefore, if sharpening drills is not a profession, then you can get by with the use of the above-described tandem from a grinding wheel and a holder, or edit the tool manually.

It is possible to sharpen the drill with a file without experience. The main thing is to choose the right file. Considering the fact that even cheap drills are made from high quality cutting steel, you will need to choose a diamond-coated file. In addition to the file, you need to prepare a vice in which the tool should be fixed.

In order not to waste time and effort on the manual method, you can use an angle grinder with an abrasive wheel.

How to sharpen an angle grinder

Such a power tool has long ceased to be a curiosity and is present in the arsenal of almost every master who from time to time deals with the processing of metal surfaces.

However, to restore a dull drill, one angle grinder is clearly not enough. Additionally, you will need a locksmith vise, in which the sharpened tool will be attached, and a template made of plastic or interconnected nuts to check the sharpening angle.

The tools are ready. It’s time to move on to the process itself:

• Clamp the drill between the vise jaws;
• Turn on the angle grinder;
• We carefully grind the worn out part;
• We sharpen the cutting surface at an angle of 115 140 degrees (the larger the angle, the softer the metal being processed).

Sharpening with a drill bit

Without an emery machine, using a special drill attachment, you can perform the operation efficiently and with less time.

For beginners, this is the preferred method. Drill sharpening is performed as follows.

• Install the drill bit;
• The drill is inserted into a hole of a suitable diameter;
• The drill turns on and the product is sharpened from one side;
• Turning the drill 180 degrees sharpens the opposite edge.

To use your device effectively, consider the following:

• Only slightly dull tools are sharpened with the drill bit. If there is deep damage to the cutting surface and when the drill was overheated, it will not be possible to restore the product.
• The sharpening angle in such devices is fixed. Therefore, to restore drills for working with non-ferrous metals, you will need to purchase an original device, or to refine the products with a file.

How to sharpen with a sharpener

This home method has its own characteristics. Manual sharpening mode is available only to experienced locksmiths who have extensive experience that allows you to restore any blunt tools by eye.

All other home craftsmen will have to purchase or borrow a special holder from a neighbor. This device must be installed next to the sandpaper (about 1 mm.). In this case, it is necessary to ensure the stability of the bolted connection in order to exclude the displacement of the retainer during work.

Only then can you go directly to sharpening the tool:

• We fix the drill in the holder (the sharpening angle is set in advance);
• Turn on the sharpener;
• We remove damage from the cutting surface;
• We sharpen the cutting surface by short-term no more than 2 seconds of contact with emery.

Cone gimbals

You can sharpen a stepped drill using a regular file. The cutting edge of the product is sharpened at a right angle.

If the cone drill is dull in a limited area, then sharpening should be carried out without leaving the damaged area.

Sharpening check

• The length of the working edges;
• The position of the corner vertices;
• The angle of inclination of the helical groove;
• Longitudinal face angle.

Finishing after sharpening

The work is carried out on special circles for finishing, combining rough metal processing with finishing.

The discs are made of a relatively soft material to remove scratches, sagging and other minor surface imperfections. Their elimination is carried out without changing the geometric parameters of the cutting edges. Usually, such wheels are placed on a perforator or an angle grinder, fixed and securely clamped, making it possible to process a drill clamped in a vice or other device.

Important rules

• The main requirement that should be adhered to when developing the design of a turning machine: the product must remain stationary, not rotate around its axis. If it turns even one degree, the alignment will have to be repeated.
• The surface of the wheel or grinding wheel must be perfectly flat. Therefore, from time to time it must be adjusted with elbor nozzles.
• At the end of the work, the reconditioned metal drilling tool should be allowed to cool in natural conditions and only then the geometric parameters should be checked using a template.

Drill sharpening

For metal drills with a diameter of 10 mm or more, additional sharpening of the leading edge is required.

The point of this operation is to increase the cutting edge angle and decrease the slope of the leading edge. The goal is to give metal resistance to crumbling and increase the working life of the cutting tool.

In addition, undercutting allows you to narrow the transverse edge, which scrapes the workpiece material in the center of the hole, which makes drilling easier. Additional processing of drills with a small clearance angle reduces the friction force inside the hole.

Sharpening on a sharpener

If experience does not allow you to determine the level of wear of the drill for metal and to perform its mandrel on a sharpener by eye, you need to use a special tool holder installed near the working disk. Retainer is securely bolted to avoid displacement.

Sharpening drills for metal on a turning machine is easy.

The tool is fixed in the holder, the sharpener turns on, and the working edges are slightly pressed against the circle at the desired angle. If there are small burrs before turning, remove them evenly from all sides.

Correct angle

There is a dependence on the workpiece material of the angle of sharpening of a drill for metal, the table of which is given below.