How and with what to sharpen drills

Do-it-yourself metal drill sharpening video

Sharpening metal tools allows you to fully restore their functionality. The operation can be performed using various auxiliary devices.

How to properly sharpen a drill for metal and not spoil the cutting surface of the product will be discussed in the publication.

Signs of dull metal drills

Sharpening should be started only when obvious signs of dullness of the cutting edge are detected.

Among the main manifestations of the disease are the following:

• increased noise during operation;
• metal shavings have a fine fraction;
• tool overheating.

When drilling metal with a dull drill, a high-frequency sound occurs from the friction of the working edge against the workpiece. Therefore, if increased noise occurs, you should postpone work and start sharpening. If you continue drilling into metal, the cutting product will heat up to too high a temperature due to excessive heat.

Before the above-described signs appear, a decrease in the sharpness of the drill may be indicated by the absence of spiral chips. Such a sign cannot always be detected in time. If the drill, when fed correctly, produces too small chips during operation, it is recommended to immediately begin debugging the tool.

How to sharpen a drill for metal

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

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

Many devices allow you to debug metal cutting products with a diameter of 3 to 19 mm. To turn 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 using the above-described tandem of a sharpening wheel and a holder, or straighten the tool manually.

You can sharpen a drill with a file without experience. The main thing is to choose the right file. Considering the fact that even cheap drills are made of high-quality cutting steel, you will need to select a diamond-coated needle file. In addition to the file, you need to prepare a vice in which to fix the tool.

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

Sharpening a drill with a grinder

Almost every home workshop has a grinding machine, so the method will be one of the most budget-friendly.

In addition to the grinder with the grinding wheel installed, you need to prepare a vice in which to hold the drill during sharpening. The room where the tool is being adjusted should be light so that the process of removing metal from the cutting surface can be controlled.

Debugging is carried out in the following sequence:

• the drill is installed in a vice in a vertical position;
• a grinder is used to remove part of the trailing edge to completely eliminate signs of wear;
• The cutting edge is sharpened at an angle of 120 degrees.

To prevent the drill from overheating during the turning process, the contact of the emery wheel with the metal should last no more than 2 seconds. By repeatedly removing a small amount of metal from the working edge, it is possible to adjust the tool to the required angle.

For measurements, it is recommended to make a template from plastic that will help control the sharpening angle.

It is more convenient and safer to carry out work using a grinding wheel and a special holding device.

Sharpening a drill with a sharpener

Determining the amount of damage to a cutting product and debugging by eye is possible after many years of practice.

In other cases, you can install a special drill holder in close proximity to the emery wheel. The fastening must be strong so that the clamp does not move during work. If the sharpener is fixed to a wooden base, installation of the clamp must still be done using a bolted connection.

To perform sharpening: the tool is securely fixed in the holding device, the sharpener motor is turned on and the drill comes into contact for a short time with the grinding wheel at a pre-selected angle.

1. If nicks have formed on the surface of the cutting product, then before debugging it, it is necessary to remove the damage evenly on both sides.
2. Caution should be exercised. Products of large diameter are heated from contact with the abrasive wheel to high temperatures, which leads to a decrease in the mechanical strength of the metal.

Sharpening using a drill attachment

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

You can purchase the attachment at any specialized store, but the device can only be used for sharpening medium-diameter products. Most of these attachments allow you to effectively turn tools with a diameter of 4 to 10 mm.

For beginners, the method is the most preferable. Drill sharpening is performed as follows.

• install the attachment on the drill;
• the drill is inserted into a hole of a suitable diameter;
• the drill is turned on and the product is sharpened on one side;
• By turning the drill 180 degrees, the opposite edge is sharpened.

To use the device effectively, consider the following features:

1. Only slightly dull tools can be sharpened using a drill attachment. If there is deep damage to the cutting surface and the drill is overheated, it will not be possible to restore the product.
2. 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 modify the products with a file.

Despite some disadvantages of this design, its use simplifies and speeds up the process of restoring cutting edges, and its low cost explains its popularity.

How to sharpen small items

Unfortunately, it is unlikely to be possible to sharpen a thin drill using mechanized methods, including drill attachments. All work to restore a small-diameter product will need to be done manually.

The first attempt may fail, so you should first select an inexpensive thin drill that needs restoration and perform the operation on it. To work, you will also need a small diamond file and glasses with 4x magnification.

Source: https://MyTooling.ru/instrumenty/zatochka-sverla-po-metallu-svoimi-rukami-video

How to sharpen a tapered step drill

Professionals know that a step drill for metal has another name – conical. It is called stepped because its appearance resembles steps. In its execution it looks like steps.

The stepped shape is due to a smooth spiral transition, and all steps are characterized by their own special diameter, due to this you can understand during the work process how large or small the hole being created will be.

For those who are planning to drill holes for the first time, it is difficult to understand why they need to use step drills, given that in stores you can find a large number of other devices with which you can create holes in metal of the required size. An unknowing person may have the impression that there will be no benefit from purchasing a step drill, but only money will be wasted, and considerable money at that.

To convince such people otherwise, we will now discuss the advantages of cone drills and the situations for which they can be used.

Features of using cone drills

A step drill is characterized by the presence of cutting edges characterized by high strength characteristics. This is precisely what accounts for their high durability.

A special feature of step devices is that they can be used to perform a list of jobs that would normally require the use of a fairly large number of other tools.

And it is precisely the versatility of step metal drills that determines their high price.

Among other advantages that this type of product has, we should highlight the drilling speed.

This allows you to ensure high quality edges even when working with thin sheet metal.

Cone-type devices are suitable for creating holes in different materials:

• metal;
• drywall;
• tree;
• plastic.

The design has a sharp tip , which effortlessly enters a metal product, regardless of the degree of density of its structure. The owner does not have to resort to the help of a centering element, which makes using such a tool quite simple.

The design features of conical products are responsible for the fact that they eliminate the need to use an angle grinder and a needle file. Only this one tool allows you to grind the finished hole.

Such drills have translational channels that are of a special size, and the smooth transition is usually in the range of 35-453 . Thanks to this feature, when creating holes in thin metal with such drills, work efficiency can be increased by 50%.

In addition to this, the special design of the tool makes it easier to penetrate deep into the material being processed, which at the same time allows this device to enter quite smoothly.

A similar attachment can be equipped with drilling tools with automated and manual drive. The conical device is characterized by increased strength, which is due to the presence of abrasive coating.

Diamond or titanium shavings can be used as a material for it . They allow you to avoid frequent sharpening of products when operating the device under standard load conditions.

Conical drills for metal work differ in their cost, which is determined by the diameter of their working part and the type of spraying. On average, these devices are offered at prices ranging from 2 thousand to 5 thousand rubles.

Quite relevant when drilling holes is the problem of “torn” holes, characterized by the presence of different shapes. The simplest solution to this problem is to use a step drill for metal.

If you choose the diameter of the device wisely, the owner will have the opportunity to create a hole even in the place where an attempt has already been made and ended in failure.

For this reason, a step drill can be considered a universal device, the presence of which will not hinder every workshop worker, installer and home craftsman.

How to choose a step drill?

In order not to make a mistake when choosing a step tool, you must first find out what key technical characteristics it has.

When considering various modifications, you should pay attention to the color of the product , and this is not related to the aesthetic component.

• If the product is made in a steel-gray color, then this will be a hint that steel was used as the material for the tool, which was not treated with the necessary processing. Therefore, most likely, the quality of such a tool will be low.
• If the drill is made of black steel, then this is a sign that the material has been processed using hot steam. This operation increases the strength characteristics of the material. A drilling product in such an embodiment will be more preferable than a device with which no manipulations have been carried out.
• If the drill material is golden-colored steel, it means that during the manufacturing process of the tool, internal stress was removed from the metal. The benefit of this operation is to provide greater convenience when working with such a drill.
• If the drilling device is characterized by the presence of a bright golden hue, then this is a sign of the presence of a wear-resistant surface layer, for which titanium nitride is chosen in most cases. Although such a drill is noticeably more expensive, in terms of operation it outperforms many simple products.

Steel specifications and markings

There is no need to dwell in detail on all types of steels that can be used to create step drills due to their large number.

For this reason, the best choice would be a product that has the HSS mark .

From this you can understand that this tool can provide high-speed drilling without allowing the metal to deform when heated.

Diameter of working thresholds, starting and final

Already at the very beginning of the choice, you need to pay attention to these parameters, given that the average price for drills reaches 2,500 rubles.

Manufacturer and cost of step devices

The first criterion is so important, since it is best to choose a drill for the manufacture of which steel was used that meets the requirements of the current GOST.

If it is important for you to be sure that the drilling product you purchase is of guaranteed high quality, then you can pay attention to products under the TOP CRAFT brand .

Possibility of sharpening

According to experts, the absence of such an option in the drill will ensure a long service life, since the user will not change the configuration of the product.

At the same time, in some situations it may be necessary to sharpen the device, which will also increase its service life.

Here you can make a final decision, focusing only on your opinion.

Sharpening a step drill for metal

In stores, such drills are presented in several versions. The capabilities of the proposed models make it possible to create holes reaching a diameter of about 4-32 mm .

Some of these drills provide the possibility of sharpening, for which it is important to strictly follow the manufacturer’s recommendations.

At the same time, there are also devices that cannot be sharpened.

Compared to conventional metal drills, sharpening stepped products can be fraught with certain difficulties.

If this operation is performed in violation of the rules, the cutting edge may acquire such a shape that it will no longer be possible to create a hole with it.

Although this procedure is quite simple in terms of implementation.

In some cases, to perform high-quality sharpening of a step drill, it is necessary to prepare sandpaper, which is subsequently attached to a special rotating wheel.

If necessary, sharpening of such drills can be done “by hand”, as well as using a sharpening machine for end mills .

The “hands-on” method is more suitable for situations where you only need to update metal step drills equipped with straight flutes.

If you have to deal with a device characterized by the presence of spiral channels, then it is better to opt for sharpening using a machine.

You can give the working edge of a product improved cutting properties without much effort if you purchased a drill from a reliable manufacturer.

  Electric drill sharpener

Cost and practical advice on choosing

When choosing step or cone drills, you must keep in mind that their price will be influenced by the following factors:

• the type of material chosen by the manufacturer to create the drilling fixture;
• working diameter.

Currently, stores offer a large number of step drills that differ in price.

For example, you can buy a device with titanium coating, with which you can create holes with a diameter of 4-20 mm, for 440 rubles .

At the same time, for a similar drill, which allows you to drill holes with a diameter of 4-30 mm, you will have to pay up to 1100 rubles. The prices given refer to products from Russian manufacturers.

If you need a step-type drill from a well-known manufacturer, capable of providing a hole with a diameter of 6-39 mm, then you will have to pay up to 5 thousand rubles .

It is not uncommon for the vast majority of buyers to hesitate to pay high prices for drills from well-known manufacturers.

After all, we often have to deal with a situation where the declared quality does not correspond to reality, and sometimes the consumer buys a fake instead of the original.

Conclusion

Taper drill bits for metal workpieces can make your drilling job much easier. But for this you need to choose the right devices.

Here you need to take into account many parameters, starting with the design of the device and ending with the nature of the drilling work.

If you take into account all these nuances, you can choose a high-quality product for drilling that will last a long time.

• Alexander Romanovich Chernyshov

Source: https://steelfactoryrus.com/kak-zatochit-konusnoe-stupenchatoe-sverlo/