Regarding the video by the gentleman from Ireland, I believe that the degree of success that is achieved with his hardware, as demonstrated, has about the same likelyhood of producing a centered, equal profile on each side, as simply hand grinding, it will never be very accurate.
Should he solidly mount the grinder to the board, square to his work and dress the wheel, his chances will greatly improve. Add to that a change in technique, that of sparking out each side before advancing the drill into the wheel, will help approaching equal grinds and a centered point. Achieving that with his technique will be a seldom to never experience, depending on ones interpretations of "centered" and "equal". To me, those words need no qualifiers like
sorta' or close..... An easy modification to his bottom stop, the addition of an advancement screw, will help a great deal.
I can't speak to any of the brands of drill grinders above but the Sterling. It controls all facets of the process, leaving nothing to chance, if operator technique is thoughtful. It produces a very good grind on up to a 3" X 20" drill but does not address point thinning. It is fast to set up and to get a good grind, needing no ancillary devices, such as collets, cams etc. It does however feature a well mounted diamond point wheel dresser, that handily hangs just out of the way, ready to sweep across the face of the wheel at any moment. I've found that with the Sterling, each dressing lasts for quite a lot of sharpening. The drill being arced across a wide flat face.
In my shop, I collect dull drills, usually 'til I don't have a sharp one in the size that I need, then I sharpen all of them. I sort the drills to size, largest first, as the Sterling (and most others) require adjustment for diameter, clearly marked on a easily adjusted wheel. A pile of dull only, (no big chips etc.) of 10 to 20 large drills, doesn't eat much of a hole in my day, it's quick.
Starting with one of the rolling file cabinets, of the single "drawer" variety, with a top that lifts and slides back to rest vertically behind the cabinet, I built a stair-stepped assembly of four plywood platforms, each with 3 layers of plywood, each spaced appropriately to accommodate MT #1, #2, #3 and #4, different diameters of holes drilled in the top two layers of each and spaced, to suit each taper, with the third, bottom pieces, as a stop for the tangs.
It makes me feel rich to slide back the top and see dozens of sharp drills sticking up for the choosing, certain that each will produce two equal chips to the proper diameter, cutting fast and smooth. The 50 years I spent hand sharpening drills without the Sterling, keeps my appreciation
very high, approaching giddy.
I look forward to the sharpening sessions.
Bob
Which drill grinder (pointer) to buy?
Linear Mode
