ajchien
Well-known member
I think I've gotten decent in hand grinding / sharpening my broken or dull drill bits. I'm wondering if anyone here can tell me how to grind in split point tips?
Can you hand sharpen split points into drill bits?
- Thread starter ajchien
- Start date
>1st square the tool rest to the wheel
>go to a machinists tool supply and buy a mounted diamond for truing grinding wheels
>I got a threaded one because it makes setting the depth easier, make a fixture to hold it, use the edge of the tool rest as a depth stop
>you need a sharp corner on the wheel
>I work off the right side of the wheel and use the light reflection off the split to get them the same
its not hard to do just takes a little practice.....and magnifiers in my old age
>go to a machinists tool supply and buy a mounted diamond for truing grinding wheels
>I got a threaded one because it makes setting the depth easier, make a fixture to hold it, use the edge of the tool rest as a depth stop
>you need a sharp corner on the wheel
>I work off the right side of the wheel and use the light reflection off the split to get them the same
its not hard to do just takes a little practice.....and magnifiers in my old age
Kevin54
MEMBER EMERITUS
You can also mount a Dremel into some sort of a holder and use the small thin Dremel cutoff wheels to finish up the drill point.
Here is a little bit on making a split point http://its.fvtc.edu/machshop1/bench/Webthinning.htm
Just a web grab here
this is where the Dremel cutoff wheel comes in handy to split the point.
The bad thing about most home grinders is the fact that the wheels are too course and too soft to hold a nice square edge. One actually needs a wheel that is more along the lines of a wheel for a surface grinder. Then you can dress the wheel to have a square edge that will hold it's shape for quite a while.
Above all, a good set of magnifying glasses really help to see what you're doing too.
Here is a little bit on making a split point http://its.fvtc.edu/machshop1/bench/Webthinning.htm
Just a web grab here
The bad thing about most home grinders is the fact that the wheels are too course and too soft to hold a nice square edge. One actually needs a wheel that is more along the lines of a wheel for a surface grinder. Then you can dress the wheel to have a square edge that will hold it's shape for quite a while.
Above all, a good set of magnifying glasses really help to see what you're doing too.
OccupantRJ
Well-known member
After you practice for a while, you can also offhand grind your own brad point drills for woodworking.
After you practice for a while, you can also offhand grind your own brad point drills for woodworking.
Do you have a pic of one you did?
This man knows what he is talking about. I will typically only do it on ~3/16" and larger bits, medium grit stone, freshly trued. You could also get a 6" cuttoff wheel to mount on your bench grinder, just use caution as like all cutoff wheels it is not designed nor will it tolerate side loads.All true. I can get a fairly decent profile on 3/8 and up offhand; no way on smaller ones. Regular alum-ox wheels just don't hold a corner well enough to do a really good split point without dressing the wheel every time. Ditto bradpoints, but since 1/2 or so is mostly what I use, that works out ok.
Diamond is the answer, and they're getting comparitively cheap these days. Can anyone recommend a diamond wheel suitable for this purpose on a plain ol' 6" bench grinder - without liquid coolant? Occasional use - shop use, but far short of production or industrial. Any point in looking at HF, or is it **** at any price?
Diamond is the answer, and they're getting comparitively cheap these days. Can anyone recommend a diamond wheel suitable for this purpose on a plain ol' 6" bench grinder - without liquid coolant? Occasional use - shop use, but far short of production or industrial. Any point in looking at HF, or is it **** at any price?