Cleaning and storage of drill bits?

[evintho]

Received my new Drill Doctor yesterday. What an amazing tool! Once I got it figured out, I sharpened every drill in my entire index in a half hour, all the way down to 1/16! Very simple and repeatable.

My plan is to spray all my bits down with Simple Green to remove any oil, grease, metal shavings, drywall, etc. Wipe them down and then either dunk them lightly in motor oil or spray them with WD-40 and then replace them in the drill box. Is this overkill? Do they need some sort of protection from the elements? What do you guys do?

Actually, they're just the cheap black oxide bits but now that they're sharp again, I feel I owe them some type of pampering! A drill bit tune-up, if you will!

 

[wilbilt]

I recently bought a Drill Doctor as well. It's kind of addictive once I get started sharpening bits.

I don't know that WD-40 would be a good choice as a protectant. It is essentially a solvent and evaporates rather quickly. I have never used anything on mine, but was wondering about the waxy stuff that professional sharpeners use on bits and saw blades.

It looks almost like a plastic, but is sort of gummy and peels off easily. Does anyone know what it is?

 

[eschoendorff]

I just spray my stuff down with CorrosionX.


www.corrosionx.com

 

[SteveU]

Amsoil heavy duty Metal Protector spray would work well for this type thing. It hardens to a waxy film that is pretty durable, I use it on the auger & chute on the snowblower, pipe wrench & channel lock jaws. It lasts through the whole winter in the snowblower so should pretty much be permanant once you spray bits with it unless they get hot enough to melt it, if so just recoat.

 

[MXtras]

........ Does anyone know what it is?

http://www.dipseal.com - but it requires a crock pot kinda thing to melt it. I suppose a crock pot would work!

To clean and store - just wipe off and mist it with oil. I like "Rustlick" but WD-40 is better than nothing, but it doesn't stick around long as Wilbilt mentioned. McMastercarr has an aerosol spray that is similar to cosmoline.

Scott

 

[-lecroix-]

wipe them down with a shop rag dampened with old motor oil ... they'll be fine

 

[ImportTuner]

wipe them down with a shop rag dampened with old motor oil ... they'll be fine

Any reason you would use old motor oil as oppose to new motor oil?

 

[-lecroix-]

Because it's cheap.

You're not using it for lubricity purposes ... only as a rust prohibitive. New would be ok I suppose, but can't understand why anyone would use expensive new oil for something like this.

 

[ImportTuner]

Because it's cheap.

You're not using it for lubricity purposes ... only as a rust prohibitive. New would be ok I suppose, but can't understand why anyone would use expensive new oil for something like this.

A quart of 10-30 Castrol GTX cost $1.39 on sale ... not a whole lot of money to protect your tools from rust ...

 

[-lecroix-]

i highly doubt your drills are going to rust .. and if they do, big deal ... it's not like it's going to make them drill any differently. the only portion of a drill that does any cutting is the END ... first time you pull the trigger the rust is gone anyway.

some of you guys make me smile at how much time you spend thinking about stuff that really doesn't matter

 

[wilbilt]

some of you guys make me smile at how much time you spend thinking about stuff that really doesn't matter

It beats thinking about work...

 

[-lecroix-]

thinking about work = making money = buying more tools

 

[wilbilt]

Thinking about work = stressing = not sleeping = ulcers & gray hair.
I'd rather think about which chuck key I need for my new old drill press, or maybe how to keep my tools from rusting.

 

[-lecroix-]

if work causes that much stress, then I would find another occupation.

 

[wilbilt]

Yeah, but my desired occupation of "garage bum" doesn't pay the bills.

 

[ImportTuner]

i highly doubt your drills are going to rust .. and if they do, big deal ... it's not like it's going to make them drill any differently. the only portion of a drill that does any cutting is the END ... first time you pull the trigger the rust is gone anyway.

some of you guys make me smile at how much time you spend thinking about stuff that really doesn't matter

It's a tool forum ... gotta think about things you enjoy and want to protect ..

 

[evintho]

wipe them down with a shop rag dampened with old motor oil ... they'll be fine

Simple, yet effective. Works for me! Thanks everyone for the input!

 

[-lecroix-]

Yeah, but my desired occupation of "garage bum" doesn't pay the bills.

roger that brother ... roger that.

 

[-lecroix-]

It's a tool forum ... gotta think about things you enjoy and want to protect ..

I can understand enjoying and protecting things ... but come one, we're talking about drills here and preventing rust. The best way to keep them from rusting is by using them ... not worrying about whether you should be using used or new motor oil.

 

[toolfreak]

Thinking about work = stressing = not sleeping = ulcers & gray hair.

Or in my case no hair.

 

[eschoendorff]

Thinking about work = stressing = not sleeping = ulcers & gray hair.
I'd rather think about which chuck key I need for my new old drill press, or maybe how to keep my tools from rusting.

Yeah. What he said.

 

[wilbilt]

Or in my case no hair.

Getting there...let's not rush things...

 

[dink]

I am just curious what the financial benefit is to buying a drill doctor compared to buying a new bit when the old one wears out??

If I buy a drill doctor DD500X at Sears for $129.99 I could buy a 3/8 HSS (standard grade) bit at lets say a retail price of $3.00 I could buy almost 44 bits before I get to $130 dollars

Exactly how does the drill doctor become financially viable????????????

 

[wilbilt]

If you are buying $3 3/8" bits, there would probably be no savings.

I bought the DD "XP" sharpener on clearance at the local HD for about $60. It came with the 3/4" chuck upgrade. I have a lot of dull drill bits (100+) that need sharpening.
Most of these bits cost substantially more than $3.

I think the math speaks for itself, not to mention that I live at least 20 miles from the nearest place that sells drill bits.

 

[mike944]

The drill doctor comes in handy, because most people don't buy just the bit that got dull, they'll buy a new set. Now you have a leftover old set, with all used bits, and a few dull ones. If you can sharpen the old set, rather than buying a new one once or twice a year, there's some savings there.

I think the bigger advantage, is you always have a sharp bit around. If you're right in the middle of a project, and you dull a bit, you don't have to stop what you're doing, get into the car, drive to the drill bit store, etc...... It's more of a convienience thing for me. Plus, i, like most people, had a big pile of dull bits to sharpen. Now, i have all the sharp bits i need in my garage, and i shouldn't have to buy any more for a long, long time.

By the way, i use one of these for storage of drill bits: http://store.huot-store.com/tool-storage/product/13000.html (they're cheaper on ebay.) The drawer-cabinet is great, because if you have a whole pile of 1/4" bits, you can put them all in one location, instead of one index that's full, and a whole bunch of half-empty drill indexes, or worse yet, a box full of random-sized bits.

 

[PAToyota]

To me, the advantages of the Drill Doctor are not having to run out at weird hours for a drillbit and the fact that I keep the bits sharp... Typically you end up using a bit way past the point where it has started to dull and then end up breaking it. I've sharpened a bit two or three times in an afternoon if I'm working on something in particular. Just a quick touchup each time, but makes the drilling go so much more smoothly...

 

[Willy Victor]

I am just curious what the financial benefit is to buying a drill doctor compared to buying a new bit when the old one wears out??

If I buy a drill doctor DD500X at Sears for $129.99 I could buy a 3/8 HSS (standard grade) bit at lets say a retail price of $3.00 I could buy almost 44 bits before I get to $130 dollars

Exactly how does the drill doctor become financially viable????????????[/QUOTE

Dink you get the 350 for $59 now you're saving money.


Willy

 

[evintho]

DD500X at Amazon.com - $79 w/free shipping.

 

[MarkH]

I have been leary of drill bit sharpeners, I have had too many that did not work. Since it appears the Drill Doctor does not have the flaws of early products sold. If you are sharpening just 1/2 and smaller. Is it worth getting more than the 350? Volume less than 100 bits a year.

If it really works the travel time savings from not having to go get a working bit would pay for any version. But I guess I have been burnt by sharpening tools too often.

 

[mike944]

I have been leary of drill bit sharpeners, I have had too many that did not work........

I've also used several that worked poorly. The drill doctor is a big improvement. But.... it still doesn't get anywhere near a factory point, but it's by far the best of the "consumer-grade" shapeners out there. It does take some finesse to learn to use it, and you need to wear down the grinding wheel with a few large bits, before it produces acceptable finishes. The first handfull of bits have an extremely rough finish on them. After breaking it in, and learning some technique, i'm very pleased with it.

 

[ScottS]

I have to consider myself lucky in this area. Dad had a secondary machine shop operation when I was a kid. If it was dull sharpen it, I got to where if it spins and has abrasive on it we used it to sharpen drill bits

It takes a lot of practice and someone standing in your back pocket urging you on.

Thanks Dad!

Scott

 

[russlaferrera]

I recently bought a Drill Doctor as well. It's kind of addictive once I get started sharpening bits.

I don't know that WD-40 would be a good choice as a protectant. It is essentially a solvent and evaporates rather quickly. I have never used anything on mine, but was wondering about the waxy stuff that professional sharpeners use on bits and saw blades.

It looks almost like a plastic, but is sort of gummy and peels off easily. Does anyone know what it is?

It is a Thermo-plastic Rubber, Peel coat. It is put on hot We use a frydaddy hot pot. then dip the part in, let it dry . Takes about 1 min. Google at WWW.PEELCOAT.COM for more info.

 

[jvanhouten]

Speaking of drill bits, anyone have a recommendation on a decent set? I have too many sets of Home Despot **** with a couple of worn bits in them--that's what happens when you are the middle of a project that you _have_ to get done _now_ ;-)

I think it's time to get a DD and some good bits.

Thanks!

 

[PAToyota]

The Peelcoat stuff would be great for bits that you aren't using often, but would be a real pain if you use them with any frequency...

 

[MXtras]

"The Use a minimum of 20 to 25% of the dip tank's capacity everyday to prevent the darkening and degrading of the protective coatings." (from the website)

Degredation of the material is a problem - even in high volume shops. When it gets old it starts to smell like vomit. It's proably not something the home shop guy would really want to use.

This is typical of every coating I have ever used and I used to make my living sharpen cutting tools of every variety.

Scott