General Brand Drill Sharpener Technique?

[mcman56]

I bought one of these sharpeners to sharpen a Silver and Deming drill set. It was sold under various brand names including Craftsman. I sharpened a 5/8" and 3/4" plus pulled off their gripper and sharpened a 1". They look real nice but when measured the cutting edges are not even side to side. When I tightened down the drill holding screw, I noticed the drill would twist/ angle a bit. This happened with or without their original gripper. I was hoping this would twist the same on each side and even out but maybe it did not. Is there anything else that could cause this? I did keep the adjuster set the same for both sides. The little vertical alignment tab did not work well with the big drills so I eyeballed the alignment of the drill in the jig. Any advice?

[Russ Hanscom]

Never had any success with those, my technique is to use something else.

I have a Drill Doctor if it is a really critical bit, otherwise I am relatively proficient enough to offhand the larger, 3/16" and up, ones.

[SteveM]

On the big ones, hand grinding isn't that hard. Look up some videos on it. Not like you need eagle eyesight to see what you are doing.

If you are not comfortable with offhand grinding, you can take the drill that is off center, and adjust it in the holder until you get a centered grind.

Maybe you just take the uneven drill and hand grind the bad side until they match.

Steve

[mcman56]

I figures out the issue. The V location that the drill sits down in is inadequate for short big drills, they can rock around. Sitting a larger piece of angle in there provides a more stable base.

[davidhayes]

I also never had any luck with that type drill bit sharpener. So, after reading this posting I remember seeing on you tube a person using a wood adapter to grind his drills. I sort of borrowed his idea and the principal ideal of the general to make my own set up. I had already modified my bench grinder tool rest for other grind jobs. as for the uneven sides on the larger drills, the v groove does not support the land of the drill because of the spiral of the margin portion of the drill causing the drill to rock in the groove. I have compensated by putting a set screw in the bottom of the V. See attached pictures. I am still in the process of development.