Serious question about drill bit sharpening

I always thought sharpening drill bits was a waste of time. I figured just buy new ones for $8 a pack at Harbor Freight and call it a day. Then last month I was working on a Cessna 172 panel at work in Phoenix and my coworker Steve handed me this old dull bit he had fixed up on a bench grinder. I drilled through that aluminum like butter. It took him maybe 2 minutes to do it. I looked up the cost of a good set of carbide bits and it's like $60 for five. So now I'm thinking I should learn how to sharpen. But the jigs I see online cost anywhere from $20 to $200. Has anyone here actually used one of those cheap drill doctor things or is a bench grinder with a cheap fixture the way to go?

2 comments

2 Comments

sage_ramirez4212d ago

Anyone else find themselves buying new bits just to avoid admitting you don't know how to grind them either?

parkera2212d ago

My garage has a whole drawer of 'emergency backups' that are really just bits I never tried to sharpen. The price of a new 1/4 inch bit is less than the pride hit of watching me ruin a perfectly good one on the grinder for 20 minutes.