Drill doctors

[Brett57]

Has anyone had experience with the XP drill doctor for sharpening HSS drills.
cheers

[snowgum]

Hi

I own a 500x drill doctor if it's any help, as they all operate on a very similar design and use the same cutting wheels on all models.
I upgraded mine by purchasing an extra 750x chuck that takes drill bits with a shank up to 16mm as the standard chuck only takes bits with a max 13mm shank.
I think the Drill doctor 750x comes with both chucks and has more adjustable drill point cutting angles but otherwise is the same as the 500x.
I have used mine regularly for the last 10 years and have reversed the Dimond cutting wheel once as the first side was getting blunt. I also purchase a spare cutting wheel just in case.

I used to work in the building and construction industry and was continually drilling through soft materials into brick and concrete and therefore was require to do a lot of drill sharpening or spend a heap on replacing blunt drill bit's. I could no way get a drill sharpened on a grinder by hand as well as I could with the drill doctor. All in all I would definitely say the drill doctor has well paid for it's self over it's life, usually I sharpen a lot of blunt bit's at one time in batches.

Pro's;-
Really fast.
Accurate.
Easy to use.
Has a split point function.
Cuts both 118º & 135º for drilling either soft or hard materials.
Can repair broken drills tips.

Con's;-
Not much use for bits bellow 3mm (the manual says 2.5mm but good luck trying to get a crisp point).
Not very good with Tungsten (almost useless).
Can't sharpen Brad-point bits.

Hope the above info helps.

[twosheds]

Hi Brett57

Pretty much what snowgum has said, especially his pro/con list. I have the DD500X and have found it very good. I also have the drill sharpening jig for my Tormek grinder. In comparison the Tormek jig gives a little bit better result than the DD but at the expense of cost (about 3x more expensive than the DD) and speed (about 4 times slower) and portability (not really portable). I bought the DD with the intention of using it whilst working away but found I now also use it at home probably more than the Tormek because its so convenient and I'm a lazy bugger.

my 2c worth....Twosheds

[Cgcc]

I also have the Tormek DBS jig.

I am glad I am not alone on the speed issue! I feel I need to re-learn it each time. Maybe it would speed up considerably with regular use over time.

I cannot imagine in a time-is-money production setting it would be practicable except for perhaps the larger type of bits.


Hi Brett57

Pretty much what snowgum has said, especially his pro/con list. I have the DD500X and have found it very good. I also have the drill sharpening jig for my Tormek grinder. In comparison the Tormek jig gives a little bit better result than the DD but at the expense of cost (about 3x more expensive than the DD) and speed (about 4 times slower) and portability (not really portable). I bought the DD with the intention of using it whilst working away but found I now also use it at home probably more than the Tormek because its so convenient and I'm a lazy bugger.

my 2c worth....Twosheds

[qwertyu]

I have the 500

One thing to note, the way to aligns the drill bit doesnt work with split points, it might take a few trys to get the alignment to work

Also, some drills with odd spiral 'thread pitch' it also doesnt work well need to muck around a bit to get the alignment right

its a pain to use for anything under about 6mm too IMO

[snowgum]

Hi All

Yes I too have a Tormek sharpener, it's way to slow for dill bit sharpening and maybe better for 2mm to 3mm drill bits.

And yes I have also found that when resharpening split point bit's the locator mechanism tends to place the bit's too far anticlockwise causing a flat top, however I found that the DrillDoctor has indexing in the chuck receiver which allows adjustment to the rake of the drill bits tip, for split point I just rotate the chuck a couple of index point clockwise and the rake of the drill point is then just right.

[Handyjack]

I also have DD 500.
Found it a joy to use. Makes a difference for even new bits.
Smaller bits are harder/impossible to set up for the simple reason you cannot get your fingers to adjust them in the chuck for setting up.
If your hands are not so steady, eye sight not too good, or you do not have a bench grinder this is an easy way to sharpen your bits.

I do not expect that I will save more from not buying bits than what it cost me, but then again if it stops me buying more bits it is a plus.
Also saves time by not having to go to your supplier for a sharp (are they?) bit.

[harmo]

Hi all,

I have not tried the XP. From what I've heard, I think it's like the 350X in that it only does 118 degree tip angles. (One setting). That works for general purpose bits, but if you do any sort of multi-material work where wider angles are necessary, it might not suit you. If you do any metal work where a 135 degree angle is typically used.. then you might want to consider a 500x.

I've had the 750X for about 5 years now, I'm on my second diamond wheel.... and it has lasted very well for the use I've put it through. The Drill Doctor (any model) is not the most intuitive device to use initially, but once you've got the process set, it's a breeze to use on most twist bits. I've even read online that there's a chuck for spade bits... but I have not used it myself.

As others have said, the difference any Drill Doctor makes to "not buying more bits" is great... but I find regular sharpening prevents heat-induced brittleness. Even so, I've found that having less snapped bits is even more profound (financially). Although I must admit, I drill almost as much metal as I do wood.. so your needs mileage may vary.

Much of what the 500x owners have said reflect what I've experienced. I just want to say the 750X comes with one, larger three-quarter-inch chuck, where the XP, 350X and 500X come with a half-inch chuck.

Perhaps unusually, my Drill Doctor is a US model, because at the time I bought it, it was cheaper to buy a step-down transformer and a 110V model from the US than it was to buy a 240V model domestically. I'm all for supporting local business, but when the markup (at the time) was nearly 50%, after shipping, budgetary constraints became a priority.

I don't know if it makes a difference to you. The 500x can only do two point angles (118 and 135 degrees), and I have to be honest, I spend most of my time on 118... but I have made some pointed 115 degree bits for my softer-mixed-materials projects, and I've gone the other, wider-angled way for the bits that are used for metal, and/or are used in my drill press, and won't wander off. If you work with everything from wood, to hard metals, to soft plastics... the 750 will have an advantage because it can create quite a few angles between 115 and 140 degrees). If you're a wood purist, and don't have bits bigger than 12mm then the 500 is more than adequate.

I agree that carbide bits can be a pain to sharpen, but to answer your question.... HSS bits are really it's "bread and butter" material and I find it works really well.

As others have mentioned, carbide isn't as easy as HSS...but it is technically doable if you're willing to replace the grinding wheels more often, and I find it works better with a "lighter touch, but more rotations" (reduces chipping), spaced out or quenched to reduce heat. The number of rotations really depends on the size of the bit. I can spend multiple minutes (say 3) just doing a light touch-up sharpening on a 6mm carbide bit. If you're regrinding a snapped bit from scratch... well.. that takes quite a while. That said, using the Drill Doctor is far more reliable than eyeballing it on a grinder.

Also, I tend to sharpen down to 4mm bits on my sharpening binges... I'll do 3.5mm or even 3mm if I don't have many of those bits spare.. but below 3mm is cheap enough to replace.

I liked the honesty of Handyjack's comment above:

"I do not expect that I will save more from not buying bits than what it cost me, but then again if it stops me buying more bits it is a plus."

To that, I say this:

Offer to sharpen your friends and family's drill bits for them. It doesn't take long, and if you've got a spare afternoon while watching your favourite team/movie/show as you sharpen stuff up... it's almost no effort at all. When people see just how much of an improvement a sharp bit has over the "caveman clubs" they've been trying to use, they'll often be impressed. If you've done it a few times, people don't forget that. The good will, favours, free labour/trailer use, food and beverages I've gotten have significantly exceeded the value of my sharpener. It also gives you a chance to meet up fellow wood workers/makers, and enjoy some time "talking shop".

But why stop there?

I also occasionally buy "bulk used lots" of drill bits on eBay...

https://waywardham.net/images/articlepics/Woodworking/Tools/olddrillbitsinbulk.jpg

...then I remove any rust/grime, sharpen the appropriately sized ones up (only two/three in the image above was too big for the 750), using the Drill Doctor on a quiet afternoon, listening to music or audio books. I keep the new/esoteric bits, and if I have too many of one type, I'll swap my excess bits for stuff I want/need with friends and family, or sell them on Gumtree. Once you've established yourself as a tool-savvy person, particularly the kind of person who restores/maintains their tools, I've found that people offer excess tools when they down size, or someone passes away.

Literally, I've inherited a mechanic's entire workshop of tools from his widow... I told her to sell it and do something nice for herself, but she just wanted it "to go somewhere it'll be used". I had it for a week, but since I don't do much mechanical work, I've "loaned" them to an old farmer friend so I don't have to store it, and I get a lamb or two worth of butchered meat each spring. I can even ask for it back if I want.. but frankly.. I probably won't... the lamb is more valuable to me, and the space in my shed is too limited. :-)

Anyway, I hope that helps to answer your question.. and maybe helps you in ways you mightn't have considered before... maybe you can justify buying a bigger model?

All the best!
Hamish.