How to properly sharpen a metal drill with your own hands

A home-based craftsman always has a tool: a drill or a puncher. But drills are quickly erased, blunted. As a result, they have to be thrown away and searched in stores for new ones. But the real master saves his time and will try to figure out how to properly sharpen the metal drill and what adaptations are required for this.

What are the drills

They differ in metal and in diameter. Their characteristics depend on their purpose for processing specific types of material: wood, stone, metal. The latter kind is easiest to sharpen at home. Let us dwell on it. Each drill has 2 back surfaces, giving the tip of the instrument a conical shape, and 2 cutting edges. If you put it on a horizontally placed washer, the cutting edges will touch it, and the part behind them will lag behind them. It is located at a certain angle, which is called the "back". The run should roughly be 0.2 mm for each turn. All this you need to know if you are going to sharpen a metal drill with your own hands, for example, by organizing a workplace in the garage. After all, when processing a tool, you need to give it the right shape.

How to organize a workplace

You will need a grinding wheel. But you can do without it. For example, adapt an electric tool: a grinder with a rotating disc or an electric drill. The main thing is to install it on a bench and fix it well. When sharpening, the quality of the metal changes (it loses its malleability), and the drill heats up. To avoid this, you need to install a jar of water next to it. It will have to periodically immerse the tool being processed. You can use engine oil instead of water. Before you sharpen the drills for metal, care must be taken to avoid injury. Eyes should be protected with special glasses, they protect from chip and crumbs.

Sharpening

When starting to process the tool, it must be remembered that it must be at the same angle. Press the drill to the grinding wheel must be tight. The process of grinding on an electrodress consists of several stages. First, the tip of the drill is formed, then the cutting edge, and at the end the back surface is sharpened. Ideally, after processing, the rear should have the shape of a cone, and the cutting edge - to find the ideal angle.

When the main part of the work is done, it's time for debugging. A master professional can tell how to properly sharpen a drill for metal. He can be called in as mentors. If you want to master this case yourself, then start experimenting with broken, blunted tools. As a result of processing a jumper is formed. Drills with a diameter of up to seven millimeters, its length should be from 0.5 to 0.7 millimeters. For larger ones, it can be from one to one and a half millimeters. If the drill has a large diameter, then it is necessary to remove the faces on the shank. They experience great resistance to cutting. To do this, you need to accurately mark the circumference of the instrument in three parts. Now they need to carefully remove the metal to an equal depth.

Jumper processing

Another important point: you need to know how to properly sharpen a metal drill and process the jumper. Most often at home on a grinding machine it is difficult to achieve the desired result. The belt is needed in order to reduce the load on the drill, increase the speed and accuracy of drilling. The process as a whole consists of the following. The bridging of the jumper and the back face is done on the edge of the circle, at a slow speed. The drill must touch the sharpener for a short time. Then it should be taken aside, turned over to one hundred and eighty degrees, again pressed to the circle. Periodically, if the metal is heated, the tool to be processed should be dipped in water so that it does not lose elasticity. If you use a wet abrasive bar, the risk of spoiling the drill is significantly reduced.

Sharpening test

After the completion of the process, it is necessary to check the quality of the work done, the symmetry of the grinding. In order to see if the correct sharpening of the metal drill was carried out, you can arm yourself with a magnifying glass or use a drill. In it, you need to insert the machined tool and bring the marker to the cutting edge. Then turn off the drill and check where the trace on the drill was left. If one side is smeared more than the other, then it must be undermined. The second way is to drill plastic with a hand drill. On the side where more chips will go, the edge of the drill is larger. It also needs to be improved. After you properly sharpen the metal drill, you will get a tool with restored working qualities. To save them for a longer period, you will need a box. To avoid their damage, strikes against each other or about other objects, they must be wrapped in an oiled cloth or tied with an elastic band.