drill sets

[Peter G. ShawParticipant @peterg-shaw75338]

And of course, another advantage of the metric series drills rising by 0.1mm is that the butts can be used as a source of hole measuring devices, ie enter the butt ends until one doesn't go in. Now by measuring that particular butt end, and the previous one that did go in using the micrometer, one can find a small hole diameter to within 0.1mm.

Rough & ready? Almost certainly, but practical.

Regards,

Peter G. Shaw

[David ColwillParticipant @davidcolwill19261]

I bought a set of blacksmiths drills on ebay, they are not something I need very often and I do have odds and sods kicking about but thought it would be useful to have a set. When they arrived I was most impressed they was all shiny and looked to be ground a treat. I decided there and then they should looked after and not abused. Then the time came when I needed some bushes with a19mm hole. the first one was opened out to 18mm with an old morse taper drill and then out came the new blacksmiths drill. A slowish speed, coolant on, no need to hurry. All seemed well until the lathe ( a DSG) gave a little sort of cough and unwound my new drill. Since then I have been collecting old morse taper drills with knackered tapers which I then machine to a parallel shank.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Drill sets like collet sets and 2 for £3 offers in supermarkets are designed to make us waste money on things we will never use all of.

[Old RaftParticipant @oldraft]

Regardless of what sets you buy, metric, imperial, letter or number drills and what make the most important factor is learning to sharpen them, and the only way to sharpen small sizes is to use some form of jig. You will often find that cheap sets are not sharpened properly from new so they take much more force (and therefore snap), don't drill to size etc. So check and as necessay sharpen before initial use.

There is a certain amount of information on the web on drill sharpening, but read plenty as much of it is incomplete and confusing. I believe that Derek Brown had an article published in 1996 in ME where he described a jig for sharpening small sizes e.g. #42 to #80. If any knows of a copy of the plans for this jig or the availability of a copy of the 1996 edition please let me know.

A good starting point for information is………

http://www.gadgetbuilder.com/DrillSharp.html

Using four facet sharpening you will use less force have fewer breakages and cleaner holes of the right size. However four facet is not necessarilly good for drilling brass and the included angle of most drills (118 degrees) also needs to be adjusted (increased) too to prevent snagging as the drill breaks through the metal.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Help! Axminster have 170 drills for £30 on offer this week. Someone beat me over the head and tell me not to give in to temptation.

[SteambuffParticipant @steambuff]

Consider yourself beaten over the head

Seriously … how many of them would you actually use? and what is the quality like?

Dave

[michael mParticipant @michaelm]

Bazyle, please don't do it. I bought ten drills from Axminster and every one was ground off centre. They're possibly OK for woodwork but certainly not for metal

Michael

[magpieParticipant @magpie]

Bazyle, please see my post on page 1 of this thread, 5th one down.

Cheers Derek

[Martin Walsh 1Participant @martinwalsh1]

I would go for the best you can afford.

there is a dormer metric set 3 to 13mm .5 mm Increments Brand New

going for £59 buy it now ebay uk

Best Wishes Martin

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

A moment of weakness. Thanks for your support.

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Hi

"…… a jig for sharpening small sizes e.g. #42 to #80. "

Is this device the " Wishbone Drill Sharpener" ?

If so I think I have details somewhere.

Regards

Norman

[Old RaftParticipant @oldraft]

Hello,

Not sure if it was called the "Wishbone…………" but regardless if you have any plans that could easily be posted here they would be appreciated as I'm looking at as many different jig designs as possible to find the most effective and with the lowest cost and least effort to build.

Regards……

[Chris TriceParticipant @christrice43267]

Posted by Peter G. Shaw on 06/01/2013 20:41:23:

And of course, another advantage of the metric series drills rising by 0.1mm is that the butts can be used as a source of hole measuring devices, ie enter the butt ends until one doesn't go in. Now by measuring that particular butt end, and the previous one that did go in using the micrometer, one can find a small hole diameter to within 0.1mm.

Rough & ready? Almost certainly, but practical.

Regards,

Peter G. Shaw

I do this myself but it's worth noting that the shank of most drills is slightly under its stated size. If you're measuring with a micometer, it's irrelevant but don't take the stated size on the drill as the actual size of the shank.

[chris stephensParticipant @chrisstephens63393]

Hi Guys'

Derek's drill sharpener is not a "wishbone" but his own design and is a very good design basis. If you look at http://www.gadgetbuilder.com/DrillSharp.html#Four_Facet you will see a modification of his design that has wheels. I must admit that i made another change to the design by putting grinding stops to save the need to constantly look through high power magnification to see when to stop sharpening. I also made one, with stops, that sharpens up to 7mm. Such a pleasure to be able to use a sharp drill, I would recommend their use to all.

chriStephens

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

Posted by NJH on 30/01/2013 18:27:11:

Hi

"…… a jig for sharpening small sizes e.g. #42 to #80. "

Is this device the " Wishbone Drill Sharpener" ?

If so I think I have details somewhere.

Regards

Norman

Norman

I saw a reference to the 'Wishbone' sharpener in MEW years ago but have never actually seen a picture or plans for one. If you do have the details I for one would be grateful if you could put a link to them on here.

Regards

Ian

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Hi Ian and " Old Raft" – do you have a name?

I will try to locate the article but it may take some time I suspect!

A search on this site for " Wishbone Drill Sharpener" returns a PDF of Model Mechanics Vol1 Issue 2

( I know I took this short lived publication many years ago ( 1979!!) so that may be what I'm remembering – sadly though I can't see any reference to the sharpener in the PDF version)

I must say that my approach to drills this small is to buy several, treat them as expendable and not try to sharpen them. A No. 80 drill – 0.35mm I have trouble seeing – let alone sharpening!

Regards

Norman

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

Norman

I thought it was 'you' that 'thought' you had the details!

There was picture in MEW (in the last 4 years or so) which I think was in an article about drill sharpening generally. It looked liked two triangles of sheet metal that somehow allowed small drills to be sharpened on an oilstone.

Ian

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Hi Ian

Yep – that's the sharpener I was thinking of. However it was not the first time I'd come across it and I suspect the first time may well have been in the Model Mechanics I referenced. I know that I chucked my copies of that mag. a year or so ago – it was either that or move to a bigger house. ( It is a pretty big house already and, since moving here about 13 years ago, we seem have been doing our very best to fill it!)

I have old MEW so when I get a moment I will trawl through the past 4 years – thats is not a speedy task however as I keep seeing interesting bits that divert me from my search!

Cheers

Norman

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

The 'wishbone' concept is simple. The wheels at each side align a drill clamped or chucked in the middle at 118 degrees one way or the other. You then pull it back across a stone, gently leaning it to the right to give a little relief.

Neil

[Dennis RParticipant @dennisr]

Found a picture of a "wishbone" sharpening kit in Model Mechanics May 1979

Dennis

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

Google throws up quite a lot of references to wishbone sharpeners, most of the search results are people asking where to get them!

It seems that it was a commercial device originally which I presume is no longer made, hopefully any patent has run out so if anyone has one they can measure or provide details of it would be useful device to make.

Ian

[David LittlewoodParticipant @davidlittlewood51847]

You don't need the patent to have run out to make a copy for your own use.

David

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

Posted by David Littlewood on 31/01/2013 20:10:11:

You don't need the patent to have run out to make a copy for your own use.

David

Very true, the only reason I mentioned it was to allay any fears of anybody that had details, but was an ultra cautious kind of person.

Going by some recent topics on this forum one has to be careful to avoid anything that might upset MyTimeMedia

Ian

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

I have one of these beasts. Here are the instructions:

Rod

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

In my defence push away and lean to the left works like pull towards and lean to the right

Neil

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