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How to determine drill bit sharpness?

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tomhanaway

Joined: 12 Aug 2006
Posts: 111
Location: Murphy, NC

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 4:19 am Post subject: How to determine drill bit sharpness?

Working on drilling longerons.  Any general guidelines for determining when a #40 has lost its edge?

10, 50, 100. 300 holes?

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_________________
RV-10. Built and sold
RV-8a. Building

halbenjamin101(at)gmail.c
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Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 5:41 am Post subject: How to determine drill bit sharpness?

Hi Tom,



I think you should be able to get a few hundred pretty easily. When in doubt, try a new bit to see how it compares. When it starts taking significantly longer to drill a hole, change it out.



Hal Benjamin

RV-4 Flying



Sent from my iPad



 	  Quote: 	
		   On Mar 20, 2014, at 8:19 AM, "tomhanaway" <tomhanaway1(at)gmail.com> wrote:

 

 

 

 Working on drilling longerons.  Any general guidelines for determining when a #40 has lost its edge?

 10, 50, 100. 300 holes?

 

 --------

 RV-10. Built and sold

 RV-8a. Building

 

 

 

 

 Read this topic online here:

 

 http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=420665#420665

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bifft(at)xmission.com
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Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 7:21 am Post subject: How to determine drill bit sharpness?

On Thu, 20 Mar 2014, tomhanaway wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   



 Working on drilling longerons.  Any general guidelines for determining when a #40 has lost its edge?

 10, 50, 100. 300 holes?


	


  Go by how it drills.  If you are getting long spirals of aluminum it is

sharp.  If you are getting small chips it is dull.



  Brian Huffaker, DSWL (bifft(at)xmission.com)

  RV-8A 80091 baffling.

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kenbrooks(at)charter.net
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 1:23 pm Post subject: How to determine drill bit sharpness?

The other responders have it right - if you don't think it's cutting through fast enough, it's probably dull... try a new one.  For those of you (like me), always looking for an excuse to buy another tool, you might invest $50 on a Drill Doctor bit sharpener.  Mine works great and it saves trips to the DIY store aviation aisle.  Just follow the instructions that come with it closely and practice with a few old broken bits if you have any.  The cam action puts a beautiful, sharp edge on the bit, perfectly beveled.  I give it four and a half stars, and looks swell on the tool shelf.

http://www.drilldoctor.com/drill-sharpeners-and-accessories/drill-sharpeners/drill-doctor-model-350x.html



Ken Brooks

Really Slow RV-8 QB

Pushing to the end!

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jluckey(at)pacbell.net
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 2:11 pm Post subject: How to determine drill bit sharpness?

I have a Drill Doctor DD500X and agree w/ Ken - it is very handy.  It is really great for bits greater than about 3/16 in. (and those are the more expensive bits so being able to re-sharpen them is great).  But I don't have much luck w/ drills smaller than 3/16 in.



When it comes to #30 or #40 drill bits, I buy them in the jobber 5-pack from my local industrial supply.  IIRC it's usually around $1 per bit.  Nothing beats the factory edge on an industrial-quality drill bit.



-Jeff



PS - I recommend the DD500X even thought it's more expensive (you can find them on sale for around $100).  It has a jig that makes it quick & easy to position the bit to be sharpened in the sharpening mandrel.  It only takes a couple of seconds to get the bit chucked-up in the mandrel correctly.  I don't  think the lower models have this feature.  It's worth the extra 50 bucks.

        From: Ken Brooks <kenbrooks(at)charter.net>

 To: rv-list(at)matronics.com 

 Sent: Friday, March 21, 2014 2:22 PM

 Subject: RV-List: Re: How to determine drill bit sharpness?

  

 

--> RV-List message posted by: Ken Brooks <kenbrooks(at)charter.net (kenbrooks(at)charter.net)>



The other responders have it right - if you  don't think it's cutting through fast enough, it's probably dull... try a new one.  For those of you (like me), always looking for an excuse to buy another tool, you might invest $50 on a Drill Doctor bit sharpener.  Mine works great and it saves trips to the DIY store aviation aisle.  Just follow the instructions that come with it closely and practice with a few old broken bits if you have any.  The cam action puts a beautiful, sharp edge on the bit, perfectly beveled.  I give it four and a half stars, and looks swell on the tool shelf.

http://www.drilldoctor.com/drill-sharpeners-and-accessories/drill-sharpeners/drill-doctor-model-350x.html

http://www.mat=====================

 

 

  

 [quote][b]

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