Drill Bit Collection

CGID

Member
When I added my Dad's pile to mine the need to get organized became obvious but I put it off for years. Once I got started on a cabinet with compartmentalized drawers the project developed a life of its own. I finished today. Metal from #80 to 35/64ths, wood, masonry, some for ceramics, some for hardened steel. All told, 553 drill bits. A lot of duplicates of many sizes. I've got a sharpener so they are all good. How does it come to this? Any one else swamped with drill bits?
 
I have boxes of bits too, where I worked company supplied bits and guys would thro them away when dull and I would pick them out of trash , couldn't see them going to waste, some day I will sharpen them
 
I have a bunch in a drawer under the work bench and more in some drill indexes. But try and find a 1/2". Not going to happen.

SDE
 
CGID,

Ran across some brothers selling bits from northern mn, these fellow ask a fair price, but they also give lifetime warranty.

I chipped the end of a bit, cost me the mailing, they sent itback sharpened. I sent it back after I chipped it again, they sent me a new bit.

Don't know these two, but was pleased at the service.

D.
 
I've probably got half what you have, and now that I'm retired I need to get the drill sharpeners out. I'm used to sharpening them by hand, but usually wind up cutting on only one flute. I sure keep a good set next tot he mill/lathe, two sets in the wood shop, and a set next to my drill press but I've got lots of duplicates and lots of dull and broken ones waiting to be sharpened. A drill doctor is kind of like a hot tub. Everything gets sharpened when you first get it, then over the years it gets pushed out of the way.
 
I've got a bunch; i never learned how to sharpen them and just bought new. bought a sharpener and only sharpened the one i needed. Then i found a guy in Lincoln NE who sharpens drill bits for a living. i gathered up some of the common sizes and took them in. wow; they worked perfect and it was cheap. took in two more batches and i don't think it cost me $60 total. the drill bit sharpener will be like new, when it sells at my sale!
 
My company supplies bits up to 1/2 and anything bigger you have to check them out from the toolroom, I have 5 indexs of fractional and 2 of number, one of letters and have numerous one just in a drawer of the toolbox.
when they get dull I just take them to work and swap them out.
 
We bought the old derelict farm house next door last year when the guy decided to leave. He collected a lot of stuff, and just walked away from it. Several old drills and circular saws. I kept finding different stashes of drill bits, and Allen wrenches! I got them all sorted last winter, and now have several sets, as well as boxes of bottles with many extras.
 
The bottom drawer of the small roll a round is just for drill bits. Farm sales, yard sales, and some I have bought new.
 
I once bought an old cookie tin full of all sorts of drill bits at a garage sale for $10. It had around 15 pounds of bits in it. Many were dull. Some were junk. But, I sharpened most of them, and they work well.

I did at one time invest in a drill doctor. I heard Paul Harvey singing the praises of it, so I thought it might be a good time to try one out. I can only describe my experience as disappointing. I can sharpen a drill faster and better on a grinding wheel. While the Drill Doctor works fairly well when NEW, it soon loses its accuracy and is VERY susceptible to dirt. Dust from the grinding wheel inside and the drill bits will quickly foul the chuck that you mount the drill bit into. That was a waste of $125 as far as I am concerned.
 
I am very disappointed with my Drill Doctor too. It just sits there collecting dust now. Years ago my neighbors had an old bit sharpener that was old at that time but it did a perfect job. I don't know if it still works or if they even have it yet. I hand sharpen my bits but the end result varies. Sometimes I have the touch and sometimes I don't. The small ones are tough, I just can't see them as well as I used to.
 
(quoted from post at 14:49:17 11/29/15) When I added my Dad's pile to mine the need to get organized became obvious but I put it off for years. Once I got started on a cabinet with compartmentalized drawers the project developed a life of its own. I finished today. Metal from #80 to 35/64ths, wood, masonry, some for ceramics, some for hardened steel. All told, 553 drill bits. A lot of duplicates of many sizes. I've got a sharpener so they are all good. How does it come to this? Any one else swamped with drill bits?

i have the drill dr. and use it quite a bit . i have bits i use for different things and keep them in their place as well as i can .i keep them in indexes and the ones that wont fit , like the extra long wierd sizes a friend gave me from his job get masking tape on the flutes before they get put in a drawer.
 
I used a Drill Doctor on my bits with good results. I'm not sure just how, but the Drill Doctor's design has changed over the years. Mine is only a few years old and I didn't have any trouble with it. I also had a vac hooked up to it. That probably helped, design change or not.
 

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