# Best Homemade Tools >  Drill sharpening jig and grinder

## th62

This is a drill sharpening jig I made some time ago and the grinder setup I use it on. The grinder is just an el cheapo, I've been meaning to change the grinder as the wheels wobble all over the place. One day I may even get around to replacing it.

Anyway some details on both.

The Jig:

I used a piece of 25mm square bar, linished it, milled a V for the drill, cut a 2mm slot down the centre for 110mm, drilled a stepped hole through: 5mm for 30mm and then 11.5 mm for the remaining 110mm. I had to extend an old 11.5mm drill and grind flat on the end so I could machine the end of the hole flat for a stepped bush to run on. I also drilled a couple of debris drain holes and tapped a few 5mm holes for mounting the slide plate, the end plate and the drill clamp. As you can see from the pics there are quite a few bits inside. 

The 5mm advance rod was turned down to 3.5 on the end and a 5mm bush with collar was shrunk in place for the end bushing. I turned a bit of stock to 7mm, threaded the inside to 5mm x .8, fashioned a single wing and tacked it to the nut. The bush on the advance end was machined to 7mm with a collar, machined down to fit a 9mm spanner, and threaded inside the same as the advance screw. When screwed into place its locked off with a locknut. The plate on the end has a backlash adjuster and locknut and also acts as the outer bearing for the advance screw bush. The end plate is fixed by two 5mm allen heads which I had to turn down to accommodate the backlash adjuster locknut. To the rear of that are the thumb lock nut and the thumb adjuster.

The drill clamp U piece is attached via two 5mm allen heads. I machined a stepped 5mm nut and shrunk it into the top of the U piece. The adjuster screw has a thumb nut attached at the top and the adjuster screw pushes an H shaped plate down onto the drill flutes.

It will accommodate drills from 13mm down to 2mm, larger bits are probably better ground using a simple conical grinding jig attached to a linisher. Anything under 4 or 5mm would be difficult to grind accurately on this jig, so another project would be for a jig with a drill chuck for smaller bits.

In use: The drill is secured in place by the adjuster and H plate. To advance the drill onto the grindstone, the advance thumbnut is turned and the single winged nut moves along the advance screw, guided by the slot in the bed, and acts on the rear of drill pushing it forward and onto the grindstone...

Over complicated? Sure is, but it works well; and, it was an excellent project to design and make.

The grinder and tables:

The framework you see in the picture is made from 25 x 1.6mm RHS. each side has two rails along which slide the table supports, they can be adjusted for angle as well as reach. There are also a couple of L shaped plates to which the table stem mounting bolts are welded. These brackets stop the bolts turning when tightening the stem securing nuts. 

The table has scribed lines at 0, 30, 45, 60 and 90 degrees, the other two tables have slots, one for the drill jig the other for a lathe bit sharpener.
I joined this grinder stand to my 8" grinder stand with a short section of 50 x 25mm RHS. The 8" runs a wire wheel and buffing pads (horrid job). The 6" grinder is set at around chest height so I don't have to stoop whereas the 8" is set much lower. I also stripped, cleaned and tidied up the wiring underneath and then painted it in hammertone along with the stand. There is also a water trough at front so I don't have to go searching for a water bucket at inopportune times.

I've been using the jig and grinder for quite a while now, I do wish I had made the table stems and rails from gal RHS though as the paint tends to peel off from the constant changing of table position.

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Andyt (Dec 19, 2019),

big o (Dec 14, 2017),

bobstar (Oct 27, 2020),

Christophe Mineau (Nov 7, 2017),

drivermark (Nov 6, 2017),

H.L (Oct 15, 2015),

Home-PC (Dec 19, 2019),

Jon (Oct 8, 2015),

kbalch (Oct 9, 2015),

LMMasterMariner (Nov 8, 2017),

Metallurg33 (Apr 9, 2018),

NortonDommi (Nov 6, 2017),

Okapi (Apr 17, 2016),

old_toolmaker (Dec 18, 2019),

Paul Jones (Oct 9, 2015),

PJs (Oct 9, 2015),

rlm98253 (Nov 6, 2017),

Tenn (Dec 18, 2019),

thoms_here (Nov 11, 2017),

threesixesinarow (Mar 16, 2019),

Toolmaker51 (Apr 8, 2018)

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## DIYer

That's some jig! Yes, I will admit that I find it a tad complicated, but there's no denying the quality of the jig itself and the end result.

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## DIYer

Thanks th62! We've added your Drill Sharpening Jig to our Drilling and Drill Presses category, as well as to your builder page: th62's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:












Drill Sharpening Jig
 by th62

tags: jig, drill bit, sharpening

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## DIYer

Thanks th62! We've added your Grinder Stand to our Dollies and Stands category, as well as to your builder page: th62's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:












Grinder Stand
 by th62

tags: grinder, stand

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thoms_here (Nov 11, 2017)

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## Paul Jones

The drill ground finishes are excellent and the jig is so well made. This is one of those tools that will be very popular. Thank you for sharing the detailed photos of the jig and grinder tables.

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## Whitworthsocket

Without drawings I am having a hard time understanding how you index the drill bit being sharpened from one face to the other.And how do you get the double cut on each face?




> This is a drill sharpening jig I made some time ago and the grinder setup I use it on. The grinder is just an el cheapo, I've been meaning to change the grinder as the wheels wobble all over the place. One day I may even get around to replacing it.
> 
> Anyway some details on both.
> 
> The Jig:
> 
> I used a piece of 25mm square bar, linished it, milled a V for the drill, cut a 2mm slot down the centre for 110mm, drilled a stepped hole through: 5mm for 30mm and then 11.5 mm for the remaining 110mm. I had to extend an old 11.5mm drill and grind flat on the end so I could machine the end of the hole flat for a stepped bush to run on. I also drilled a couple of debris drain holes and tapped a few 5mm holes for mounting the slide plate, the end plate and the drill clamp. As you can see from the pics there are quite a few bits inside. 
> 
> The 5mm advance rod was turned down to 3.5 on the end and a 5mm bush with collar was shrunk in place for the end bushing. I turned a bit of stock to 7mm, threaded the inside to 5mm x .8, fashioned a single wing and tacked it to the nut. The bush on the advance end was machined to 7mm with a collar, machined down to fit a 9mm spanner, and threaded inside the same as the advance screw. When screwed into place its locked off with a locknut. The plate on the end has a backlash adjuster and locknut and also acts as the outer bearing for the advance screw bush. The end plate is fixed by two 5mm allen heads which I had to turn down to accommodate the backlash adjuster locknut. To the rear of that are the thumb lock nut and the thumb adjuster.
> ...

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## th62

Indexing is the same as with the tormek, line the chisel edge up withe jig! I do have an indexer for it but never use it, pretty much useless with smaller bits. Chisel and relief angles are adjusted via the table.

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Jon (Oct 12, 2015)

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## WNL

> This is a drill sharpening jig I made some time ago and the grinder setup I use it on. The grinder is just an el cheapo, I've been meaning to change the grinder as the wheels wobble all over the place. One day I may even get around to replacing it.
> 
> Anyway some details on both.
> 
> The Jig:
> 
> I used a piece of 25mm square bar, linished it, milled a V for the drill, cut a 2mm slot down the centre for 110mm, drilled a stepped hole through: 5mm for 30mm and then 11.5 mm for the remaining 110mm. I had to extend an old 11.5mm drill and grind flat on the end so I could machine the end of the hole flat for a stepped bush to run on. I also drilled a couple of debris drain holes and tapped a few 5mm holes for mounting the slide plate, the end plate and the drill clamp. As you can see from the pics there are quite a few bits inside. 
> 
> The 5mm advance rod was turned down to 3.5 on the end and a 5mm bush with collar was shrunk in place for the end bushing. I turned a bit of stock to 7mm, threaded the inside to 5mm x .8, fashioned a single wing and tacked it to the nut. The bush on the advance end was machined to 7mm with a collar, machined down to fit a 9mm spanner, and threaded inside the same as the advance screw. When screwed into place its locked off with a locknut. The plate on the end has a backlash adjuster and locknut and also acts as the outer bearing for the advance screw bush. The end plate is fixed by two 5mm allen heads which I had to turn down to accommodate the backlash adjuster locknut. To the rear of that are the thumb lock nut and the thumb adjuster.
> ...



Hi TH62 , you can true your grinder wheel with the flat diamond sides of any diamond concrete cutting disc. I bought a diamond dressing tool and after using it on my smaller grinders, thought that a D C disk might work. 
So I took a used disk and tried it on my 200mm grinder and was surpised at the outcome.
You don't need to go and buy the dressing tool...
Cheers Willie

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## vegerj

I teach Precision Machining at a career center and am also involved with SkillsUSA Indiana.

I am interested in starting a new competition for SkillsUSA's precision machining, and CNC categories where students MAKE a product from one piece of metal.
I would love to have a copy of your plans for the drill bit sharpener. I think it could be an excellent product idea for these competitions.

Thanks
Joe

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## Toolmaker51

Reviewing long after OP, this remains an excellent project. 
I know full-fledged shops running large lathes, radial drills, horizontal boring mills, etc with zero drill grinding beyond disc and belt sanders. Matters not how long they've been in business, range of machinery, or staff size/ experience. 
Unless machine tools are supported by service machines or inventive Toolmakers, they ain't really 'fledged' at all. Some (especially accountants) will argue tying up capital in lesser used equipment is bad practice. "We can send that work out!"
Ask them where to buy a sharp 2 1/2" bit mid-shift, around 10 pm. Or time invested hand sharpening same bit. . .to continue work on that $2000 billet.

The only facet making th62's fixture seem complicated, is he replicates by fabricating what is not sold so readily, and had been primarily of castings. They same type of carrier also is used on inclined [59°] swiveling grind fixtures.

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