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- Verified Buyer
There is a lot of dead-wrong information on the web about the product, especially in videos. These well-meaning people just don't seem to take the time to read all the instructions and follow them. Also, there are easy mistakes to make that the instructions don't warn about. Those mistakes are probably behind a lot of the negativity. In fairness to the naysayers, I gave 3 stars on easy-to-learn, 4 stars on easy-to-use, and 3 stars on instruction-quality. All that, and yet a 5-star overall rating because this is a great product.If you're thinking about getting one of these, do expect to invest some time in learning unless you're a machinist or maybe a mechanical engineer (they already know a lot of this stuff). I'm retired, so I had the time available. You may not. The fact is, some drill bits, such as smaller HSS varieties, are cheap enough to replace anyway. On the other hand, M42 bits and solid carbide bits, even pretty small ones, just ain't cheap.There are limits on what you can do with a grinder like this. You can't sharpen odd tip shapes without completely reshaping them. Examples are stepped tips, brad points, vortex, bit-starter, and 3-flute. (I knew very little about this when I started.) Some bits have expensive coatings like titanium nitride (TiN). Sharpening either wears down or completely removes coatings. For example, I'll think twice about investing in a set of M7 bits with expensive TiN coatings because the coatings' days will be numbered. That, of course, is not Drill Doctor's fault; it just is what it is.Here is some of the negative stuff from the Web and my answers:1. “I can’t align a split-point bit.” Having a pre-existing split point has no effect whatever on alignment of a bit or subsequent success in sharpening.2. “I can’t align a short bit because I can’t rotate it in the chuck.” Rotate the bit using needle nose pliers in front of the chuck. Rotate CW on right-handed bits and CCW on left-handed bits to maintain tip contact with the stop-bolt.3. “I can’t get the chisel angle right.” After about 200 bits, I’ve found that, 95% of the time, the chisel angle comes out within tolerance. You do have pay attention to three things when aligning: keep the bit against the stop bolt; be sure the chuck stays pushed firmly, all the way into the alignment port; when finished aligning, and the chuck is removed from the alignment port, tighten the chuck hard (otherwise it can move in the chuck when being sharpened, which ruins alignment).Reading this may scare you. It would have scared me when I started. (Even retired people have a life outside of drill bits.) Before you start, just read the entire instructions cover-to-cover. If you want to do that before you invest, you can download the pdf from the Drill Doctor website. Once you’ve read it, follow my three additional suggestions in my third answer above. Look through the ports to see what the grinding wheel does when doing basic sharpening and when applying split points. (Wear eye protection when doing this.) Then, when you sharpen bits, inspect the tip of each one and compare it to the figures in the manual and on the web. It will require some patience, but you will learn as you go, and you will get good at it. Soon you’ll be impressing your friends….If you’re going to do large bits and/or hard metals, I recommend getting the extra 100-grit grinding wheel. Bits of diameter greater than or equal to 3/8” are slow on the stock wheel. Also, when grinding solid carbide, I expect to use the 100-grit wheel on smaller carbide bits and then finish with the stock wheel.I’ve included a picture of a finished bit tip with a split point. The purpose is to provide proof-positive that this thing can be made to do an excellent job. The bits do end up razor-sharp.
