
The rotation of the bit will help you to sharpen it consistently all the way around and create an accurately centred point. One way to keep your bit centred is to attach it to a drill press, and activate it before you start to sharpen the bit. The width of the new hole will be double the distance between the brad point tip and the spur furthest away from it. If you make a mistake, the bit will not spin uniformly, and it will create oversized holes. Make sure you keep the brad point central. Giving each side of the point the same number of passes with the file or the same amount of time on the grinder should help you to keep it even and correctly aligned. You should aim to give the sides an angle of around five to ten degrees. Grind the edges of the brad point evenly so that the point becomes sharp. Grinding it off by mistake will cause you a lot more work! All this will take is a few strokes of your file or card, or a second or two against the grinder.īe aware of where the brad point is at all times. Sharpen the spurs first, making sure to keep to the correct angle by keeping your sharpening tool flat against each spur’s surface. If your brad point bit is carbide tipped, only diamond files or diamond grinding wheels will have any effect due to the hardness of the material.
SHARPEN DRILL BITS HOW TO
The first is to use a specially customised grinding wheel, shaped to allow you to sharpen the spurs and brad point of your bit at the same time.įor instructions on how to do this, see: How to customise a grinding wheel to sharpen a brad point bitĪlternative tools include flat Swiss files, taper saw files, diamond cards and rotary cutting tools. If you’re keen to sharpen your bits yourself, there are a few different ways to tackle them. If you’re worried this might happen, you can always get your bits sharpened professionally! Make sure there are no chips or uneven places. Push the masonry drill against the grinding wheel as you apply some pressure Check if the drill bit’s face is clean and has an even look. The angle can be 60-degrees or thereabouts.


Use the drill bit cutting edge as the drilling angle. If the tip ends up slightly off centre after sharpening, the bit will drill a hole bigger than its circumference as it wobbles around erratically. Bring the drill bit up to 1 millimeter of the grinding wheel. The most important thing to remember is that the brad point must be kept centred.

The bits themselves are made to be extremely accurate, and this can be compromised if they are sharpened unevenly. You want to move the bit in a counter-clockwise manner to end up with a rounded landing. The chisel needs to make a 45-degree angle from the lip, keep on moving until then. Then let your left hand move towards the right to create a chiseled angle. Sharpening brad point drill bits can be tricky. Apply the pressure on a sharpening device while raising your left hand to cut landing.
