How to Hand Sharpen a Drill Bit

Hand-sharpening your drill bits protects your drill motor.

A dull drill bit causes your drill to do more work to accomplish a task, greatly increasing wear and tear on the drill's motor. A grinding stone is the most efficient tool for sharpening a drill bit, but these are usually only seen in machine and tool shops. Most home owners must get by with hand-sharpening, and the tool for that job is the augur file.

Things You'll Need

• Old rag
• Table vise
• Augur file
• Scrap wood
• Machine oil

Instructions

1. Wipe away any debris on the drill bit from previous drilling jobs with an old rag.

2. Place the drill bit in a table vise, or hold it tightly in one hand if you do not have a table vise.

3. Sharpen the spurs, or the outer teeth of the drill bit. Place the file along the edge of the spur at a 30-degree angle, and draw it down along the face of the spur-blade. Repeat two to four times. Check the spurs to ensure they are the same length. If one is longer than the other, file it down to a matching size.

4. Sharpen the cutting edges. Check your bit closely before filing--on an augur bit the blade is at the bottom of the cutting edge; on a brad-point it is on the top. Place the file at on the blade of the bit's cutting edges at a 30-degree angle. These edges will face up. Run the file down the edge two to four times.

5. Test drill the bit. If one groove is more gouged or the shavings are not of the same thickness, either the spurs or the cutting edges are uneven. Check and file them again.

6. Wipe off any debris from your test drilling, and put a drop or two of machine oil on the bit to protect it from rust.

References

• Workshop Companion: Sharpening Drill Bits