Was I Wrong about the Drill Doctor?

Some people love it. Some people hate it. Is the Drill Doctor actually good?

[WatchWesWork]

** It looks like you guys sold them out of the MR13A and MR13B **

Need a drill grinder?

[HamiltonvilleFarm]

I hate drilling with a passion, yet here I am, watching a (second) video of sharpening drill bits.

[deanberolzheimer]

I bought my drill doktor about 15 years ago after grinding my own bits for at least 30 years prior. I thought I needed a more consistent grind. After reading the instructions and trying to put them into practice for a good couple of hours, I put the drill doktor back in the box and back on the shelf for a coupla more years to gather dust. It really ate at me that I couldn't figure it out so one afternoon I dragged it back out and set it up and tried again after thoroughly reading the instructions. It is back on the shelf, and anyone is welcome to it for free. And thank you Francis (mechanic I worked with when I was 20) who tawt me how to grind bits...and a million other things. My bits look just like your middle bit. Just remember kids, that the more times you have to regrind a drill bit, the better you get at it.
Thank you again Wes!

[kennejus]

watched both videos, great content as usual. That intro was fantastic, great work!

[svendholme]

Years ago I bought the more expensive Drill Doctor and went on a sharpening spree and sharpened all the bits in my 55 year old set of drills. Some of them sharpened OK but some had a negative lip clearance angle and barely cut warm butter. Due to your video I checked, the bits that with a negative negative lip pitch angle had thick webs. I spent a lot of time trying to sharpen those dam bits but had the same results you did. Incidentally, the shots of the drills being sharpened were very clear and really told the story. Thanks, now I don't feel so stupid.

[dwartfarquart]

I purchased a DD for my father when they were newly available. Maybe 1980?
In 2014 my parents moved from their home of 43 years. Next to the unopened B&D Shopmate(vise on a saw horse) was the unopened Drill Doctor. I took it home and, with my cousin's help, we sharpened hundreds of, mostly Hanson brand, drill bits. We had trouble with a number of them but 10 years later my father is still amazed.
I think you and Project Farm did great videos on bit sharpening. Unlike many in West Michigan, I am not in Tool & Die. Only recently started welding and you tube is a big help.
Thx

[silverclaw]

I can literally see your wife walk in to check up on you since it's past midnight, you've got reading glasses on and she takes one look at the 'No Drill Doctor' chalkboard map and shakes her head. Bravo Wes

[andyca]

Drill Doctor PR team currently trying to find Illinois on a map to 'send the boys around'.

[johnnaughton]

I love it, you say no one watched a video on sharpening drills, so you double-down and make a second one!! I wonder how drill DR worked on your 3d printed drills?

[ramv]

Wes, I have had 2 of the original DD500's with the 750 chuck and left hand chuck options for over 30 years. I have never had a problem with sharpening bits. I have drill bits from literally every MFG ranging from thick wed to thin, tight to loose spiral etc. I also acquired a Grizzly H8203 from the tent sale, pre covid ($40, Had a broken wire, new in box, bought it cheap, works great once I repaired it) Now the style of DD you tested, I am not impressed with but the originals are awesome. With the DD there is a bit of fudge factor when setting up and that is determined after just one or 2 initial twists then inspect before completely attempting to sharpen. Once you learn the tricks, it can actually make for a nice evening with a beverage and sharpening a box of bits in need of tlc. (love my auction/garage sale/swap meet finds)

[jayjones]

I’m the guy that has the drill bit drawer stuffed with inherited or loose found bits from farm auctions. Anything that resembles a quarter inch or smaller diameter I religiously sharpen with my 40 year old cheap (the blue one) Drill Doctor, larger diameter I reluctantly sharpen on a bench grinder when it feels like it is working too hard. I believe you are spot on and I love the video.

[tracywagoner]

Awesome follow up video. I had a drill doctor. It rotted in the corner because I hated the results but didn’t want to throw away money I had already thrown away. Sold it for 10 bucks at my wife’s garage sale just to unload it. The guy that bought it thought he had just hit the jackpot. Good luck bro.

[wornoutwrench]

I never watched the first video, I think it was 1977 I was taught how to sharpen drill bits, the old boy I was working under got sick of me asking him to sharpen a bit so he showed me how. Truly a great skill to have.

Fast forward a whole bunch of years to about 2002. I was field service and we had a bunch of machines that were having breaking bolts for the swing bearing and track rollers. Lots of drilling involved. I got sick of crawling out from under an excavator and sharpening bits, so I bought a drill doctor and would have it under the machine with me, once the drill quit drilling easy I would just do a quick touch up. It worked really good.


I wore that one out, it was one of the older ones that could do twist drills, left hand drills and masonry drills. I tried to buy the parts to repair but Drill Doctor no longer made that style but they gave me a deal on a brand new one.

It is no where as good as the old one was, in fact I don't even use it anymore, well I am retired, but before I retired I hardly used it.

And I did work in a machine shop at one time. They had this big fancy bit sharpener, I forget what make. It was pretty much useless for anything under 1" but big bits, oh yes. And yes all the machinist were perfectly capable of sharpening a bit but this thing sped things up and with a perfect every time, they used it quite a bit

[VicYu-mwed]

Wes, I just watched the drill sharpening video, and it was extremely helpful. After trying to learn in the shop, your 3-d printed visual aids really helped, and your explanations did, too. Don't pay so much attention to percentages - there are a lot of us out there who really appreciate the time you take, and I will never buy a drill doctor. Thanks so much, Victoria

[NickDangerThirdGuy]

I just got one on eBay, these things are the bomb! Currently bringing several generations of drills back from the dead. Thanks Wes!

[michaelmorrison]

From one of the few ;) who watched the other video. Thank you again! Just ordered the Vevor so that I can cheat on bit sharpening when I need to.

[azpcox]

At least you are using Hagoromo chalk, the mark of a true professional!

I personally love watching your videos and I appreciate your wife’s support as well in the whole endeavor.

[willsmith]

Hi, Wes. I love your content and never miss an episode. I have a Drill Doctor, two in fact. I couldn't say why but I never threw out a dull bit and had a whole container of them. Then the DD came along and fixed my problem with dull bits. The first time I used it, it paid for itself multiple times over. I love it! But I got mine at least 15 yrs ago, and only do homeowner stuff. Good luck on all your work.

[adf]

My Drill Doctor was a gift from my in-laws in 2003/4, it's the green 1-trick pony that only does 'normal/plain drill bits'. I still use it, I love it, I'm sad the plastic is starting to fail from age. What I've since learned over the years is that mine is an anomaly. After a heated discussion on the topic at work, myself and several others had a 'bring your Drill Doctor to work day'. Of the several identical looking drill doctors, mine was the oldest by a margin of 10 years and subsequently the only one the worked correctly. That gray one you are testing, I have never seen one that delivered a properly sharpened drill bit. In fact, I'm shocked they can still sell them. Our shop had the same negative rake issue you showed but weren't in position to rip it apart (tax payer money) so we just got a refund. Excellent video Wes.

[tjhouston]

My experience.
I bought a drill doctor 500 twenty or more years ago. Couldn't get a drill bit sharp to save my life. I wrote it off as junk and it ended up in the far recesses of my tool pile.
Fast forward a few years, I saw the 750 and thought it must be better, so I bought that. Same results, same fate.
I have a drawer full of drill bits and last year I was working on a project that I had half-a-dozen larger bits the same size, all dull.
I finally got so frustrated, I broke down and read the instruction manual cover to cover. What an eye opener! It explained the differences in bits and how to correctly set the different markings on the sharpener to the different bits. What a difference in my results. The bits came out consistently sharp. It actually became a joy to drill. I now touch up all my bits before I use them.
BTW, I have also done some machine shop work, and here in the US, even in small shops we had drill sharpening machines, with several different mandrels for the bits. Heavy old machines that cost a lot of money.
For my money, in my shop, hands down, Drill Doctor is #1.