Drill Doctor

[spkrman15]

Is the new version of the drill doctor better then the old one? Anyone have both?

There is a Sale at KBC for the new model, at a great price. I have the older version, and it can be hit and miss sometimes....usually when you are in a rush.

I wanted to know if it was worth upgrading.

Rob

[Ed P]

Is the new version of the drill doctor better then the old one? Anyone have both?

There is a Sale at KBC for the new model, at a great price. I have the older version, and it can be hit and miss sometimes....usually when you are in a rush.

I wanted to know if it was worth upgrading.

Rob

I had a very early one and loved it. Unfortunately through no fault of its
own it took a trip down on to the garage floor and the company was never
able to supply me with a replacement part that fit correctly. I bought a new
one but ended up giving it away to my nephew. I would not recommend it.

Ed P

[Corm]

I bought a new 3/4" model in Oct. I had never used one before, so don't have any experience with the older models. I am real happy with this new one. I've sharpened most all of my drills with it. Works great, and is easy to use. I've sharpened my drills by hand using a bench grinder for years, and thought I was pretty good at it. This DD does a much better job, real easy to tell when you use a drill sharpened with it.

[David Powell]

Drill Doctor.

I got a 350 as a Christmas present. It certainly sharpens the drills well, but almost all I have sharpened with it give me holes 2 t0 5 thous bigger than the nominal size, whereas new drills generally give me holes 1 to 3 thous over nominal. I watched the DVD several times and spent some time getting used to the idea of making sure I gave each drill an equal sharpening on each edge by counting as I sharpened. It is not quite as good as when I sharpen by hand, IF I am having a good day, but nowadays the arthritis makes those days few and far between so, so long as I remember the drills will cut a bit large then I won't have any problems. regards David Powell.

[hawgwrench]

Is the new version of the drill doctor better then the old one? Anyone have both?

There is a Sale at KBC for the new model, at a great price. I have the older version, and it can be hit and miss sometimes....usually when you are in a rush.

I wanted to know if it was worth upgrading.

Rob

I have one had for maybe 8 years....works great on 1/4 to around 1/2 stuff.....questionable results on larger stuff,and slow on bigger sizes....still,its worth the money ....

[spkrman15]

Hey Thanks Guys,

I have the older model. I think the chucks give me some problems and my bits don't come out well. I do agree that from 1/4 up it seems to work well and if you learn how to look you can tell if it sharpened properly.

AS for the 0.003 to 0.005 runout, i don't usually do work that requires that precision. Well at least not yet! hehe

Rob

[saltmine]

Hey Thanks Guys,

I have the older model. I think the chucks give me some problems and my bits don't come out well. I do agree that from 1/4 up it seems to work well and if you learn how to look you can tell if it sharpened properly.

AS for the 0.003 to 0.005 runout, i don't usually do work that requires that precision. Well at least not yet! hehe

Rob

I bought mine, (the "full house, professional model") about 10 or 12 years ago, when I was still a mechanic....and used the daylights out of it.

I still have it, but I think the diamond sharpening wheel is getting worn out.

Yeah, the old one is a very good product....much better than the manual, "MK-1 eyeball" by hand, in the grinder method I used before I purchased it. It sure beats shelling out a handful of cash every time you need a drillbit that actually drills holes...Of course, now that I'm retired, I take the time and drill all of my holes undersized, and ream them to the finished size.

[Bruce Griffing]

I posted some comparisons between the old and new in this
thread..

http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/sho...t=31347&page=4

Some stuff worth reading in the thread.

[BobC]

Not to hijack the original thread but I notice the 750 model is about $25-30 more expensive than the 500 model. Are the two models quite similar except perhaps for the size capacity of bits to be sharpened?

Thanks,
Bob

[Bruce Griffing]

The 750 has a second chuck that goes from .5" to .75" that the 500 lacks. (This is true for the old model).

[J Tiers]

For what it's worth......

My older model sharpened a bunch of bits nicely, ones of all sizes. Then all of a sudden it developed a strong tendency to give reversed relief, which prevents the bit from cutting. large bits OK, small ones trash.

it never did split points reliably.

DD sent me some newer collets, but they didn't help. I never use it now, I need to buy a real drill sharpener.

[dp]

I have a 500x that has worked flawlessly since day one. I recovered some old drills that I thought would never be usable but it did a nice job on them. I recovered about 50 drills in one afternoon and I still use it about once a month. I'm far less abusive to drills now that I have nicer equipment to drill with.

[gregl]

Both Darex and DD plants are in the same building and I got a great tour when I was in Ashland, Or. some years back. Bought a DD and never could get less than .010 oversize on sharpened bits. Usually .015 or more. The DD folks were great in efforts to help but to no avail. I'm positive I was using it correctly. Traded it off to a welder for part of his bill; he doesn't need the accuracy I do. Got the plans for a Potts jig from England, made one up and now get .002 oversize regularly.

[BadDog]

I have a (first gen?) older 750 that has worked very well for what it is. Realistic limits are somewhere around 3/16" to just north of 1/2". Within that range I am generally well satisfied. Smaller, and it's more art that science, and you have to add some "Kentucky windage" to the alignment. Above that range and it's slow as molasses and not always enough clearance. Best bet on the high side is to blue the end and manually "back off" 3/4 of the end relief surface on a hand grinder. The bluing is so you can see where you are and keep it even.

For smaller end, yes I know it's "cheaper and more efficient" to buy them. But when I *need* a neat #27 tonight, and my only 2 are a bit fuzzy, I want to sharpen them. And I don't have the budget to keep a pack of every size known to man in the PDT or CLE that I prefer. The DD will do them, but it's in the range of fiddly gamble. So when I found a small Christen in decent shape for $100 (with extra range 2, 4, AND 6 notch (facet) holders) I got it. This thing is said to be able to split the point on a #60 in the right hands (and a #80 also sometimes claimed). Honestly, it's technically not a "split", but rather a 4 face "web thinning relief" at those sizes. The the result is the same. I love it, and perfect results EVERY time for 1/4 to as small as you care...

Then I found an SRD for (as I recall?) about $45 at auction. It's the M80 (or something like that). Fairly base line, but amazingly fast, easy AND accurate on anything in the same range as my DD (about 3/16 to 5/8 or so). Nice 4 facet too. With a special "vise", I could go smaller. And they make another model (that I have access to "borrow" time on) that goes up to over 1". I just sharpened a 1.25 on it a few weeks back. These are THE shiznit for a HSM drill grinder. No fiddly expensive collets, no fussy setup, just "get 'er done!". Wonderful machine. Anyone want to buy a drill doctor? (rhetorical)

[J Tiers]

Then I found an SRD for (as I recall?) about $45 at auction. It's the M80 (or something like that). Fairly base line, but amazingly fast, easy AND accurate on anything in the same range as my DD (about 3/16 to 5/8 or so).

Would you like to elaborate on that machine at all....? I've never heard of the brand.......

EDIT

Never mind, they cost almost as much as my whole shop...............

http://www.novatechonline.com/produc...RD%20Price.pdf