Tools, Sharpening and Power Machinery - If you've purchased the Drill Doctor do you like it?

When I was a kid I remember trying to sharpen drill bits using
a jig attached to a bench grinder. It was a nightmare!

I've also tried that motorized thing that looks like a big pencil
sharpener. Its got a series of holes for the most common
drill bit sizes. I'm glad it was cheap. Every bit I "sharpened"
with this junk ended up in the trash.

The Drill Doctor looks good. I've hesitated to buy it for one
reason. My time is worth more to me than money. If it takes
thirty or fourty minutes to sharpen ten bits, I'd rather buy ten
new bits, even if they are costly.

If its quick and simple to use, I'll buy it.

there was recently a thread on another board I frequent and everyone was happy with them .

I have one. Mine works great. Took a little practice though.

Mine is old, 10yrs or so, but once you get on to how different size bits need to be finnessed, it works fine. I understand the newer models are easier. If you use drill bits a lot, they need sharpening, this is your tool. If you only use bits occasionally, it is cheaper to buy new bits.

The diamond grit wheels used in the Drill Doctor made me think
that these guys may have come up with a good product. The
only thing that's going to sharpen a cobalt or carbide bit is
diamond.

I'm glad I can't remember the thousands of bits I've tossed out
over the years because they were dull. On the other hand,
it feels so good not to waste time doing stupid things!

I'll never forget a Wagner electric paint sprayer I bought many
years ago. I was building a large fence around my house and
I thought how nice it would be to speedup the painting process.
The gun certainly did lay the paint down fast. Cleaning the gun
so it wouldn't be clogged for the next days use was horrendous!

Well, the verdict seems to be unanimous. I guess I'll be buying
the Drill Doctor.

Thanks guys.

A little late here, but I've been happy with my drill dr.

Yep, the Wagner commercials sure make spray painting look easy. But the reality is, it is rarely the thing to use outside, overspray on your neighbors car will not make for loving friends. And the cleanup is not a snap.

I like my drill doctor. I found it works best on larger bits, say 1/4" and up. I usually wait until I need to do a bunch before breaking it out.

Likewise, I have the Drill Dr and have found that it takes a bit of a learning curve to use effectively. As the tow guy alludes to, sharpening bits in the smaller sizes is more difficult than larger ones. Also, you cannot sharpen very short or hex shank bits, which is a bummer.

I think I made this comment here awhile back. I bought a drill doctor a couple years ago - it worked great. Sharpened all my drill bits in a couple hours. It does take a few minutes to figure out, but once you do it works nice and really quickly. I ended up sharpening about 50 drill bits in one sitting.

The problem is that I've only needed to use it once since then. I thought I went through bits much more often than I actually do. I loaned it to my father in law once for a couple weeks, but other than that, it's sat on the shelf.

So, my recommendation would be to find somebody like me who has one and borrow it. It's a great tool, and if I did a lot of drilling, I wouldn't be without one, but it's not something you'll use every day.