Short Tormek DBS 22 (drill bit sharpener) review

I took the plunge on this. I think it is just my personality of disliking sad old tools and tool parts deteriorating and needing junking - even thought I do almost no drilling into metal.

I thought I would share some first impressions but first outlining the thoughts I had when buying, which is how I assessed it. A bit of research into my system for twist drill bits indicated that to me that:

- Many people assert that you can sharpen twist drill bits on a grinder with practice and I watched videos of people who've made little guides. The issue I have with that is that

(a) it provides no solution to a main problem with twist bit drills of the bit walking. Particularly drilling into softwoods, I find walking annoying. Generally speaking you cannot correct a hole where the drill has walked. Your only option seems to be to either ream a huge hole or clamp it down like the dickens. But clamping vertically to fight lateral force seems always imperfect and if you are using soft wood the clamp is liable to bruise or dent the wood, meaning you need to find a shim or piece of scrap.

(b) seems almost impossible on smaller bits. And realistically the highest volume users are 4-8mm for me to pre-drill standard sized holes for nails or screws or bolts. Anything larger will usually be done on a drill press with a Forstner bit.

(c) make a mistake on a coarse or CBN wheel and you're going to lose a lot of "meat".

- I read many inconsistent reviews of the Drill Doctors which seemed to be the only real alternative system. Ultimately, to buy the top-end model plus a higher-grit wheel seemed about the same price as the DBS-22.

- The kicker was the combination of the reputable promise of the best possible result, plus when you can do something well on a Tormek it is pleasant. No harsh noise, need for eye protection. You can do early in the morning or late at night without waking family or bothering neighbours if your shop is at home.

While I tried to be realistic in that I will never really be sharpening specialised profiles for aluminium, plastic etc, or consistently sharpening sizes greater than 13mm, but it is nice to have the option.

I just did my first two test sharpens on a 6mm, 8mm and 9mm drill bits and tested by jamming some holes in a very thick offcut of Merbau fencepost. I would offer the following thoughts.

To understand some of these comments one has to appreciate the gist of the system is grinding two symmetrical primary and secondary bevels on each side of the drill bit, the purpose being to create symmetrical edges that make a point or tip at the centre, instead of a continuous edge.

First, although the whole point of the system is to provide accurate guiding of the drill bit onto the wheel, as the instructions suggest, it is by no means automatic. You have to stop, check, assess, possibly adjust etc. If you were drilling through metal all day and needing to re-sharpen often I wouldn't be able to bear it. I'd want something I can just jam a drill bit into and have it come out sharp enough to keep going. This is not a system for those for whom speed is an issue.

Second, it's not that bad in terms of complexity and time if you follow the instructions carefully. Also, the adjusting is generally just spinning the adjustment wheel to go in further on either the primary or second facets so it's not an annoying type of adjustment.

One thing that would have put it on the second-hand market quickly was if a small error meant you have to start again from scratch. You do not, so far as I can tell. Generally at worst all you will need to do in order to correct going too far is lightly re-grind the primary bevel. It is not frustrating adjusting (in the same way as eg rolling an edge when sharpening an edged tool).

Thirdly, on my first attempt on an 8mm bit, I did not get it perfect but was a little impatient and curious, so I just tried out the drill bit on a thick offcut from a Merbau post (the 90mm laminated posts that are common in Queensland and at Bunnings). It did not have a point but a chisel edge at the tip about 2mm wide. The cut was absolutely amazing compared to your usual drill bit sitting in a drawer. Without any force and at slow speed the drill bit just disappeared into the post. It felt like less resistance than drilling a much smaller radius through soft pine.

Of course the Swedes on the videos will lecture you about adjusting until its perfect, but if you're in a hurry, close enough is damn good.

Fourthly, the results are amazing. I took out a drill from a set (nothing high-end, just a standard set of 1-13mm drill bits from Bunnings), and picked out a bit I'd never used before. I tried a before and after. The before was a pain. The after was incredible. It felt like I'd drilled into rotten wood. A little hard to describe but it really felt like it was actually cutting and not merely grating away at it. The lack of pressure needed also seems likely to assist in accuracy.

Fifthly, if you suffer from space and noise issues, if you are in a garage with a family, it is just great in terms of shop organisation if you already have a Tormek. It packs away neatly into a small space of shelf. The noise won't wake up or annoy anyone. You really are not removing much metal, so the relatively slow speed of the standard Tormek SG wheel is fine.

Sixthly, I re-iterate that despite not being as bad for me as I've heard people describe in terms of fiddliness and setup, it is a process you would not want to be re-doing over and over. You also need good light and to use the magnifier. Despite the price, for me it seems more suited to either the hobbyist doing things at their own pace (and who doesn't mind spending a few $), or for projects calling for the best possible drilling quality, rather than someone busy.

I also feel the best way to use it is to set aside an afternoon or morning to go through your whole set. It does need a lack of distraction and a methodological approach. If I was mid project I can see I'd dread having to get it all just for one drill bit. What I suspect I will do is pick up a few extra 4, 6, 8 and 10mm bits and work them all up in a few sessions, to avoid having to do one at a time, when I don't feel like it. (Again, the advantage of being a hobbyist).

Chris

A few observations about wandering bits.

To stop bits wandering (in both metal and wood) I use several methods.

The first one is to mark use a metal working centre punch.
For wood I have a dedicated metal work centre "pop" punch with a finer point than a metal work punch.
It is still possible that the grain will move the punch slightly off the mark but with a sharp punch you have a chance to reposition the punch mark.
On soft wood I sometimes use a metal work scribe as a punch, and also the cross cut marks of a marking knife are useful to help position a scribe/punch

I also have a set of short drill bits (most of which come from broken drill bits) that I use to start holes and then switch to longer bits if required.

For extra positional accuracy for smaller drill bits I sometimes use metal working centre drills.
These have fat short shanks and only a few mm long bits, so once held in a chuck won't flex.
They don't have to be exact size, I typically use a smaller centre drills to start the hot - sort of like a pilot.

FWIW I drill mainly metal so I like to always have sharp bits so have to sharpen regularly, much more than metal workers would normally.
I have several sharpening attachments for grinders etc but for speed I sharpen by hand on a CBN wheel and with (considerable) practice it is possible to remove very little metal.
The twist bits I sharpen by hand, range from ~6 to 28 mm.
<~6mmm I find harder to do by hand so recently bought a budget ($79) DD from Hare and Forbes.
It does what I call an adequate job.

Thanks for the review.
Thomas Johnson, when repairing antique furniture and removing broken dowels etc. recommends to run the drill bit backwards a number of times before drilling. It helps centre the drill bit and stops the wandering. I’ve tried it and it looks like a good ploy.

I use a Mid range Drill Doctor as bought and it’s great.

Thanks BobL

It was actually a recent thread on this forum that got me deciding on a DD or something else. I am also a fan of using a birdcage awl in wood to deepen a punched hole.

I tried, I really tried to figure out sharpening on a grinder by hand. I freehand sharpen whatever I can do so effectively to reduce clutter from jigs. But sharpening drill bits by hand really seems to be one you need to practice a great deal to get consistently good at. No-one seems to refer to it as something like sharpening a card scraper where there is a bit of a knack but once you have it, you have it.

(I am of course always open to fresh views or debunking myths so I would be interested if you had a different point of view.)

Thanks Lappa

I rate his videos. I assume he has to do a lot of drilling by hand because he can't disassemble the whole thing often to get it in a drill press, as you might making something from scratch.

That method seems to have the advantage that the drill bit in reverse will be precisely the same profile as the cutting action. Assuming it just lightly abrades and compresses, it should make a slight depression that the drill will mate into.

Chris

There's a foolproof solution to drills wandering: Brad point.

I genuinely don't understand why people use plain twist drills in wood, they're just objectively worse :?

I've been using the Tormek DB22 for a couple of years now and rate it 11/10 imo for sharpening conventional twist drill bits. Tormek's "four facet" grind makes a huge difference in my drilling applications, mostly end grain drilling of segmented pen blanks.

They say humans can perceive a 5-10% improvement in things simply via gut feel so the Tormek sharpened drill bits must be considerably "better." :D More like chalk and cheese imo.

Seriously though in my applications a freshly sharpened / new "conventional" twist drill bit produces a satisfactory hole in most plain blanks with an occasional blank failure of 1:100 or so, but a far higher number of out of spec holes. However the failure rate in segmented blanks is significantly higher depending upon the blank's construction and increases to 1:10 or worse as the drill bit dulls, and in quilted QLD Maple the rule book goes out the window - anything can happen, and does.

Using Sutton "Viper" drill bits with their point design markedly improves both hole quality and success rate in both plain, segmented blanks, and quilted QLD Maple.

Now change to a HQ drill bit like the Sutton "Viper" but sharpened on the Tormek DB22 and the success rate and hole quality improves markedly again in all applications, particularly in the collinearity of the "holes" as I drill from both ends on the lathe using a Vermec ER32 Colett Chuck.

Similar improvements are also seen in the effort required to turn the tail stock handle to produce the necessary thrust force when drilling on the lathe, which must vastly reduce the potential of developing long term wrist problems.

I have trialed brad points (far superior in face grain than std 118 point drill bits, not so good end grain), "slow" helix flute, 90,118, plus 130 degree point designs but I find a Sutton Viper drill bits inherent design qualities and resharpened to the Tormek "four facet" point the most reliable and convenient solution.

I now very rarely experience "out of tolerance" holes or lose a segmented blank, which considering the time and effort in making the blanks is a huge relief.

As the old Castrol advert says "Oils ain't oils, Sol." Same goes for drill bits - there is a lot of technology and design expertise behind a quality drill bit.

Hi Elan

For me, for large or critical jobs I use augur bits (I've been buying the Promac ones as I need) or Forstner bits in the drill press. When angle accuracy is critical and I can't get piece in drill press I will make a sacrificial guide block. Alternatively with a birdcage awl you can get a fairly deep starting hole).

Just for me a sharp twist drill bit is for the in between work where you want fairly good holes (sometimes through other material) or ease of effort. Eg knocking out the bulk of the waste from a large mortise, putting a jig together, etc. My preference for sharpening twist drill bits instead of having a set of brads is really just to have all my bits able to be kept constantly sharp, never throwing out or buying new ones.

I did see your post on sharpening Brad points by hand but it involes quite specific, bulky items and real skill developed over time seems respectfully just too much for a hobbyist. I say that fully recognising that in a busy shop or production setting of course that must however make eminent sense.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cgcc

I did see your post on sharpening Brad points by hand but it involes quite specific, bulky items and real skill developed over time seems respectfully just too much for a hobbyist.

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All it needs is a narrow wheel for your bench grinder and even that is optional as they can be done on a standard width wheel as well. Of course, I'm working on the assumption that everyone owns a normal bench grinder, if you're Tormek only then it's a different story. I'll concede on the skill area, but if you dress the wheel and set the tool rest as I showed, it's really set-and-forget.

This has got me thinking though... Just from looking at pics of the jig, I reckon it could be set for brad points as long as you could set a stop on the slide (otherwise the point will crash through the side of the wheel). Set the angle for a 164 degree point (in the same direction as in the pic) to give you 8 degrees on the brad point, but sharpen the other flute into the side of the wheel to the stop that you set. All you'd need then is to work out the proper tilt of the jig for the clearance angle.

Sharpen the left flute as indicated
Attachment 498524

Proposed point geometry
Attachment 498525

Would be very interested to hear how this goes if anyone's feeling brave enough to try it

I think you could set a stop on the slide. I would probably use a bulldog clip (ie that you'd use on a document) and clip on.

Might add to list. An initial thought though is you are going to effort to sharpen with DBS you have a sharp point that won't wander, so much purpose?

You get the spurs for a cleaner hole. Maybe twist drills are good enough off that jig, just a thought.