Spade drill bits are used for drilling wide and deep holes in the wood. There are several methods to sharpen the spade drill bits. You can sharpen a spade drill bit by hand using a file, vise, and angle gauge. It takes time but it is high accuracy. If you need to sharpen a spade drill a bit quickly, you can use a grinder or Dremel. For professional service, you can use a drill bit sharpening machine. The cutting edge, center point, and spurs are the main parts of the spade drill bit. You need to sharpen them step by step
When you resharpen a spade drill bit, you have to sharpen all step by step. So this guide will help you to do it properly.
How to Sharpen Spade Bits By Hand?
Tools For Spade Bits
When you sharpen spade bits by hand, you will need these tools.
- File
- Vise
- Drill bit angle gauge
Step 01 – Sharpen The Cutting Edge
- Secure the bit in a bench vise and use a smooth single-cut mill file to touch up the two cutting edges. File on the push stroke (above), tilting the handle down slightly to match the angle of the cutting edges; between 5° and 10° is typical.
- Then touch up the cutting edges on either side of the point the same way (inset), taking care not to alter its taper.
- Do not remove too much metal at the base of the point, as this will weaken the bit.
Step 02 – Sharpen The Center Point
Spade drill bit center points are two types. Forced spade and self-driving spade points are them.
When you sharpen the spade bit center point, check, how much is that wandering. When you see the center point has a blunt, you should resharpen it. Self-driving spade points need a small-size file.
Normally, the spade bit center point also has a cutting angle between 30 degrees to 40 degrees. You can use a file to sharpen the center point.
Step 03 – Sharpen the Cutting Spurs
All spade bits do not have cutting spurs. Cutting spurs helps to cut clean at the edge materials.
When you sharpen the spade bit spurs, you must use a smaller size file. If you try that with a grinder, that will be damaged easily.
How to Sharpen Spade Bits with Dremel?
Dremel is a great tool to sharpen the spade drill bits. It is lightweight and consists of many parts that help to grind, or sharpen the spade drill bits. Not only Dremel you can use for sharpening tasks but also you can use these drill bits sharpening tools easily
Step 01 – Sharpen The Cutting Edge
The cutting edge can sharpen using the Dremel drum. Before you use that, make sure the drum has made with harder materials rather than your drill bits. When you sharpen the cutting edge do not push much. If you push too much, the edges will be wavy. This will give wavy bottom.
Step 02 – Sharpen The Center Point
When you sharpen the center point using Dremel, you should turn it along the cutting path. If you use it perpendicular to the cutting edge, the sharpening corner will be curved. Hence be careful when you use this.
Self-driving center point can be sharpened using cutting bits.
Step 03 – Sharpen the Cutting Spurs
Using a small size drum, you can sharpen the spade drill bit, cutting spurs. Do not use a , larger drum.
How to Sharpen Spade Bits With a Bench Grinder?
- Step 01 – Set the tool rest at an angle of 8° to the horizontal, with the higher end facing the grinding wheel, and tighten a stop collar on the shank of a spade bit so that when the stop bears against the edge of the rest, the bit’s cutting lips will bear against the wheel face.
- Step 02 – Hold the bit flat on the tool rest and apply a cutting lip, bevel facing down, to the wheel face.
- Step 03 – When one lip has been ground, flip the bit to grind the other lip. To grind the bevels at the edges of the spur, swing the bit at about 90° and guide it against the wheel freehand (inset).
- Step 04 – Flip the bit to grind the opposite spur edge, taking care to grind both edges equally so that the spur remains centered.
- Step 05 – Remove burrs on the spurs and lips with one or two light strokes of a whetstone on the flat faces.
Sharpen Spade Bits Using a Drill Bit Sharpening Machine
Spade drill bits can be sharpened using a machine. But those are expensive and not affordable to use for few drill bits. And you should have a skill and knowledge to operate it. If you start drill bit sharpening service as a business, you can invest foe that.
The best ways to sharpen spade drill bits have been mentioned above. You can try any method you like.
Conclusion
Spade drill bits are essential for wider and deep hole drilling. When spade drill bit is dull, you should sharpen its cutting edges, center point and spurs properly.
If you use the proper tools, you can have a well-sharped spade drill bit. Else you can have a wavy cutting-edge bit that provides an uncleared hole.
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