How to Sharpen a Forstner Drill Bit?

When you sharpen the Forstner drill bit you should follow these 4 important steps. In the first step, you should identify the Forstner drill bit. There are 3 types of Forstner drill bit, and each type should be sharpened in a separate way. Then you should sharpen the inside bevel. You can use an abrasive grinding cone and press drill for that task successfully. Then you should sharpen the chip lifters, and finally, you can sharpen the point angle by using a triangular slip stone.

What Tools Need to Sharpen a Forstner Drill Bits?

When you need to sharpen a Forstner drill bit, you should use the tools below.

1. Round slip stone (file)
2. Triangular slip stone (file)
3. Mini diamond hone
4. Forstner drill bit
5. Dremel
6. Abrasive grinding cone

What are the 4 Steps to Sharpen the Forstner Drill Bit?

1. Identify the Type of Forstner Drill Bit

Normally, there are 3 main types of Forstner drill bits. Those are

1. Sawtooth Forstner drill bit
2. Continuous Forstner drill bit
3. Wavy Forstner drill bit

You can see there is an extraordinary difference between them. So when you resharpen them, you have to use different tools.

2. Sharpening Inside Bevel

You can sharpen inside the rim using a Dremel with an abrasive grinding cone and round slip cone.

Using an Abrasive Grinding Cone

1. First, secure the bit in a bench and check the rim surface for unevenness.
2. Then touch up a Forstner bit, and try the top edge of the bit’s rim with a file, removing any nicks.
3. If the beveled edges of the cutting spurs inside the rim are uneven, grind them using an electric drill fitted with an abrasive grinding cone.

Using a Press Drill

1. First, tighten the fastener drill bit in a vise
2. Then tighten the round slip cone to the press drill
3. Match the angle of the rim and rotate it through.
4. Sharpen a few strokes inside the rim until you get a proper sharp edge.

3. Sharpen the Chip Lifters

When you sharpen the chip lifters, you should follow the below steps.

1. Use a single-cut mill file to lightly file the inside faces of the cutters.
2. Hold the file flat against one of the cutters also known as chip lifters and make a few strokes along the surface.
3. Repeat with the other cutter. Finish the job by honing the beveled edges inside the rim with a slip stone.

4. Sharpen the Point Angles

When you sharpen the point angle you should follow the below steps.

1. You can use the triangular slip stone again and use your thumb as a guide to keep it off of the chipper that you just sharpened.
2. Give it a few strokes to touch up the centering spur.

How to Sharpen a Brad Point Drill Bit?

Brad point drill bit can be sharpened using a small size file as a sharpener and vise to tight the drill bit any position. When you sharpen the brad point bit you should follow these 3 main steps.

1. Filing the chip lifters
2. Filing the point angle
3. Filing the cutting spurs