Drill bits never come cheap, they are pretty expensive especially the high-quality ones. Unfortunately, no matter how quality drill bits you get yourself, they eventually dull with constant use. But It doesn’t mean you need to get a new drill bit after every few months when you can sharpen the one you already have, with the best drill bit sharpeners to retain their cutting edge.
What are drill bit sharpeners?
The Drill Bit sharpener is a tool for professionals who drills through tough steel or hardwood on a regular basis. Bit sharpener grinds the tips at a right angle with a sharp point, offering clean cutting, and faster drilling. It saves you from getting several new drill bits over a year by keeping your single good-quality bit working perfectly for many years and helping you get the most out of it without slowing you down.
Why do I need to get a drill bit sharpener?
Once you buy a quality drill bit, all you need is to get a good bit sharpener with the same caliber to keep it fine-tuned and always sharp for the best drilling mechanism.
For easing your hunt for the best drill bit sharpener, I have listed below the top selections on the market. Now let’s explore some helpful facts about these bit sharpeners.
Best Rated Drill Bit Sharpeners 2020
| Drill Bit Sharpeners | Features | Price |
| Work Sharp Knife & Tool Sharpener | 12-V inverter Precision Sharpening Guides Flexible Abrasive Belts |
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| Drill Bit Sharpener Tormek DBS-22 | Compatibility Great Precision |
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| Tormek T-8 Original | Water-cooled System Micro Adjust Magnetic Scarper |
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| Woodstock D4144 | Simple Design Budget-Friendly |
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| DAREX Drill Bit Sharpener | 3-Step Sharpening Borazon wheel |
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Work Sharp Knife & Tool Sharpener
The Knife & Tool Sharpener is the No. 1 on the list with a unique design to sharpen every single blade you own. When it comes to sharpening, it is an all-rounder to sharpen all tools including drill bits, scissors, knives, and even garden shears with three abrasive belts of different coarseness (80-grit, 220-grit, and 6000-grit belt) to give smooth and razor-sharp finishing.
Its 12-volt adapter comes very handily, just plug it in a socket or in your vehicle to start grinding with abrasive belts to get the desired sharpness, making it customizable. You can hone your drill bits with a belt sander to any angle you want with great precision sharpening guides.
Impressive Features
Flexible Abrasive Grit Belts: This all-tool sharpener comes with 3 premium grade belts; coarsest, medium, and fine to satisfy all your sharpening requirements. Professional blade makers use these belts to put killer edges on tools, so with this feature, you have the same mind-blasting technology at home. With this, you can not only sharpen straight blades but also curved tools and knives. These belts provide professional level polishing without burning or damaging your blades during the process.
Precision sharpening guides: To ensure you get a perfect angle each time, it uses dual sharpening guides for multiple tools. A 50-degree precision guide helps to get razor-sharp edges on hunting knives while a 40-degree guide sharpens the kitchen knives and other thin blades when they become dull. Within a 40-degree precision guide, there is also an option for household scissors; a 60-degree scissor guide that allows you to regain the sharpness of worn-out scissors.
Versatility: The flexibility of this sharpener makes it the most versatile tool on the market which can sharpen a wide range of tools including Shears, Scrappers, Garden Mower Blades, Lawn Pruners, Shovels, and much more. Its handheld design enables you to grind even smaller details with much ease.
12 Volt Inverter: It comes with a 12 Volt inverter, making it very handy to take your workshop anywhere you want. Plug the adapter in your car, truck, or rover and start grinding the tools.
Keep in Mind
General Sharpener: It is a general sharpener meaning that it is best to be used at home and don’t confuse it with a dedicated drill bit sharpener, which is very tough and designed for only professionals.
Special Skills Required: Since this tool is equipped with abrasive belts and precision guides, you may need a degree of skills and sufficient knowledge about sharpening to get the best out of it.
Drill Bit Sharpener Tormek DBS-22
If you are looking for a great quality sharpener and money is not your concern then Tormek DBS-22 is your way to go. The Tormek is considered the leader in tool sharpening for over 40+ years. It comes with drill bit sharpening attachments, enabling you to sharpen your bits with the highest precision. You can also customize its clearance angles and optimal points as per your drilling requirements. It restores all the old and worn out broken drills to new sharp cutting edges drills by utilizing a 4-facet point sharpening mechanism. This tool won’t only prolong the life of your drill bit but also makes it self-centering and exclude the need for punches before drilling.
This Torment Bit Sharpener works for all angles between 90-150 degrees. You can also optimize the clearance angle from 7, 9,11, and 14 degrees. The drills sharpened by this tool were also subjected to independent testing which proved the enhanced life span of drill bits of up to 4 years compared to the new ones. It is equipped with a base plate, holder, guide, settling template, and a magnifier.
Impressive Features:
Compatibility: The Tormek DBS is highly compatible with and handles any drill bit ranging from ⅛-inch (3mm) to ⅞-inch (22 mm) in diameter and you can also adjust the angles between 90-150 degrees.
Great Precision: This drill bit sharpener provides great precision with Tormek T-3 or T-7 sharpening systems while restoring the old and dull drill bits. Moreover, with 4-facet points, it bores the holes of a perfect circle and depth with smooth finishing. The sharpener with a 4-facet point also uses less thrust power and heat.
Prolonged Life Span: This jig increases the lifespan of drill bits to more than 4 years comparing the brand new ones.
Keep in Mind
Price: This tool is expensive than other drill bit sharpeners with multiple features.
Skills Required: You may require to learn more about this tool to get your desired results of sharpening. For that purpose, acquire more knowledge about tool sharpening.
Tormek T-8 Original
Another Premium Drill Bit Sharpener by Tormek provides the best bit sharpening with crystal clear finishing. If you are in North America, then consider yourself lucky! because Tormek T-8 is only available in this region. This powerful tool is equipped with a water-cooled grinding mechanism and comes with everything you could need to take your sharpening job to the next level.
Unlike other drill bit sharpeners, it’s advanced features even allow the quality conscious non-professional users to operate it safely to get their desired results, making it the most user-friendly drill bit sharpener ever.
With this sharpener, you will get many jigs to customize your angles and edges, 2 grindstone wheels ( having grit range between 220 to 1,000), helping you get mirror-like clear finishing results at home.
Impressive Features
Water-cooled sharpening: This drill bit sharpener is advanced with a water cooling mechanism to prevent overheating of steel tools and creates exact replication with astonishing precision. No matter how long you use on how tough material you it on, it won’t get heated and helps you get razor-sharp edges
Micro Adjust: It allows you to adjust the degree angles and cutting depth with acme thread.
Magnetic Scraper: This feature collects all the metallic particles or residues during the sharpening process. The Magnetic Scrapper doesn’t only collects the waste but also keeps the grinding wheel safe from damages and water trough tidy.
Keep In Mind
Expansive: This tool is designed for professionals who need to invest a single time. It is highly expansive as much as 7 times more than any other drill bit sharpener on the market.
Require Knowledge: If you need to get higher efficiency then you must have enough knowledge about its parts and working mechanism. Only then, you will be able to get the best results.
Woodstock D4144 Drill Sharpener
The Woodstock D4144 is the best-rated drill sharpener on our list. You can place it next to your bench grinder and start sharpening your drill bit at a suitable angle.
It offers five effective angles ranging from 41 degrees to 88 degrees and can work for any drill bit with a diameter between 0.125-inch to 0.75-inch. Therefore, it eliminates the concern about the bit size, it can handle drill bits of nearly all sizes. This efficient bit sharpener enables the users to use it repeatedly without overheating and damaging tools.
Impressive Features
Design: The design of this sharpener is very simple, meaning that it has clearly no chances of malfunctioning. It has only a few moving parts which are very easy to use and doesn’t require any maintenance. With this much simplicity, it lasts longer than other versatile sharpeners.
Budget-Friendly: The Woodstock D4144 is one of the most top rated bit sharpeners that comes at a stealing price. It is an attachment that is installed in conjunction with a bench grinder to enhance the detailing accuracy and grinding speed.
Set & Forget: After adjusting the angles to your desired requirement, you won’t need to set it over and over again! It keeps the same angle unless or until you readjust it at a different angle.
Keep In Mind
Requires Bench Grinder: This tool works with a bench grinder, so you would need to purchase a separate bench grinder or if you already own one, then it is a great choice for you to enhance your speed and grinding performance.
Additional Cost: Since it requires a bench grinder, it increases the cost significantly.
Safety Concern: This tool is safe to use with its safety guard but when it is attached to a grinder, the safety guards are removed which increases the chances of injury and harm.
Requires Skill: For using this tool efficiently, you require grinding or sharpening skills because it does not come with a guide.
DAREX Drill Bit Sharpener
If you use your drills daily and looking for something that can help you with bulk sharpening, then you must get your hands on Darex drill bit Sharpener. This robust structured bit sharpener can ready up to 2000 drill bits with a single abrasive CBN wheel.
Its user-friendly design will not require you to be an expert to operate it and get sharp edges. It can tackle any drill bit of size between 0.125-inch to 0.75-inch.
Also, It comes in very handy and graces the workbenches of fabrication or job shops.
Impressive Features
Great Durability: This drill bit sharpener is the best rated for a reason, it allows you to sharpen as much as 50 drill bits per week.
3 Step Sharpening: The 3-step sharpening system has made it very easy to renew the dull drill bits in less than a minute.
Borazon Wheel: Since this device provides the maximum sharpening with one belt so it has to be equipped with the hardest wheel and Borazon is just right to get the job done.
Keep In Mind
Expensive: This Sharpener is very costly, so you would need to spend a lot to get this one.
Heavy Weight: It’s solid cobalt body ensures its quality but also makes it very heavy (25 pounds) to move around.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best drill bit sharpener?
The Tormek DBS-22 is the overall best drill bit sharpener. It uses 4 facet thrust power to sharpen the bits and increases their life span to over 4 years than a brand new drill bit.
Who makes the best drill bit sharpener?
Tormek is known as the leader of drill bit sharpeners for more than 40 years. It is dedicated and committed to providing effective solutions for all kinds of tools. Torment has set the standard with its advanced technology in the tool sharpening market.
What are the best drill bit and knife sharpener?
The Knife & Tool Sharpener is the best drill bit sharpener with great versatility. It sharpens every kind of tool and blades you ever have with 3 sharpening blades and a range of angles to give you razor cut edges and smooth finishing.
Which drill bit sharpener is best for cobalt bits?
The Darex Drill Bit Sharpeners are best for cobalt bits. Since Cobalt is heat resistant, it requires the strongest sharpener and this Darex sharpener is equipped with a Borazon wheel (hardest known material) to give sharp edges with detailed precision repeatedly.