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I just use Lidl / parkside drillbits most of the time, if they snap I top us using cheap drills off Ebay, I think it was about £9 for 99 drillbits, lots of the small sizes, less as you go up. I was using one of these cheapie to centre bore stel bar on the lathe, managed about 1.5 metres in total before sharpening was needed. I often find drills are not properly sharp when new and need a tickle, and the wings also chip easily on rounded Phillip's screws until they are properly eaten into by the drillbit, I go for a 7 or 8mm drillbit to start off taking the heads off m6 panhead or Allen screws if they round. If a good lot of swarf isn't spoiling off the drillbit, stop and sharpen, never persist as a drillbit, once it's got hot needs s lot of effort to sharpen and get back to properly tempered steel that will hold an edge. My pet hate is blunt drillbits, spent 18 months in an engineering firm where no one sharpened drillbits and the pedestal grinder was miles from the drill, I have bench grinders 2 foot from the pillar drill, running several grits of stone right down to a really fine, water cooled whitestone. A shap drillbit should have the head off a m6 panhead in 30 seconds, using a basic cordless drill. After practice I now tend to be able to fairly consistently drill bolts out well enough to pull the thread if the bolt out like a helicoil gone wrong leaving the trapped hole intact.
Speed is often what kills drill bits. Dormer drills are great ( Presto also a top notch brand) but if you blunt off Lidl bits it's likely you'll blunt off or snap the expensive ones just as quick. Lidl drill sharpening jigs are a cost effective tool - I have one but find it easier to just sharpen freehand so have not used the jigs yet, theres only room for so many bench grinders on the table and I tend to sharpen as I go, if I decide to do a batch the jig might get setup, I found the chainsaw sharpening machine to be very good as long as you use it gently, a friend of mine told me his is awful as it has too much play, I can see what he means but if you dont force it or try to work fast, its actually very effective and faster than a file, if the chains hit a nail, possibly I am faster with a file if its just a quick dress from normal wear, but that because I have a over a decades experience of sharpening the old fashioned way. The jigs are dead handy to use if you are not confident to sharpen freehand.
I assume it is what reduces the speed, probably possible to bypass the switch and run direct but very fast or by a new board. I think the board may be replaceable for not a lot - if it's what I think it is its less than a fiver, but not had mine appart to look. I know the led worklamp I had from there the board packed up, a generic replacement was 80p delivered, a few days of solder and a £15 work light was saved from landfill.
Quote from: matthewmosse on October 11, 2019, 03:41:08 PMI assume it is what reduces the speed, probably possible to bypass the switch and run direct but very fast or by a new board. I think the board may be replaceable for not a lot - if it's what I think it is its less than a fiver, but not had mine appart to look. I know the led worklamp I had from there the board packed up, a generic replacement was 80p delivered, a few days of solder and a £15 work light was saved from landfill.Great! Where can I order a few days of solder from? 😁😁