Miniature drill bit sharpener

[the.hogman]

As found throughout the web, this is a small hand sharpener for small drill bits. It utilizes a small pin vise to grip the drill bit. This pin vise is mounted (can be rotated to align flutes) in a small piece of angle iron. The amount of drill bit sticking out will dictate the angle to be honed on the the point of the bit. Longer sticking out, sharper the point. This is then lightly moved over the two sided oil stone resting in the base. The angle iron jig slides smoothly on the plexiglass while the bit rests on the stone. Light strokes, and only a few of them, will sharpen and save almost any small drill bit. I am usually working with as small as 1.15mm in some of my manufacturing.


Now that I got some detailed pics up, let me explain.
Small piece of angle iron with a small hole bored exactly through the middle of the angle. The small pin vise fits in the hole very closely. On the outside of the angle and over this hole, I welded a small slug for the pin vise to go into as well. As you can see, there is a small screw in the slug that will lock the pin vise in any orientation. This is used to align the drill bit flutes prior to drawing the jig across a sharpening stone. The bit tip angle is determined by the amount of the bit allowed to stick out. More out, sharper the point, not necessarily a good thing for small bits.
Please drop me a note if you need more details.