Week 6 "Making The Stone True" & "Sharpening Drill Bits"

So one of the many things I learned this quarter was how to true or dress a grinding wheel. It wasn't hard to learn or understand it was the simple fact that I had never actually seen a grinding wheel dressed or even tried to myself.

The tool I used to dress this grinding wheel is called a grinding wheel dresser/ dressing tool. Its a very messy job, there tends to be a lot of dust. However it does not take very long considering your wheel isn't to bad. if it is I would recommend a respirator.

 One of the reasons we were shown how to properly dress a grinding wheel, was so that we would have a even grinding surface for sharpening tools. Specifically a drill bit.

The drill bit I sharpened because I actually needed it for another project was a 13/32. it wasn't to dull when I began so all I really needed to do was crisp up the edges. I did not use a bit sharpening tool, I just used my hands. This went smooth and was very simple. However what I didn't know and had to look up was what angle in degrees the tip would need to have to perform properly. After watching one youtube video and checking a couple different web sites I found that it needed to be at 59 deg.

Even though this was a pretty simple and small task I now know how and feel comfortable at dressing a grinding wheel and if my drill bits dull in a matter of minutes I will have it sharpened correctly.