Sharpening Drill Bits Smaller than 3mm (1/8")

[RichColvin]

Rick,

I left mine hexagonal. It seemed to work well, but I've not sharpened a lot of small bits. 

[RickKrung]

Rick,

I left mine hexagonal. It seemed to work well, but I've not sharpened a lot of small bits.

How did you align the flutes?  Just keeping it about where it should be as you tightened the chuck?  I figured that would be tricky, maintaining both projection and flute alignment.  That is why I though it would work better to have the barrel of the pin vise round so it could be rotated and moved as unit for both projection and flute positioning.  But... I never did try it, so...   

I was a bit concerned about what all would be involved with trying to turn down the plastic, hex sleeve.  Taking it all off to expose the base metal barrel?  I figured I'd be doing that between centers on the lathe. 
But... I never did try it, so...

I think I'm going to like the ER8 collet/chuck set.  It goes a little bit larger (0.197") than the Starrett pin vise set (0.187") and I doubt I'll be trying to sharpen drills as small as 2mm (0.079"). I also have a Vevor MB-13 drill sharpener, which uses ER20 collets, down to 3mm and I've found it to be close to acceptable for small drills, although I still like the finish given by the Tormek much better. 

[Alston]

I'm a big fan of ER collet chucks, I have used them on quite a few projects as well as on my lathes and mill. There are a lot of different sizes available on eBay for very reasonable prices.

[RickKrung]

I'm a big fan of ER collet chucks, I have used them on quite a few projects as well as on my lathes and mill. There are a lot of different sizes available on eBay for very reasonable prices.

I agree completely.  I'm a big fan of collets in general, being most familiar with the "C" class, 5C and 3C.  I really like them for lathe work as there is not so much whirling mass of steel close to the workpiece.