Aldi sharpener modifications

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

Making drill sharpening more repeatable

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

Picked up one of the £14.99 sharpening stations from Aldi this morning and was pleasantly surprised by its drill sharpening abilities. However, it seemed difficult to get reliably repeatable results due to what would appear to be two major design flaws. The tail end of the bit is essentially unsupported both for the setting up and the actual grinding. So I modified it a bit… Probably invalidated the guarantee, but worth it I think.

Apologies if it upsets the purists, but it was a quick and dirty fix. Glued a bit of eighth inch hardboard in the channel where the bit holder fits for setting up, and a piece off a six inch nail (about 4.5 mm thick) at the rear of the grinding position. This provides a reliable, solid base for the angle, so the only thing you have to worry about is the fore-and aft movement.

I might have a look at the pivot tomorrow, it's just a self-tapper at the moment

Rob

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Those cheap "Original PlasPlugs Sharpener System" knock offs are annoying.

Despite being cheap'n nasty plastic the PlasPlugs version worked very well indeed. I think they have changed it to a dis-improved version now.

All the knock-offs I've seen are made a bit different and never seem to work as well. Presumably changes made for production cost reasons and the reverse-engineer didn't fully understand what was being copied.

Life is too short for futzing around with a drill sharpener that doesn't "just work".

Clive

Edited By Clive Foster on 30/10/2020 21:08:22

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

Well, the chap in front of me in the queue did say he just bought new drill bits instead.

Even pre-modification, the results were pretty good if care was taken, it just makes it easier to get it right. One thing that would improve things even more would be a finer grade wheel. But my simple test of making a hole in a bit of eighth plate was noticeably faster after sharpening. And it was only £14.99 after all

It might inspire me to design a precision version in metal

Rob

Edit – also thought it might be handy for rough grinding carbide lathe tools

Edited By Grindstone Cowboy on 30/10/2020 21:24:38

[larry phelan 1Participant @larryphelan1]

Thought I was the only one who made "improvements" like that !

I do love the simple, nasty dogrough approach, amazing how often it works

So I say Long live the butchers, of which I am proud to be one !!

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Gotta admit that the inverting drill holder and projection setting systems on that style of drill sharpener are things of genius when it comes to effectiveness at a sensibly low price performance ratio.

You have to wonder why such devices were never thought of earlier and why they didn't become the norm for basic swing over the wheel sharpeners. Pretty much nails all the issues.

Clive

[CHAS LIPSCOMBEParticipant @chaslipscombe64795]

What is the status of the original PlasPlugs sharpener? Is it still available and from where? Approximate cost?

Rip-off versions are readily available but the reviews above are not that encouraging!

Chas

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

Posted by CHAS LIPSCOMBE on 31/10/2020 20:59:42:

What is the status of the original PlasPlugs sharpener? Is it still available and from where? Approximate cost?

Rip-off versions are readily available but the reviews above are not that encouraging!

Chas

There's quite a few on Ebay, about £30 seems to be the average price.

Rob

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

The original Plasplugs sharpening system, which included the drill sharpener, seems to have come off the market some time back. The small grinding wheels are still supplied as spare parts.

As I recall it the set price was in the £60 to £70 region in B&Q et al when the knock offs appeared at around £30. Presumably Plasplugs sales took a serious hit.

Replacement version had a poke the drill down a hole device which was, by all accounts, as hit and miss as any other cheap version of the breed. (I'm sure that sort would go much better if you could see what was going on where the drill bit hits the wheel.)

Looks as if nice and smart, lightly used, prices for second hand sets seem to be in the £30 – £45 region on E-Bay and Facebook Marketplace. Local free-ad papers and boot fairs (when they are permitted again) seem rather lower.

Mine is the original version in a cardboard box. No snazzy plastic case with transparent lid like the later issue.

The pivoting drill carrier assembly on mine has a metal bar to accurately set the height of the point when sharpening. Also the moulding behind the recess for the actual drill carrier is shaped so as to support the shank. Thus the drill shaft angle in relation to the vertical surface of the wheel is well defined. I imagine the relative positions of bar and moulding are quite critical if the drill point is to be the right shape. The drill carrier itself isn't terribly snug in its recess. Certainly not enough to resist grinding forces on its own.

This is probably one place where the knock offs fall down. Lacking shank support Robs Aldi one hasn't much chance as bought.

I'd be unsurprised to discover that the actual drill point projection set by the Vee gauge to be less than ideal on a knock off too.

The LiDL (Parkside) version looked well made but the grinding wheel provided was a spectacularly inefficient and not true running diamond plated sheet steel device. I suspect the critical dimensions may not have been sufficiently correct too. The actual plastic mouldings were rather better than the Pasplugs original, which isn't bad. Seemed a shame to got the trouble of a really good set of moulds yet not get the basic engineering right.

The trick when using the device is to lightly hold the drill down onto the bar and support so as to set it at exactly the right angle. I've usually done an equal number of swipes each side rather than keeping going until the drill swings freely with no grinding action or sparks.

Mine was generally used to quickly do one drill rather than get my eye in on the Picador jig. Now I have the Clarkson set up that is quicker than either.

Clive

Edited By Clive Foster on 31/10/2020 23:14:18

[Paul KempParticipant @paulkemp46892]

Having seen this post and seen a basket full of them in Aldi this morning I decided to give it a punt. Having used professional equipment when I was in the tool room to sharpen hundreds of drills to go back to the store I have only ever sharpened drills in the home shop on the off hand grinder.

Unpacked it tonight and sharpened three drills 1/4" and below, smallest was about 3mm (didn't measure em!) the larger one is well past its sell by date as the lands are worn so it was in the bodge it bash it and crash it box!

First impressions were good, Manual is comprehensive but the actual wording for setting a drill seem a bit vague (maybe just me!). Turned it on, surprisingly quiet, wheel runs nice and true, noted it's a diamond coated disc and also noted no mention in manual of where or how to obtain spares! As noted previously the wheel seems a bit course and gives a fairly rough finish, maybe it will wear in? For the three drills I sharpened they all came out with reasonable geometry, I only tested the larger one in a lump of black structural steel, it started well without a centre pop and cut well enough considering its overall condition!

I then tried doing a pair of scissors for the Mrs, they cut tissue paper after very cleanly so I would judge that a success.

Overall; So far I reckon it's pretty good. Setting the drills is a bit of a faff and it certainly took me longer than doing them on the bench grinder. There is a bit of slop in the swivel action and in the various locations but it is made of plastic! The lands of the drills turned out equal length to the eye at least, the point was ok and the one I tested cut fine although I didn't measure the hole but as the drill is really scrap that would have been a bit pointless. For the money I think it's good value, it's capable of turning out a reasonable job. Certainly it's not a Clarkson but you are not going to get one of those for £15! If you can't grind a drill freehand then you are unlikely to have a shop full of precision machines and be doing work to high tolerance so for the average bloke in his shed I don't think you can knock this for the price. We had a more expensive version in our Worksop in the Caribbean for the labourer to sharpen jobbing drills and that was hopeless it put the clearance on back to front, I threw that in the bin! At least this works.

Paul.

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Paul

Setting the drill really shouldn't be a faff.

On the original poke the drill in against the stop, twist until the Vee gauge drops to its lowest point and job done. The original has an upright metal blade to define drill projection. I don't see what the Adli equivalent is.

Assuming no dimensional infelicities it seems that the keys to getting these things to work well is to have the drill well supported at point and shank when grinding and to have accurate registration of drill point position when setting it in the carrier. The metal inserts used in the original for this which must surely be better than plastic.

Clive

[Paul KempParticipant @paulkemp46892]

Clive,

I should have been clearer maybe, the faff was with the smaller drills as due to their length very little of the shank protrudes from the holder to get hold of it and twist it, at least for my clumsy fingers! The larger one being longer was fine. There is a vertical metal blade in the centre of the setting jig to bring the point up against, it is obscured in the OP picture as the vee is slid right out and over it. I have never used or seen an "original" so cannot make a comparison but on the prices quoted for second hand and the potential difficulty of tracking one down at £15 and being available off the shelf I still think it's good value. It's mainly plastic, it's certainly not a professional cutter grinder but it does what it says on the tin and it has a 3 year warranty to boot.

Paul.

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Paul

I see what you mean about small drills.

I never tried anything that wasn't long enough to have a reasonable projection at the shank end. Seemed to me that there was no hope of repeatable results if the drill wasn't supported both ends. The mechanical precision needed to produce a well centred point on a seriously small drill also seemed a big ask from moulded plastic.

3/16, 4 mm ish was about as small as I ever went. Eying the lowest position drop on the setting Vee could be a bit tricky below around 1/4, 6 mm ish. Especially if the cutting edge were damaged. When in doubt I used to fit a larger, known good drill to remind me exactly what the edge positions should look like.

+1 on more than acceptable results given appropriate care in set-up and use.

Given the price and special size the Plasplugs grinding wheels were of very respectable quality. I'd be unsurprised to discover that the better results I used to get from the Picador (and now from the Clarkson) to be due more to using professional quality white wheels than to intrinsic sharpener capabilities.

Objectively the best thing about the Clarkson is that no special care is needed. It just does it. Quickly. But I have over £200 in the Clarkson and drill sharpener accessory so it darn well needs to be better. That's well cheap too!

Clive

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