Ever notice how serious cooks always seem to have sharp knives? It's because having your tools in perfect working order makes the job easier. Any cook worth his salt will know how to properly sharpen a knife. The same applies to drill bits. A sharp drill bit lets you drill holes more accurately, faster, and with less wear and tear on your drills. The problem with keeping drill bits sharp is that it takes a fair bit of skill and practice (as well as a bench grinder and the appropriate wheel) to properly sharpen a bit. As a result, very few home mechanics sharpen their own drill bits. Instead, they amass large collections of dull drill bits. Ask me how I know. To ease our suffering, Professional Tool Manufacturing, LLC created The Drill Doctor. This ingenious tool, introduced in 1997, gives the amateur metal worker the means to quickly and easily sharpen drill bits with professional results. With one million units sold, and several industry awards, it is clear that the Drill Doctor does its job very well.

After several years of shamefully watching my pile of dull bits grow, I made the decision to order a Drill Doctor. I chose the DD750, their top-of-the-line model. I mainly needed the ability to sharpen carbide and cobalt bits up to 1/2" dia. so I could have gone for the DD400 model. But the DD750 gave me the option of sharpening bits up to 3/4" (the DD400 and DD500 also offer this feature with the purchase of an accessory) as well as the ability to sharpen two different bit point angles. What's particularly nice about the Drill Doctor line-up is that they have a product designed for everyone's budget and requirements. You can buy exactly what you need, whether you're a home woodworker or operating a busy machine shop. But if you're just after bragging rights, definitely choose the DD750.

Ok, so let's have a look at the DD750:.

• Handles 118º and 135º bit point angles.
• Can sharpen High-Speed Steel, Carbide, Cobalt, TiN-Coated, and Carbide-Tipped Masonry bits.
• Sharpening wheel is diamond-coated and user-replaceable.
• Bit sizes can range from 3/32" to 3/4".
• Comes with a sturdy carrying case.
• Restores and creates split points.
• (Optional) Left-hand chuck available for sizes from 3/32" to 1/2".
• (Optional) 100 grit coarse sharpening wheel.

The Drill Doctor's waiting room is full of patients.	The DD750 can sharpen two different types of bit angles, 118º and 135º. Here, I am holding the bit's tip against one of the angle gauges to determine which angle I should set the Drill Doctor to.	Drill bits are held by one of two chucks. This is one is for bits up to 1/2" diameter.
The secret to sharpening a bit is to hold it at the right angle. This is particularly difficult when you're working with a curved surface. To deal with this, the Drill Doctor uses an ingenius alignment jig to accurately set the depth and the rotation of the bit.	The alignment jig is on the front of the unit. Here, the chuck and drill bit are being inserted into the alignment jig where the depth and bit rotation will be set.	Drill Doctor www.drilldoctor.com tel: 541 552-1301 toll free: 800-597-6170   Drill Doctor PO Box 730 Ashland, OR 97520 USA

Being your typical shade tree howler monkey, I quickly scanned the first three pages of the manual and then sharpened my first bit. Including the time spent reading the manual, I had the bit sharpened in about seven minutes. (Only later that evening did I read through the whole manual, savoring the details like a total tool geek, and watch the very nicely done instructional video ). With the freshly sharpened bit, I drilled a test hole and it cut like the proverbial knife through butter. Long strips of metal peels spiralled out of the drill, indicating a very sharp bit. This was a huge improvement over the little black filings the bit produced when it was dull. As expected, the pressure required to drill the hole was greatly reduced with the sharpened bit. In short, this is a very easy-to-use tool that produces professional grade results.

The obvious question is this: will the Drill Doctor pay for itself and if so, how soon?. The answer depends on how often you drill and how much you value your time. Since a bit can be re-sharpened a couple of dozen times, it is obvious that it will, at some point, pay for itself (even sooner if you use large bits). Another factor to consider is your time. When you're working on a project and you can't drill a hole because your drill bit is too dull, how much time is wasted driving to the hardware store and back, not to mention the additional time that is invariably spent running other errands while you're on the road (like stopping into McDonald's yet again)?. These little "goin' to the store" episodes consume a surprisingly large amount of your time. And then there's the actual project time to consider. A dull bit definitely takes longer to drill a hole, especially when you're working under awkward conditions, like lying under a vehicle, trying to drill a holes through the frame for a tow hitch. Every second spent in some contorted position with your arm going numb feels like minutes.

Besides being worthy from a financial and time standpoint, there is a whole other beneficial aspect to having a Drill Doctor. It gives you sharp drill bits all the time!. Think about how you replace drill bits right now. You don't go out and buy a new bit as soon as you notice the old one is getting dull, do you?. Of course not. Instead, you grimly persevere, using that bit until it screeches, smokes and sparks every time you try to cut a hole. It's like that dull razor you've had since last month, and damn the pain, you're going to get just one more shave out of it!. The Drill Doctor frees you from your cheapness. You will have sharp bits all the time, weekdays or weekends, during or after store hours.

Once the bit has been properly set in the chuck, it is ready to be inserted into the sharpener.

The result is a shiny sharp drill bit, ready to cut steel. The diamond grinding wheel is visible beneath the clear plastic top cover. It is good for at least 200 sharpenings, at which point it can be easily replaced by the user.

I'm glad I've got mine. I do enough 4x4-related projects to know that it will easily pay for itself. And even if it doesn't, the household projects I get corralled into doing would still make it worthwhile. Try doing some concrete drilling with a dull masonry bit if you're skeptical. Speaking of which, the Drill Doctor fits into that special category where you can justify its purchase to your spouse because you need it for household jobs, and it just so happens to be useful for those silly little 4x4 projects you waste your time on. This is something that you can put on your household "must buy" list with a straight face. If your spouse is still doubtful, you can play the environmental awareness card and tout the Drill Doctor's ability to prevent perfectly good but dull drill bits from going to the garbage dump.