# Sharpening Rotary Hammer Concrete Drill Bit



## Helper328 (Jan 30, 2012)

I seriously doubt this person can sharpen a carbide tip.
It is extremely hard metal and requires specialized equipment to grind carbide.
At a $1 a bit, seems very unlikely.
Maybe have him do 1 bit and see what happens.


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## daltinator (Mar 27, 2011)

*Dollar*

I agree, at a dollar it is worth a try. I was just trying to drill pilot holes for my interior drainage system before I jack hammered the concrete. I found it gives me a nice line and also the concrete breaks up very easily. Had the hammer bits before project. I think I am just going to jack hammer the floor with no holes that I space 12 inches apart. Feels like I am wasting time and hammer bits. But I would like to get them sharpened for future use. How would I make sure the guy is a pro at sharpening?


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## jklingel (Dec 21, 2008)

Here, sharpen THIS. Ha ha. I would bet, but don't know, that with a few google searches one could find blow ups of "normal" bits and info on how to sharpen them. I just read a little on a machinist web site that talked about it, and it did not seem like rocket science. The one pictured here is either a toss-away, or requires some interesting machinery to sharpen.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

Not sure why people would think you cannot sharpen carbide. You just need something stronger to cut into it? Like diamond just off the top of my head. 

I worked for a company that was sending carbide things to a sharpener all the time and saw blades to get rebalanced and fitted with carbide tips that had broken off. Love such people and wish people would give them more support rather than just tossing bits and things away. 

I had a combination tax accountant, sharpener, and seasonal lawn mower repair guy in my old hood. He had amazing sharpening equipment and this one drop dead gorgeous Russian woman who did specialty bits like yours. Obviously if you have chewed the specialty head off a masonry bit, you cannot put it back on but it can be sharpened and even re-tempered for an impact drill. To a point. 

I used him on an almost weekly basis with my running motto that sharp tools are safe tools; and things move along faster with sharp cutting tools. And she really was worth watching, if only for a minute or two. Forgetting what she looked like, she was amazing working the sharpening tools. Some were automatic but at the end, she fine tuned every edge. 

His folks not only sharpened but balanced and trued shafts and things somehow too. For chimp change. They did all the kitchen knives on a regular basis too. They were so good I took them new bits to fix inherent wobbles and so forth. 

He also had bins full of really nice sharp bits, augers, saw blades and so forth people forgot to pick up. He would sell them for next to nothing. 

He ended up going out of the sharpening and lawnmower repair business. People were to quick to buy cheap Chinese bits at box stores and didn't sharpen them anymore. I guess he still does taxes.


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## Just Bill (Dec 21, 2008)

What SD said.........my Drill Doc will sharpen that carbide tip, and at the proper angles.


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## AtlanticWBConst. (May 12, 2006)

You can sharpen carbide.

I used to bring our large (10" - 12") carbide-tipped circular saw blades to get them re-sharpened (years ago). Missing teeth would also be replaced. 

Then new blades got to the point of being cheaper than re-sharpening old ones.

I still take our pnuematic masonry chisels to get them re-sharpened.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

Like I said, it is worth finding a good sharpener and swinging by now and then to look over the unclaimed bits and blades. I have a "lovely" forstner bit that would have cost me $50 or more. The sharperner let me have it, sharpened and perfectly balanced for $5. I got a $200 chef knife for the kitchen for $10.


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## ratherbefishing (Jan 13, 2011)

If you use them a lot, check out the Drill Doctor. It looks gimmicky, but works. I'm pretty sure they have a model that does masonry bits.
Or, no reason to believe they can't be fixed, sharpened or carbide replaced. Carbide table saw blades and router bits are sharpened all the time.


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## woodworkbykirk (Sep 25, 2011)

i agree with the others, take the bits into a shop that sharpens blades and bits.. they have the gear and know what their doing.. as long as the bit isnt in too rough shape they will sharpen it. and if their worth doing business with., some of them will flat out replace teh bit if they wreck it in the process


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