I might have to check one of those out. Then again, it's one of those tools you might only need once or twice a year, at least for the amount of work I do.

Once I used a 2 by 4 for leverage on my Sioux close quarter drill. I was drilling through a thick frame member, was in a tight space, and I had part of the body a few inches from the back of the drill, so it was a lucky setup for the use of leverage.

BTW, here's a great source for twist drill bits:

http://www.panamericantool.com/

They have a $50 minumum. The bits are good, cobalt, and about 1/2 price of Home Despot. I use a lot of 6" bits in my carpentry, resharpen them when I can, but the 1/8 size can break or bend pretty easy, and these guys have them for almost 1/3 of store price, and you can't always find them everywhere, retail that is. FWIW, here's a picture of the Sioux drill. I own stock in them also. Milwaukee has the same drill, or rather, the previous Sioux model, made by Sioux, but with red plastic and the Milwaukee name.

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

My wife gave me a Drill Doctor several years ago for a present. It works as advertised. Good product.

__________________
Lawrence Coppari

2002 SLK32 AMG
2005 Acura TL
1987 328GTS
1986 944T

"They have a $50 minumum."
Sounds like a time to consider banding together on an order....

Last night I saw the Drill Doctor infomercial for the first time... or parts of it... fell asleep part of the time...
The demonstration about drilling in 1/4 steel... like 300plus holes...
Was a little flakey..... Who would not know to turn that project to horizontal and squirt some cutting fluid on the bit before each hole was started ? That by itself would greatly reduce the number of times that bit needed sharpening..
AND the idea of drilling that many holes without the benefit of a press... that almost guarentees dulling the bit... as soon as you fail to apply , even for one turn, proper pressure..... then the end of the bit is used as a bearing... and does great harm to the sharpness... Anything less than long twists of metal being evacuated from the hole mean you have not maintained proper pressure on the bit.
And , if a person is still needing the measure the length of the cutting edges with a magnifying glass and adjust them.... what is it the Drill Doctor does which could not be done WAY cheaper with a little drill sharpening jig from Sears ? Leaving you $125 to buy more bits...

You don't have to measure anything with the magnifying glass. It's only on the split point part. You stick the chuck with the bit in it into the split point hole, and pull it towards you until it lightly touches the wheel. If you go too far, you have to go back to the original sharpening process. So you want to look at how far you've gone so you know when to stop. The magnifying glass makes it easier on my eyes.

It's not that big of a deal, and you could probably get by without split point bits for a long time, many people did, it's a fairly recent development I think.

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I was just at my shop and luckily found a really dull 1/8 bit. I could see it was dull with my magnifying glass and tried to drill into some hardwood...it was dull all right.

The Drill Doctor made short work of it. It looked sharp under the lens and it drilled like a new one. I wouldn't try to go much smaller than 1/8 though. It's a lengthy explanation why, you'd find out real quick if you try it.

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

That is some good information. I like the idea of a group order but the extra shipping charges involved in dispersing everything might cut into the savings a bit. I do orders with two of my buddies around here. It would probably be easiest to find some guys in your town, but hey, don't let me throw cold water on you, it might work to do it all by mail. We'll see if anyone jumps on board. Might have to spread the word somehow.

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K