Toolbox: House Calls from a Drill Doctor

Idon’t save much in the way of junk anymore. But I’ve never been able to throw away drill bits, especially the bigger ones — and I’ve collected a drawerful of them. I install a lot of hardware on metal doors and jambs, including locksets, closers, vision lites, kick plates, and panic bars. Whenever I know I’m going to install stainless-steel hardware, I stop at the local supply house and stock up on 1/8-inch, 3/16- inch, and 1/4-inch drill bits. And for closers on solid masonry walls, I buy handfuls of 1/8-inch masonry bits, too. I always thought that there ought to be a good way to sharpen high-speed twist drills. I’ve tried every trick that anyone has