Getting drills to a resharpening service undamaged is simpler than most shops expect. The risk isn't breakage in transit — HSS drill bits are solid steel and handle shipping well. The risk is arrival damage to the cutting edges: nicks from tips contacting each other, or tip contact with hard packaging materials that rounds over the geometry you're paying to restore.
Here's how to pack a batch correctly so it arrives in the same condition it left your shop.
The Core Problem: Tip Contact
A freshly pulled drill bit has a worn or dulled tip — but it still has a defined geometry that will determine what the grinder does when it gets there. Edge contact in transit can create small nicks or flat spots that a standard regrind may or may not fully remove, depending on the depth of the damage.
More practically: tips banging against each other or against the walls of a metal container can chip carbide bits, damage split-point geometry, and contaminate your batch with metal particles. The fix is simple — wrap or separate every bit before it goes into the shipping container.
What to Use for Wrapping
You don't need anything special. Effective options that any shop will have on hand:
Foam tubing or pipe insulation: The closed-cell foam sold for protecting plumbing pipes. Cut it to length, slit it lengthwise, and drop the bit inside. Works for any diameter and protects the full length of the bit. Best option for long batches — a few feet of foam tubing handles a lot of drills.
Bubble wrap: One wrap around the bit, tape closed. Adequate for loose packing. Less protective than foam if the package gets compressed, but fine for standard shipments.
Individual corrugated paper sleeves: Tear a strip of cardboard box material, roll the bit in it, tape the end. Fast, free, and provides enough separation to prevent tip contact.
Original manufacturer tubes or cases: If you kept them, use them. The plastic tubes drill bits ship in are sized to hold them without contact. They're ideal if you have them.
Grouping and Labeling
If you're sending a mixed batch — different sizes, different service requests — group and label before you pack. This saves time at the service shop and reduces the chance of a bit getting the wrong operation.
Simple approach: rubber-band each size group together with a small tag indicating diameter, desired service (regrind vs. reconditioning), and any specific notes (e.g., "restore split point," "check for margin wear"). A handwritten index card in the package listing everything you sent is useful for your own records and helpful to the service shop.
If you've been tracking bits by ID as described in a proper tool tracking system, include the ID list so service records can be matched to specific bits on return.
Choosing a Box
For most batches, a standard cardboard box from any carrier works fine. Size the box so the bits aren't crammed in but aren't rolling around loose either. For a batch of 10–20 jobber drills, a small flat-rate box is usually adequate and keeps shipping costs predictable.
Avoid very thin boxes or padded envelopes for anything over 1/4" diameter — the envelope provides no crush protection and a heavy parcel on top will damage the tips regardless of how well you wrapped them. A rigid box with enough padding to prevent the wrapped bits from shifting is the target.
Fill empty space with crumpled paper or foam peanuts. The package should feel solid when you shake it — no rattling or shifting. If you can hear movement, add more fill before sealing.
What to Include in the Box
At minimum:
- Your name and return address (on a card inside the box, in addition to the shipping label — packages get separated from labels)
- A list of what you're sending: sizes, quantities, service requested
- Any specific notes on individual bits or the batch as a whole
- Your preferred return shipping method if the service shop offers options
If you have a standing account with the shop, include your account or order number. This is the single biggest thing that speeds up processing when a batch arrives.
Carrier Notes
USPS Priority Mail is the most economical option for most batch sizes and destinations. Flat-rate boxes make cost predictable. Ground shipping from UPS or FedEx works for larger or heavier batches. None of the major carriers have restrictions on shipping unsharpened drill bits — they're not considered hazardous.
Insurance is optional but worth considering for large batches of premium tooling. If you're shipping $300 worth of cobalt bits, the cost of adding declared value coverage is trivial.
Receiving Your Bits Back
When the batch comes back, check each bit before returning it to service. Verify the geometry looks correct — lips symmetric, relief visible, chisel edge narrow. Note any bits the shop flagged as not worth regrinding. Update your tracking log with the return date and service type for each bit.
The first time you do this you'll catch at least a couple of bits that came back different than expected. That's the tracking system working — it gives you something to compare against and a conversation to have with your service shop if something isn't right.
That's the whole process. Wrap, group, label, box, ship. The bits that arrive in good condition get a clean service cycle. The ones that don't are usually the ones somebody dropped loose into a metal container with no protection — a five-minute fix that pays for itself every time.