Question on sharpening setup

My father did that. I was skeptical when he told me, but now I have used it and it works like a champ. I actually prefer it over my 3600 rpm Delta grinder. It seems too good to be true, but you can't argue with success like that. -mike paulson, fort collins, co

Hmm... one for, one against. An arbor with bearings seems to be in the $40 range, then add pulleys on top of that. I looked around more and saw that Harbor Freight has a 1/2" adaptor for $2, and a 6" wheel for something like $3. If my local store has one in stock, I might give it a try tomorrow. If it works, I'll get a 5/8" arbor and a better wheel...

Not worth "reinventing the wheel", IMHO.. I was going to replace the 8" wheels on my grinder a few months ago.. 2 wheels at about $30 each.. I bought this grinder instead, and I love it:

Note that it comes with 2 pretty good wheels.. My guess is that it's going to cost you close to $100 for quality parts and wheels to build your own.. This grinder goes on sale once in a while... I got it for $65 and free shipping.. (on sale for $80, $15 discount coupon on any $50+ purchase)

mac

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Amen, mac!

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

Hi, I got an arbor from Grizzley awhile back for about $20 IIRC. I use it for buffing - never tried a grinding wheel on it. But comparing that setup to my bench grinder I don't thinink it would be very satisfactory for the reasons stated here by other posters. bob

it:

(snip)

Yeah, for $65, that's a pretty good deal. I might spend the $6 on the parts just to give it a try... but unless it goes tremendously well, I'll start watching for one of those.

can you afford two times $5??? see here

or just do an ebay search for pillow block

Hi, I got an arbor from Grizzley awhile back for about $20 IIRC. I use it for buffing - never tried a grinding wheel on it. But comparing that setup to my bench grinder I don't thinink it would be very satisfactory for the reasons stated here by other posters. bob

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here

> > or just do an ebay search for pillow block Still, two of those with shipping come out to $25 or so. Add in a pair of wheels, the arbor, and pulleys, and I'm back up above the price of that grinder on sale.

Not bad at all... I might give that a thought, too. The parts from Harbor Freight were less than $5 online, and I found a $5-off coupon code, so I ended up paying less than just the shipping would have been!

I've been turning for several years (actually started in the late 1970s then in 1983 laid off for 20 yrs and resumed again in 2006) and have much experience with the wrong ways and right ways to sharpen.

First and most important, your turning will only be as good as your tools are sharp, If you are not set up and prepared to do a proper sharpening job, save yourself the frustration and cost and take up knitting!!!!

IMHO the important factors sort of ranked in descending order are:

1. Type of wheel - you want a white, pink or blue aluminum oxide frible wheen, not the grey rocks that come standard on most grinders. They are only suitable for letting your neighbopr sharpen his lawnmower blade!

1. Size of wheel. 8 in preferred, 6 in useable but much less desireable. All tool grinding on the circumfrence of a wheel results in a hollow grind. I slight hollow is OK and even desireable, however the deeper the holloe grind, the more likely it is to result in an uncontrolable tool The smaller the diameter of the wheel, the deeper the hollow.

2. Wheel speed. The big problem in sharpening is j\heat buildup which runs the risk of burning the tool and ruining it. White it is true that today's HSS tools are far more resistant to grinding heat than carbon steel, you often do not know what you are getting with cheap tools. The so called slow speed (1750rpm) grinders remove metal more slowly and generally are less prone to overheating when used by newbies. If you know what you are doing, the higher speed (3470) is ok.

1. Proper fixturing and grinding jigs. Yes I know that many old pros can freehand grind quite well. I can't but more importantly I can't consistently and very few can freehand grind consistently OK Alan Lacer can grind a skew free hand consistently But thee and Me ain't him!! Lyle Jameson can also freehand grind but wiull tell you outright that he prefers fixtures for several reasons; They are easy to learn, The save time and they save steel. You generally want to spend your time turning, not sharpening and certainly not shopping to replace ground down tools. A PROPER regimine of sharpening with fixtures, with the tools set in them consistently will allow you to quickly restore the bevel with the least amount of time wasted and steel removed. That is the ideal sharpening regimine. I grind my tools to common angles, using set protrusions from the fixture and consistent fixture settings. Usually one or two sweeps across the bevel is all I need to restore the tool and I'm back to turning, unless I want to alter the geometry of the tool.

A couple of personal preferences. I use a noname 8 in slow speed grinder (Actually I think it is a Steel City) but a high quality Norton SG wheel. I use a Wolvarine Jig, (or one of the many clones) but only the Arm, Varigrind and tilting table.

I turned for a few years, then ended up getting busy with kids and other things, and ended up taking a year and a half off, and just started up again a couple of weeks ago. The time off ended up being quite good for me, as I spent some time thinking about how I had done things, and how to do them better. Upon returning to turning, I found that I had somehow developed better habits, and that my turning skills have actually improved quite a bit... without even turning. The things I've turned in the last couple of weeks have turned out much better technically and artistically, and have taken me less time to produce than they would have before I took the extended break.

One of the things I've done differently is to sharpen my tools much more frequently, and I love the difference. I first learned to turn by reading Keith Rowley's "Woodturning: A foundation course". He espouses free-hand sharpening, so that's how I've always done it. My first attempt was predictably horrible, but I've come to be adequate (but only adequate) at it. But since I'm sharpening more and turning out better work... I'd like my sharpening to take less time and produce more consistent, predictable results.

Thanks for the tips, I'll keep them in mind and take them to heart.

I've been trying to improve my sharpening over the last few years.. I use the Tru-Grind, but there are lots of jigs out there, many shop-built... Learn to use a jig and work at it.. You work at how the tool contacts the wood, so work at how the jig makes the tool bevel contact the wheel..

Since I've learned more and am getting a consistent angle on the grinder, I find that I'm SHARPENING now, as opposed to GRINDING, and my gouges last 5 or 5 times as long now..

I might add that honing, though not popular with turners, can be helpful..

I never used to hone until I saw a friend use a tapered diamond hone on the inside of a bowl gouge.. I asked him why and he showed me his "rag test"... Took a shop rag and "dusted" the flute from back to tip and showed me the lint stuck to the burr..

Now, I'll usually use the tool straight off the grinder and when I feel or hear any decrease in cutting, I'll take a few seconds to hone it.. I find that it means less trips to the grinder without sacrificing the quality of the cut.. Seems to make a difference on the skews, also.. YMWV

mac

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