Review: "Woodturning: Fundamentals of Sharpening"

I have been turning for about a year now and while I have achieved a suitable level of mediocrity, I am having trouble climbing up the skill level ladder, most which I blame on my tools (Of course). But my wife gave me an early Christmas present, the "Woodturning: Fundamentals of Sharpening" DVD put out by AAW, and I now understand that it isn't the fault of my tools, but how I have been sharpening them. Even with the Oneway Wolverine Jig system, I have been having a real problem getting repeatable grinds, and I was really starting to get discouraged. I have a couple of books that go into sharpening in detail, but I was never able to translate that to a properly sharpened tool. But after watching this DVD, I went down to my workshop and became a sharpening fool, even my roughing gouge cuts like a knife through hot butter. One of the things that I really liked about the video was that four different instructors gave instructions on four different areas of sharpening wood turning tools, using both free hand methods as well as the proper techniques for the Wolverine jig system. This really allows you to examine different techniques and to use the one that suits you the best. I can not recommend this DVD highly enough, if you are just getting started it should be on your list of must have items.

It is available from Alan Lacer's site

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(he is oneof the presenters and from AAW

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Woodturning as a hobby is a sort of paradox. You can't learn to turn well until you learn to sharpen well. Its almost like having to learn two equally difficult skills simultaneously. Most people are so eager to get started turning that they forget all about having sharp tools to start with.

And, then there is the problem of beginning turners not really knowing "How sharp is sharp?" That was my problem, I only thought my tools were sharp. I have a little rule, now, that usually works in almost every situation. If whatever cut you are trying to make just isn't working quite right, no matter what you "think" the problem might be, stop and sharpen your tool. It works for me almost every time. Good luck.

Barry