I've got a few bits and pieces of stuff, but really no clear idea where to start.
So I have a new lathe waiting on me, and some moderately rusty tools that are in serious need of sharpening.
The rust I can deal with, but the sharpening is largely a mystery.
I guess the first question is: How nitpicky do I have to be? I've learned with chisels and plane irons that satisfactory results are hard to come by without investing the time in getting them to a mirror polish with very carefully controlled angles.
Seems like these lathe tools are going to have to be less picky than that because there's no way to go through 20 grits per tool with all these funky curves and stuff, but how picky do I really have to be?
You don't have to be picky but as you develop your technique you will realize that good sharpening gives better results. There are lots of differing techniques used by turners and there are even more "this one is best" grind shapes. Get a book, search the net (wealth of info), take a class, join a turning club, ...
I started freehand grinding my gouges with a 6" 1750rpm(half-speed) grinder with 80 grit aluminum oxide (white) wheels, a fairly common setup for turning. Wasn't a pretty single facet grind but it worked most of the time. I have recently started using a Oneway Vari-grind jig and I recommend a jig to ensure a consistent grind for beginning turners.
You don't have to buy a Oneway or other jig as there are plans for shop-built jigs on the net for a basic shape or the more complex shapes. You don't have to use a half-speed grinder but be careful you don't overheat the tool and lose its hardness. This is much less of a problem if you have high-speed steel tools. The grey wheels that come with most grinders are not considered suitable for sharpening lathe tools.
You can also use a belt sander for sharpening. The 1" belt sanders are good.
The skew chisel is probably the one tool that I try to maintain a good keen edge but I don't sweat over it like a plane blade. Typically a grind and quick hone approach.
Honing gouges is seen as good by some and a waste of time by others. The theory is that the relatively fast rotating wood quickly removes any finely honed super sharp edge. Some turners do touch up their gouge with a hone as they turn and then return to the grinder for a touch up when necessary. Some turners will hone a keen edge for their final smoothing cut. Main thing here is don't get all wound up on what might be right, wrong, best or worse. Just do it and get some experience!
I don't know what you will be doing exactly, but here is a jig I would recommend you consider making if you won't be getting a commercial jig. I use one for my 1/2" bowl gouge and it is a lot faster and produces a beautiful job with a minimum of tool steel loss.
Question on the topic - I have a 1 inch belt sander/grinder which is very useful. With respect to sharpening, however, I know one of the regulars in this NG has a similar one also fixed with a cloth wheel. I know he warns to turn the cloth wheel AWAY from the bevel, so as to not catch the edge, however my question is whether the sanding belt can be run INTO the cutting edge safely.
I agree with Billh. The best instruction comes through practice! I bought an el-cheapo set of carbon steel chisels for $10 when I first started turning, just to get practice on sharpening all the various angles and profiles. Now the carbon steel set works as well as my Sorby set, but I still prefer the Sorby's :)
-- Regards,
Dean Bielanowski Editor, Online Tool Reviews
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5 Reviews:- Infinity Router Bits- Incra Wonder Fence- Veritas Jointer Blade Sharpener- Miller Dowel System- Robert Sorby Woodturning Chisels------------------------------------------------------------
I hate to be a minority in a group which I greatly respect, but I don't think sharpening of lathe tools is nearly as precise an art as other types of sharpening. I use an old dryer motor (1750 rpm) to which I have added a mandrel with a grey stone grinding wheel. I don't use a rest because every chisel is different, but I do use a very gentle touch. It usually takes only one or two passes to get an excellent edge. It seems to me that grinder speed is the most important part. Anything faster than 1750 will burn the tool. And I keep a small bowl of water at close hand to cool the tool if it feels at all hot. I do use a wheel trimmer to keep the grey stone wheel flat and I do admit that when that wheel eventually gives out I will switch to white stone.
OK, YOU PERFECTIONISTS! HAVE AT ME. I'M LAZY, A CHEAPSKATE AND PROBABLY VULNERABLE.
I won't take a shot at you because "you can't argue with success"! My first boss used to say that when something worked that in theory shouldn't have. And you are correct IMO that it is not as precise a task as sharpening a plane or hand chisels. I am pretty sure that I recall Michael Hosaluk, a respected Canadian turner, sharpening freehand without a rest. While I advocate a white wheel I do have the grey on the other side which I use for my scrapers until it wears out. I do think a jig is good for new turners just because it can reduce frustration caused by inconsistent sharpening when there are enough other variables to be concerned about.
However, none of the above gets you off the hook for being a cheapskate :) Regards, Billh
One reason I brought this up is to see if it's OK to listen to Mr. Lee's advice in this area. A few have warned me away from that book, so I was partly looking for someone to make me feel better if I decide to make use of it anyway.
He hasn't steered me wrong yet, and having sharp tools makes life a lot easier.
Um...I was sharpening my stuff in alphabetical order and had not gotten up to the M's yet.... :)
In the past, I had heard some general grumbling about the Lee book, but I have yet to come across another volume on sharpening with better scope and authority.
Definitely. I ruined a lot of chisels and a couple of plane irons before I sucked it up and bought a jig. I never did manage to make a functional jig on my own, because I never found a satisfactory answer to the roller problem.
Some might be able to do this stuff freehand, but it's definitely a waste of time and steel for *me* to try. I expect to build or buy a jig for my lathe tools.
It's not suitable for anything except turning steel into iron, that's for sure. My grinder is the most useless thing in my shop.
I've long been meaning to buy one of the white wheels Leonard Lee recommends for grinding chisels and whatnot (currently I change angles by grinding for three hours on 60 grit paper, which is getting *old*). I don't remember the specs, but you might know just what I mean. Would such a wheel be suitable for lathe tools as well, or should I invest in a second wheel with different properties? Rather, it makes the most sense to have two wheels anyway, with two different tool rests, but I'm wondering if I should make the lathe wheel something different.
I have a 36"x 4" belt sander. It's almost as good as my grinder at turning steel into iron.
That's sort of what I'm thinking. All my Scary Sharp(tm) stuff lasts for about 50 good passes before I have to drag out all that sandpaper again. I spend a *lot* of time putting a mirror shine on things, and I'm starting to question whether it's even worth it for plane irons. I was rather hoping to avoid having to sharpen all my lathe stuff 12 times before it's good enough. ;)
Well, there *is* that. It's just that at the moment all I can do is theorize.
I want to try to get my lathe tools to a usable state by Christmas morning, but I can't really experiment until I get there, so I want to try to do something that has a reasonable chance of working well enough that I can make some curly things on my lathe for five minutes before I get dragged off to do the Christmas visiting. :)
for what it's worth, your setup is not all that different from what Jerry Glaser uses - he has a wooden stand with a bag of sand in it to make it heavy, an 8 inch blue wheel on a mandrell and a motor of some type with a pulley ratio that puts it close to 3500 RPM at the wheel - and we all know that he gets a good edge. He does use his jig for sharpening, but he cuts the profile free hand first.
You probably will hate my support, but I'm an output-oriented sharpener myself. I work for a shaving from the work, not a profile on the tool, and if I need a little clearance, I grind some metal to get it. Pretty much standardized my pointy gouge grind as bevel-less over the years so I can lever the chips as if I were carving, though my forged pattern gouges are still beveled evenly to take care of the best feature of the pattern - uniform angle of attack from uniform thickness.
I use a 1725 and lay the bevel lightly on the stone, remembering to sharpen to the edge, not attempting to sharpen the edge. With one of the soft-bond stones, you'd be hard pressed ( or pressing hard ) to overheat even a carbon steel tool. I've got rests, and I use 'em sometimes for a rest, but seldom as a guide.
Now grinding, as opposed to sharpening, is another matter.
It's awful to agree with Bob & George, but nobody's perfect. I don't use a jig for _sharpening_ turning tools or a jig for turning wood with them. Sharpening & turning seem to call for similar use of my hands. A Woodcraft 1730, a 8" white #60 wheel and a diamond dresser suffice. I'm not making mirrors, I leave that to the lens grinders. Maybe the three of us make a good case for most of you to use jigs. :) Arch
Hi Ken, My webtv won't accept CD rom, so I can't take advantage of your promo for the jig. Yesterday I posted a question re tool rest design that so far has evinced no answers. If you have time during rcw's two week limit for posting commercial ads would you consider sharing some of your expertise on design with a discussion re good tool rest systems. TIA, Arch
Ken Port, tool designer, patiently explained, "Its for the computer not the TV Just use it in your rom or computer DVD drive" ****************************************** Another disappointment. In my ignorance, I hoped the Tru-CD would play on my TV. It probably won't work on my WebTv, or my refrigerator or my player piano. Drats, I'm wiser, but I'm condemned to a life of multifaceted Tru-freehand sharpening. ;( Arch
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