Tried something different

Seems Frank Pain (1940's) mentions the method, and I'm sure he didn't originate it.

Suppose a guy who wanted to could make all kinds of angled jigs to straddle the ways. Disadvantage is that you have to interrupt turning to use it. Makes that low-speed grinder at your elbow look pretty convenient. Lot of folks like those small belt/disc sanders, too.

If you like to strop, try the hard felt wheels and the Chromium Oxide (green stick) from LV or Woodcraft.

Hi Bill. We kick this around every 1/2 year or so. Try gettinga cheap motor or pull one from a dead washer/dryer/dishwasher and mountnig a flat wood or grinding wheel on it. Cover that with sandpaper and you don't have to stop turning to resharpen, just keep it next to your lathe.

Dave in Fairfax

MDF is cheaper than faceplates, and pretty flat - so you could set up a range of grits, if desired, without buying faceplates, or even using up one faceplate that could have a turning attached to it. Using the edge of MDF you can load it with compounds and use it as a hard buff, and even shape the edge to particular gouge profies and use as a hard buff - you can put 20 of them on a shaft and use whichever one fits your tool of the moment. But a faceplate does make a dandy disk sander. Disk-sander sandpaper will save the cutting and fitting you described. Sandpaper does a very nice job, is easily renewed, and does not require any oil. I'm personally more fond of sharpening with a belt sander (mounted so the paper runs up), but I have used a disk sander in the past.

This will naturally bring out the defenders of grindstones. The people who claim that sandpaper must run downhill will get into it. Those that love hollow grinds will prate about their one true way. The jig seller will claim that anyone not using his jig (send money now) might as well be turning with a dull pewter spoon. Jig non-sellers will point out the many jigs yoiu can make for the mere expenditure of a few minutes of your time and some scrap. Jig decriers will decry that real turners don't need no stinkin' jigs. Etc. It's all in the archives.

I guess it's been 6 months or whatever the current cyclical period on sharpening discussions is. I say, whatever works for you, and I've seen quite a few different methods that all seem to work for the people who use them....

Welcome to my world ....

- Andrew

If there's a quick & easy way to make your tools scary sharp, then I think it's worth it. Depends on what you are turning, of course--I don't bother when turning bowls or rough turning anything, but if I'm turning an inside-out ornament I want scary-sharp tools. I use a benchtop taiwanese drill press (retired and replaced by a floor model) to hold a MDF disk, on my list are more disks with a variety of abrasive mediums.

Ken Grunke

A couple notes:

the 800 grit is what I had available. I didn't want to use anything finer as an experiment. I may have some courser grits but did not see them in the pack of PSA.

I've seen some of the discussions about sharpening

I don't really have a shop and a lot of space for tools so I would first have to find the space to store another motor.

The idea of using MDF is appealing. It really comes down to how much time I have to try things. My lathe is a Nova DVR and I was wondering if I could use the hand wheel as a place to attach to instead of the spindle.

I've been using 100 and 220 grits. Can't decide which works best, so I may follow Andrew's lead and try 180.

Thanks to Andrew Hilton, I've been using this for some time now, with great success. A patient of mine was kind enough to give me some 4/4 MDF, from which I fabricated several honing discs. Originally I used a 3" faceplate as the mounting basis, but more recently I simply turned a recess into the back of an MDF disc and epoxied a 1x8 nut into it. Works like a charm, and very inexpensive. (Can't recall whose idea that was--sorry to whomever.)

Max

You're welcome .... again. No new ideas. I adapted the idea from someone else I'm sure (sorry to whomever).

- Andrew

I shouldn't have been so general in my statement about that. I should have been more precise.

In the interests of full disclosure, I do get a couple of woodturning tools extremely "sharp" and polished but I do that by just using the other side of my sanding disks that are bare (with the exception of white diamond polishing paste) to hone them. I rarely ever use sandpaper on those tools now that I have them profiled the way I want them. They're a couple of small skews and 2 small gouges. I only use these tools in my Miniature and Micro scale turnings (Miniature=~1/2", Micro =

Not sure specifically about the DVR but, yes, the sanding disk is very effective as a handwheel replacement. NOTE: Make the disk so that you're not grabbing sandpaper and/or a sharp edge of the disk as in slowing down a spinning down lathe. Ouch!

I don't remember if I described how you could also put the disk directly onto/over the spindle in that article or not. You basically just make a hole in the disk large enough to fit snuggly or thread onto your inboard spindle (next to your turning piece as opposed to the outboard side of the headstock) and maybe use an appropriate nut to hold it in place. Works very well in a production environment with spindle work. Could work well behind a small scroll chuck if you've got enough swing and large enough disk to keep you away from that chuck.

The MDF is nice because it really won't shatter easily like plywood will do. It's pretty blasted flat (true it up after you get it fitted wherever you want it just in case), and it's easy to work with in making honing beads/coves to do insides and outsides of gouges. On the downside is the dust when making these discs and the cost. Plywood is catching up in price these days though.

- Andrew

Peter Child used to mount a grinding wheel on the outboard spindle. He'd = take a step left, resharpen and go back to turning without missing a = beat.=20

And he never wore out his grinding wheel. Still used the same wheel that came with his lathe (according to his book). He said it was getting smaller, but it was still good enough. Also said that a light touch was important.

William,

Back in my Shopsmith turning days I kept a sharpening wheel where the hand wheel would normally be. You go from the turning to the wheel and back to the turning with very little effort. It works very well indeed, especially well for just touching up a turning or carving tool.

I use a slow speed grinder now and my lathe doesn't have provisions for a hand wheel. I miss the ease of having that power hone or wheel right next to me for just touching up the tool as I work.

Bertie