Turning Tool Sharpening Question

I am happy with a 1" belt sander.

Philly in my opinion you will never (never say never) be able to get as sharp an edge with a loose sandpaper/belt than you can with a grinding stone, (yes I know there are people going to disagree), the reason for this, the belt always has room between itself and the platen it rides on, you place a tool on that and now force the belt to dive under the tool, and it will come right back up, past your tool, this will therefore cause a rounding of the edge you are making. However that does not mean the tool will not cut, just that the edge is not as well formed and for cutting, it's like the honing versus straight from the wheel tool use. I do have a 1" belt sander also a 4" wide belt sander, and I have used it and again and again I will try to get that polished sharp edge on a tool, and every time I'm disappointed and go and use my diamond hone, for that very fine edge that I need sometimes, like with the real small stuff.

I use a grinder to establish the angle and then sharpen by hand from there with diamond stones and hones. I get a really good edge.

Having said that I have a slow and geared down motor that gives a shaft RPM of something like 150. I plan to build a sharpener with that and may even go so far as using lapidary diamond plates although I have used paper affixed to plates to sharpen in the past.

Folks on this group use everything under the sun for sharpening. Find something that works for you and just keep the edge.

Brian

That's the key - keep the edge. Your tool will come with a grind which you should replicate until your are either competent in using it or absolutely convinced it's not usable. Takes time to evaluate.

Then and only then should you modify the grind to overcome a shortcoming. Could be you use a jig, could be just the tool support on your abrasive carrier, because an abrasive is an abrasive. A lot of steel is wasted to no purpose in search of the uniformly reflective edge. "Facets" which reflect light differently don't mean much at all to a soft and deformable medium like wood, so if the edge isn't positively saw-toothed, it's fine. If you like the edge, just tend to it on your wheel or belt or flat grinder to keep it the way you like it. If it happens to correspond to the way some jig does similar gouges, great.

Turning tools don't really require the same quality of edge as carving tools, and may suffer for it as such edges are thinner and more likely to burn if you press them into the cut. No other edge beyond the lawnmower gets such casual treatment, yet they do a great job. Hand stones are used for touchups if you care to.

I like slow wheels because they do carbon steel better, tolerate imbalance better, and I'm inclined to skip honing in favor of a quick return to the wheel, so I don't want them to whip off a lot of steel each time. A belt or other sander should not be used as a grinding wheel is - into the tool - but like the honing wheel, away from the tool. Wouldn't let the platen gap business trouble me. If you press, it conforms. If you don't compress, eventually it conforms when the pressure against the belt is less than the tension. It's the in-betweens that might round the edge.

While I am not a expert I think the best sharpener out there is the Tormek.....the problem is the price...I cant afford it.....but dont give up hope I found a great alternative...

Rob