sharpening on a belt sander
davef in wash
>I've been lurking here for a couple months and am amazed at some of the beautiful pieces you people create. I retired from the Navy a couple years ago and boought various woodworking tools including a not too expensive Delta lathe and some turning tools. I lost interest in woodturning pretty quickly after ruining quite a bit of wood with not a lot to show for it. After looking at some of the work on this forum (I especially liked the turnings entered in the 2x4 contest), I decided to give it a go again. Realizing that sharp tools are a must, I've purchased a video on sharpening and a book or 2 and have managed to grind a bowl gouge down to where it should look after a couple years of use/sharpening. I read on this forum that good results can be obtained using a belt sander so I proceeded to try that and to my surprise, I got sharp tools with single facetted "grinds". I chucked up a piece of scrap and was pretty amazed at how well it cut until I had a "catch" and the scrap went airborne. No harm to man or shop. My question is this: with a grinder the grinding wheel rotation is grinding against the edge of the tool. Does it matter on a belt sander which way the tool is pointed with respect to the direction the sanding belt is moving? Thanks for hearing me out.