Sharpening A Gouge

Re: Sharpening A Gouge

john lucas

I think it's only important if you really need a sharp tool for the next cut. The burr comes off by itself pretty quickly so for general turning I don't worry about it. When I've made several light cuts and I'm still getting tearout on those difficult woods I freshly sharpen the gouge and then touch up the inside with a diamond fish hook sharpener and in some cases I may touch the outer edge lightly with my really fine diamond sharpener that's about 1200 grit.

Re: Sharpening A Gouge

Barry L Elder

It's a personal choice. Not necessary for most operations.

Re: Sharpening A Gouge

David Walser

...The burr comes off by itself pretty quickly....

That's the faith-promoting rumor, but it is basically untrue. One of the advantages of HSS is resistance to abrasion. Rather than breaking off with the first contact with the wood (as was the case with the burrs on high-carbon steel tools), the burr generally folds over -- effectively doubling the thickness of the edge of the tool. High magnification images taken soon after the tool has made its first cut or two, show the burr flattened inside the gouge's flute. The burr remains for a fairly long time.

For roughing cuts, leaving the burr on is good enough. Many turners never remove the burr, so it's obvious that leaving the burr on is "good enough" for finishing cuts, too. However, the edge will be sharper and remain sharper longer if the burr is removed by honing. Personally, my turning skills are not good enough for me to get by with a "good enough" gouge.

Re: Sharpening A Gouge

robo hippy

Burr or deburr, that is the question... Well, on most woods when using a scraper, you need a burr. With gouges, the only time I felt it necessary to remove the burr was when I was shear scraping. The burr did interfere with that operation. I could never notice any other difference when cutting. How you sharpen can make a big difference in the burr. CBN wheels generally leave a smaller burr, and a stronger one than the standard wheels. If you just kiss the bevel, then you also get a smaller burr. If you really push into the wheel and grind (big difference between sharpening and grinding) you can get a pretty hefty burr. So, most of the time it really doesn't make any real difference.

I am not sure about the burr 'folding over' thing, never considered that one. I would think that the burr from high carbon steel would break off much more easily than the burr from CBN wheels.

robo hippy

Re: Sharpening A Gouge

John K Jordan

I use the leather strop wheel on the Tormek to lightly polish the inside edge and sometimes the outside edge.

No burr

Geoff Whaling

I converted to the Tormek T7 a few years back. As is my nature I was initially sceptical about the claims of the vastly improved sharpness of tools over conventional sharpening systems as I am about vastly extended tool edge longevity from V10 & V15 steels.

Over time my techniques developed to lightly sharpening on a decelerating wheel using a conventional speed dry bench grinder, then honing skews with a #600 diamond hone plate & gouges with DMT DiaSharp and EzeLap hones.

When performing “last cuts” on bowls & creating fine spindle detail the differences between sharpening techniques and tool sharpness is quite apparent. In my experience the order from acceptable to best is - a tool straight off a conventional grinder; a honed tool off a conventional grinder; a honed tool off a slow speed grinder; a Tormek sharpened tool; then best of all a honed Tormek sharpened tool. On fine spindle cuts the difference is very pronounced once you experience a nicely sharpened and honed tool edge you will never go back.

The benefits to me of slow wet stone grinding & honing are well worth the time & effort to pursue as are many of the other advanced sharpening / honing techniques. The Tormek system suits my preferences. Other systems may be as good perhaps better I just haven’t the personal experience with some of them.

For bowl gouge roughing cuts I touch up edges on a conventional grinder using the Tormek jigs & the BGM100 mount and I take off the burr. I find it works for me and is efficient enough for the task.

Wether the extra time, effort and expense to sharpen & hone is worth the perceived / actual benefits for other turning tools & for roughing cuts is something each turner has to experience & decide for themselves.

Re: Sharpening A Gouge

Brad Vietje

Final cuts -- I always hone. Roughing cuts I usually don't.

...and that's about the shortest response you'll ever get from me

Safe spinning,

Brad Vietje

Newbury, VT

Re: No burr

John K Jordan

For me the honed/polished edge is well worth the effort for hard, fine-grained woods like ebony, dogwood, persimmon, cocobolo, etc., especially for small things. A spindle gouge fresh off the grinder can leave fine scratches even with good technique, where a polished edge can leave a glass-like surface I might hit with 1000 paper if any. I don't find coarser woods to benefit as much.

I recently mounted a fine 10" CBN wheel on my Tormek. I sharpened only one gouge on it so far so I'm not sure how it compares with the water stone.

Re: No burr

robo hippy

John, I am curious if you have used CBN wheels before. They do go through a break in period, and after being broken in, they leave a much more polished edge than when new, but still seem to take off metal very quickly when you use them.

robo hippy

Re: No burr

John K Jordan

Reed, I put a 250 grit CBN on my 1/2 speed grinder a little earlier and did exprience the very aggressive grinding during the break-in period. I was expecting this based on reading your article and others. (Very helpful, thanks!) I've been shaping some new Thompson tools on that wheel to break it in and it seems to be settling down.

I ran some Thompson steel over the Tormek wheel before I tried sharpening a spindle gouge but not nearly enough to break it in. I see where you said breaking one in may take a month of use. I took off for the beach the day after I got that wheel so it is still new.

I got these wheels from Ken Rizza. The grinder wheel is one with the radiused corners and grit on the sides. The Tormek wheel has square corners and also has grit for an inch or so down the sides. The grinder runs absolutely true but the tolerances on the Tormek are sloppier - I got the wheel to less than .005" runout measured horizontally at the outer edge which may be OK due to the very slow speed. To get it closer I might have to make some precision washers on my metal lathe.

The Tormek wheel is 600 grit. I wonder if that will be fine enough after it is broken in. I use all the Tormek jigs on the grinder too so I don't need to shape tools on the Tormek.

Re: No burr

George

I'm a recent (in the last year) to the wet grinder and I agree with Jeff regarding the cut and edge life. Not to mention that the tools will last longer too. At the AAW symposium, I noticed a number of the pro turners using the wet grinder. I've setup Don Geiger's pro sharp jig so that I can use the wet grinder and my dry grinder with the Wolverine Vari Grind. IMHO, it is the best of both worlds. Here is a link to an article I wrote on the conversion. http://www.balockwoodturning.com/Balock_Woodturning/Blog/Entries/2015/5/31_Jet_Wet_Grinder_with_the_vertical_solution_Pro_Sharp_4X.html