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Knowledge You Can Build On — Est. 1998

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sharpening broken down to the basics *LINK*

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sharpening broken down to the basics *LINK*

#1

sharpening broken down to the basics *LINK*

john lucas

I did a demo for our local club the other day on sharpening and wanted to break it down to the simplest forms. What I told them was that you need a grinder. Size and speed doesn't really matter although the slower speed removes less metal so a new turner can't screw up the edge as fast. I have 1/2hp 8" slow speed grinder but I turned for many years on a 6" 3450 grinder.

You need a smooth running wheel, preferably aluminum oxide,white, pink or blue. Don Geiger has an excellent article in the latest American Woodturner on truing up a wheel. I also have a video that comes close to matching what he said in the article but I think his method is a little more clear.

Grit doesn't matter, anything from 60 to 120 is OK and even higher if your experienced. I know very good professional turners who swear by everything from 60 to whatever the Tormek gives, maybe 1000 grit. So in reality if you get a keen edge and use the tool properly you will get good cuts.

Jigs aren't necessary but save the new turner a lot of grief and speed up the learning curve.

For serious turners of course you can go a lot further than this but that's all a new turner really needs to know.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq2tPttFpC8

Re: sharpening broken down to the basics *LINK*

#2

Wait just a minute...

Tony - Memphis

No mention of microns? No list of "gotta haves?" Geez, you obviously don't know what you are talking about! Ha!

Thanks for the info.

Re: sharpening broken down to the basics *LINK*

#3

I needed  twenty seven8x10 colored

john lucas

glossy pictures with the circles and

Arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining how the grooves in the edge formed by each grit produced a saw shape cutting edge that cuts no matter what the grit.

Re: sharpening broken down to the basics *LINK*

#4

What about a belt sander?!!?

Dave Belser

Good stuff John. Sharp tools are SO essential for enjoying wood turning.

I actually started with an upside down handheld belt sander with homemade plywood jigs for rests at fixed angles. It really doesn't matter when you are starting how you get to a keen edge as long as you learn to do it quickly and efficiently.

A lot of beginners get put off by overly complicated, technical or expensive descriptions of what is "required" to sharpen properly.

Re: sharpening broken down to the basics *LINK*

#5

Re: What about a belt sander?!!?

john lucas

I started with a disc sander attached to my Shopsmith. I demoed that because I think it's an excellent tool for a beginner. You can move toward the center of the wheel where there is less surface speed which lets you take your time grinding because it heats up the tool less and removes less steel. It's also an excellent way to sharpen really small tools, and I know small tools.

I did use my belt sander upside down for a while. Worked great but try to remember to remove the dust collector bag. Mine now has little tiny holes in it from the sparks.

I also use a strip sander and a tormek but I wanted to keep the demo to as simple as I could and skip all the fancier methods.

Re: sharpening broken down to the basics *LINK*

#6

Re: What about a belt sander?!!?

mikeee12345

I have a small flat diamond wheel that is designed for sharpening chain saw blades. I have it

mounted to a face plate that quickly mounts in my adjustable chuck, I can use this in between

trips to my grinder to quickly hone an edge on the tool I am using. I have several lathes in my

shop so I usually have one that is available for these quick little jobs when I have my main

project mounted between centers on my other lathe.

Re: sharpening broken down to the basics *LINK*

#7

which remindes me....

Dave Belser

That's great - you just reminded me of when I first got a lathe.

It was an older Delta that had belonged to my friends grandfather. The face plate was "stuck" on the outboard side -took me awhile to figure out that it was reverse threaded before I was able to remove it. The face plate was original and threaded left & right so it could be used on either side of the headstock.

Anyhow, the other thing that baffled me was that the piece of pine screwed to the face plate that had sandpaper glued to it. It was a few years later before I realized that grandad was more practical and frugal than most of us.

With older carbon steel tools you need to sharpen more often - he didn't even need to stop or step away from the lathe to touch up a gouge.

Re: sharpening broken down to the basics *LINK*

#8

Re:  which remindes me....

john lucas

And sharpening near the center of the disc was far less likely to burn carbon steel tools.

Re: sharpening broken down to the basics *LINK*

#9

Joe Fleming

Re: I needed  twenty seven8x10 colored

Joe Fleming

Love that Arlo reference.

Re: sharpening broken down to the basics *LINK*

#10

Joe Fleming

Re: sharpening broken down to the basics

Joe Fleming

And you need a decent platform. Most grinders come with that scrawny little cast iron thing. Either a Wolverine or a Lee Valley or another quality table for registering your tools flat.

Re: sharpening broken down to the basics *LINK*

#11

Brad Vietje

Re:  which remindes me....

Brad Vietje

Back in the day, when I was turning on a 1955 ShopSmith Mark V, I kept the 12" disk sander on the outboard spindle all the time, and with a small jig I made, I could take 1-1/2 steps to the left, re-sharpen the tool, and get right back to turning in about 10 seconds, never turning the motor off.

The jig was a V-block and baseboard, adapted from Jon Siegel's sand & buff belt sander system that I saw at my very first turning club experience in West Franklin, NH, back in 2001. (I'm pretty sure Dave Belser has seen a few of these ;) )

I did b-u-d-z-z-z-z-z the funny-bone on my left elbow a (very) few times on the ribbed back side of the 12" disk, but that thing worked amazingly well.

Safe spinning,

Brad Vietje

Newbury, VT

Re: sharpening broken down to the basics *LINK*

#12

Re:  which remindes me....

john lucas

I had a Mark V also. Up to that point I only had a router, jigsaw, power drill, smoothing plane, 3 chisels, coping saw and hand saw and did an amazing amount of woodworking.

Re: sharpening broken down to the basics *LINK*

#13

you just wrote a new verse to Alice's Restaurant

GaryG in MD

What will Arlo say? ;-)

Re: sharpening broken down to the basics *LINK*

#14

I don't want a pickle,just wanna ride my motorcycl


Re: sharpening broken down to the basics *LINK*

#15

Re:  which remindes me....

Dave Delo

I know bringing up the name Shopsmith can and does make some people quick to dismiss any validity as a serious piece of woodworking equipment. I'd admit they aren't for everyone and lack in some areas but I've found them to be an outstanding choice for sanding applications. I've got the belt, drum and strip sander attachments along with the flat and conical disks. Sharpening jointer & planer blades are a breeze with the conical disk. Variable speed and good dust collection are strong points for using a SS for sanding apps. Someday when I get an extra 100 bucks or so.......I'd like to play around with their somewhat Wolverine type jig for use with the strip sander to sharpen gouges with their 600 grit belt and see what the difference might be versus a 180 grit CBN wheel that I currently use.

Re: sharpening broken down to the basics *LINK*

#16

Joe Fleming

How about Ruben Clamzo?   


Re: sharpening broken down to the basics *LINK*

#17

Re:  which remindes me....

john lucas

I made a lot of stuff with my Shopsmith. It has a place for certain people and got me where I am today. My Uncle who builds some very nice things still uses his. On the downside the lathe is the worst part of that machine. You don't realize that until you turn on a good lathe.

I have been playing with sharpening on different grits. I don't see much advantage. Yes a 600 grit belt or tormek does get the edge sharper and for some cuts it pays off. For general work I think my 180 grit CBN is very good. For one thing the finer wheels or belts take longer to correct minor problems when you get a misshapen edge. I do a pretty good job of sharpening but every now and then you get a slightly more rounded edge or maybe a slight bump where you didn't blend the nose into the sides, etc. The 180 will correct that quickly, the 600 belt not so. I've been most happy lately with the 180 CBN for most tools and a 320 belt for a few others. The skew is the exception. I still hone it to a keen edge with diamond hones and then strop it frequently to keep it sharp.

Re: sharpening broken down to the basics *LINK*

#18

I recently heard...

GaryG in MD

the new 14+ minute version.

It's a working document!

Gotta love it. ...GG