Got me a Tormek gizmo for my 8" slow bench grinder and then read a book...

[Bob Borzelleri]

Spent this morning making and mounting the pedestal for the Universal support bar. The bench grinder was previously mounted on a shop made stand that was just wide enough to hold the grinder and a Veritas jig. So, I had to remount the grinder on a 8"X28" hunk of 3/4" plywood. That made for "wings" hanging over the edges of the stand.

Interestingly enough, after I glued and screwed everything up and turn on the grinder, the whole thing had a wobble that was totally new. Previously, the grinder ran like a top with virtually no vibration at all.

After playing around for awhile, I realized that the culprit was the glued pedestal and Universal support bar. It was hanging 6" off the side of the stand and that was enough to introduce the wobble to the entire stand. A few 90 degree braces later and all was back to normal, smooth and quiet.

I hooked up a spindle jig, ground the wings and followed up with shaping a 30 degree profile and, after returning to the Tormek for final honing and stropping (sp?), I ended up with a very sharp tool.

Then I read "The Woodworker's Guide to Sharpening" by John English and saw that he suggests something to the effect that sharpening turning tools might be a waste of time because the tools get dull within a short period of usage. Hmmm...

I'm still of the opinion that sharper is better for tools that cut or shape wood. I'm also interested in hearing others take on the question of the value or utility of keeping ones turning tools sharp.

[Kenneth Whiting]

From what Ive seen so far it is more of a waste of time to try and turn with a dull tool. I have seen the difference a few seconds on the sharpener makes.

A professional chef will return a knife to a steel many times while preparing a meal(or rather meals). He can finish his job with a slightly duller knife, but he will work harder, have less than desirable results, and his elbow will be in pain from forcing the blade through the food instead of slicing it.

[Jack Riley]

Any person that would say or suggest that sharpening tools is "a waste of time" is one, not a turner, and two, lazy! Statements like that will keep turners away from his book for sure!

[Gordon Seto]

Many turners hone their skews. Other turning tools, spindle roughing gouge, bowl gouge etc. can be used with the same cutting action like a skew. What matters to the wood is the manner how the cutting edge is presented. It won't behave differently if the name of the tool is different.

A straight cutting edge like a skew is easy to hone. I think that's why honing is recommended. Honing some other turning tools may take longer free hand and regarded as "waste of time".

With the Tormek, going the extra step doesn't take that long and easy. IMO, That would change the cost/benefit equation.

BTW, Tormek has an article that honed finer tool edge would last longer.
http://www.tormek.com/en/leaflet/pdf/wet_or_dry_en.pdf

[Bernie Weishapl]

It may be just me but my tools ground on the Tormek seem to last a lot longer than off the dry grinder. I bought the unit Bob did so I can get the same grind when shaping a tool on my dry grinder then going to the Tormek. Once shaped it is quick and easy to sharpen tools on the Tormek. Not being a production turner a few seconds more doesn't matter to me.

[Bob Borzelleri]

because I wanted to be fair to John English. I knew that I was clearly left with the impression that he had raised the notion that turning tools dulled rather quickly. The inference I picked up was "why bother with a finely honed edge?"

So here is the quote that led me down this path. It's on Page 99, last sentence of the next to last paragraph:

"The sharpening of most turning tools is primarily a grinding operation since contact with the spinning workpiece almost instantly blunts a finely honed edge".

So to be fair, he doesn't literally say, "don't waste your time getting a finely honed edge", but to me, stating that the focus is grinding rather than honing a fine edge, rather implies that honing a fine edge might be pointless; particularly if said fine edge will be gone "almost instantly".

This view of almost instant honed edge loss appears to be greatly at odds with the article Gordon Seto provided a few responses back.

There, I feel better now.

[Jeff Farris]

Here's my take on the issue.

English isn't the first person to suggest this. Many professional turners will say the same thing. I think a good bit of it comes from the time it would take to achieve the finely honed edge with methods other than Tormek. Gouges would be quite tedious to hand hone to the same level that you can achieve with the fine cut on the Tormek SG or SB stones, much less the leather honing wheel. If you have to spend 30 minutes on an edge to get a better cut and a longer lasting edge, it could be seen as a waste of time. But, when you can achieve that level in under a minute, I think it is a worthwhile use of time.

To reinforce what Bernie stated. A couple years ago I took a class with Dale Nish at Craft Supplies. Of 8 turners in the class 4 of us were Tormek users and the other 4 were grinder users. Over 4 days I noticed that the grinder users went to the sharpening station 3 times more often than the Tormek users and spent considerably more time sanding.