Radiused skew honing

[Jake Helmboldt]

For those of you using a skew with a radiused edge, how do you hone it (and retain the radius)? I hone my skews on an oil stone, but haven't tried doing so with a radiused grind.

Any tips?

[Michael James]

Alan Lacer is big on honed edges on a skew. I haven't seen his 2nd effort, son of skew, but his 1st covers it in detail. I hone, and just make sure that your stone touches "both sides of the hollow". I havent perfected it yet, but I go to the grinder less and less the better I get.
Just a thought.........
mj

[Mark Hubl]

Check out lacers web site. He has articles posted on sharpening and honing skews. I also looked up honing the other day and got a lacer site or article that discussed honing in detail.

[Greg Just]

My skew has the Lacer radius and I hone with a Lacer diamond slip stone. I don't spend nearly as much time at the grinder.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I hone my big Lacer skew basically the same as my others. I use the Lacer diamond hone.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I hone all 3 of my skews using a diamond hone.

Last Sunday on Woodturning Workshop with Tim Yoder, Alan Lacer was the guest and all the progam was about was sharpening.

He hones every turning tool.....gouges and skews.

[Jim Sebring]

I lay my skew flat on my drill press table and hone each side with one of the diamond paddle hones available from Woodcraft. I find it's easier to find the bevel using the narrower paddle hones than the wider diamond card type Alan prefers.

[Peter P. Brown]

I power hone.

1. because it's easy
2. because its easy

I use a piece of mdf mounted to a faceplate. Load it up with honing compound and place the tool just like your grinding it. It's easy to slap on the lathe and hone my skews and gouges.

Note: The honing wheel should always be turning away from the tools edge. Otherwise you're cutting not honing.

http://www.alanlacer.com/articles/honingturningtools.htm

Near the bottom is the power honing how-to

[Joshua Dinerstein]

I do it by hand with a 2"x4" diamond plate hone.

I am not sure exactly what you are asking but here are the mechanics that I use. With standard grind skew I can hone the entire edge all at once. I find the 2-points of contact at the cutting edge and the back of the bevel and I can get the entire cutting surface on 1 side at 1 time. Then you just lather, rinse and repeat on the other side.

One thing that was hard for me to really learn, as in wrap my mind around, was that I was neither grinding not shaping but just sharpening when I did this. In other worse I found myself over honing things and vigorously removing metal rather than just enough to get a truly keen edge. I still find myself doing this. Not sure what it is such an ingrained habit but it is.


On my radiused skew I do the same process. But I can't get the entire cutting edge at one time. I start with the "flat" on the toe of the skew. And then work my way around to the heel. The best advise I can give on this, based only on my own personal experiences, is to keep the hone moving from 1 end to the other of the tool. For me I find that when I stop and try the next point I have trouble finding the 2 points of contact and at times I have put noticeable ridges between the 3 planes on the skew I was target to hone. Again I start on the toe and try in about 5 pumping motions to get to the heel of the cutting edge. Takes just a little bit of practice and you get the motion down.

I don't know if it would help to go back and forth or do make even more passes... Mostly the 1-pass method for me to try and stop using my hone to grind my tools. :)

Good luck. Once I got it sharp and got some practice in I found that the skew is my favorite spindle turning tool bar none.

Joshua

[Jake Helmboldt]

I do it by hand with a 2"x4" diamond plate hone.

I am not sure exactly what you are asking but here are the mechanics that I use. With standard grind skew I can hone the entire edge all at once. I find the 2-points of contact at the cutting edge and the back of the bevel and I can get the entire cutting surface on 1 side at 1 time. Then you just lather, rinse and repeat on the other side.

One thing that was hard for me to really learn, as in wrap my mind around, was that I was neither grinding not shaping but just sharpening when I did this. In other worse I found myself over honing things and vigorously removing metal rather than just enough to get a truly keen edge. I still find myself doing this. Not sure what it is such an ingrained habit but it is.


On my radiused skew I do the same process. But I can't get the entire cutting edge at one time. I start with the "flat" on the toe of the skew. And then work my way around to the heel. The best advise I can give on this, based only on my own personal experiences, is to keep the hone moving from 1 end to the other of the tool. For me I find that when I stop and try the next point I have trouble finding the 2 points of contact and at times I have put noticeable ridges between the 3 planes on the skew I was target to hone. Again I start on the toe and try in about 5 pumping motions to get to the heel of the cutting edge. Takes just a little bit of practice and you get the motion down.

I don't know if it would help to go back and forth or do make even more passes... Mostly the 1-pass method for me to try and stop using my hone to grind my tools. :)

Good luck. Once I got it sharp and got some practice in I found that the skew is my favorite spindle turning tool bar none.

Joshua

Thanks Joshua; my brain has been too fried from work lately and I didn't take the time to articulate what I was looking for. You spoke to the issue vis a vis the mechanics. Though the use of a diamond hone, as many suggested, certainly will make keeping the two points in contact easier than trying to do so on a oil/water stone.

Thanks all.

[Joshua Dinerstein]

Though the use of a diamond hone, as many suggested, certainly will make keeping the two points in contact easier than trying to do so on a oil/water stone.

I got mine first diamond hones in a pack of 3 from Harbor Freight for $10. They worked OK but have since broken/lost their grit. No great loss. I then got one for $10 with free shipping off of ebay. dual sided. one side fine and one side medium. This one has worked for me well enough but I am always looking to upgrade. So enter a number of DMT hones in various grits. I like them but lately I have been eye'ing a Lacer rounded edge wedge hone. Why? Probably just because I don't own one yet. It seems I have more desire for tools than is healthy.

I would at least go for at least a DMT one. It has cut better longer than the ones I had before. I was reading with interest comments about scrubbing them off to get rid of embedded grit. I think I ought to try that with some of my existing hones.

Good luck. It really isn't as daunting a task as it seems when you first pick up a hone and a skew and think "How on earth!!??!!" Last few bits of advice: if you have to focus on a contact point as you keep things moving focus on the bottom of the bevel to keep from rounding it, also don't press very hard doing so isn't needed. Just a light pressure is enough cut the tiny amount needed to hone.

Let us know how it goes.

Joshua