Newbie Sharpening Help...

[Michael Menzli]

Greetings fellow turners... Ive really been bitten by the bug and find myself turning several hours a day. While the wife is none to pleased the use of "these will be xmas presents" has bought me some time... :D anyho

Im trying to begin my hand at sharpening. My father in law has loaned me an older when 6" bench grinder. Im purchased a blue colored 100 grit wheel from Sears and made a jig from some online designs. (will post pics) Ive been running into a few minor issues that I hope can be resolved. The biggest are burrs that end up on most of my tools. After sharpening I find that they cut well but leave fine lines throughout the wood. Is this something I can fix fairly simply/cheaply?

Secondly..what is a good starting angle on a "vari-grind" type setup.. right now I have it set at 30 degrees or so...should this change with various tools?

Sorry for the ignorance and thanks for all the great info..this site is wonderful.!

[Thom Sturgill]

Thirty degrees is ok for a spindle or detail gouge, but is far too sharp for anything else.

Spindle rouging gouges normally about 45 degrees.
Bowl gouges run 40-60 degrees
Scrapers can be up around 70-85 degrees.

most turners use a larger grinder - 8" low speed seems to be preferred - as just mentioned in another thread, we tend to grind back the heel and a 6" grinder produces a more pronounced heel.

Make sure you keep the wheel dressed, until you've tried a proper dresser you would not believe the difference it can make.

[Scott Hackler]

Welcome Michael to the madness.

When I sharpen my tools I do three things. 1) I have the right equipment (i.e., slow speed grinder, correct jig, a good aluminum oxide wheel and a diamond trueing tool) 2) right after the grinder, I take 400 grit (rolled up) and stroke the inside of the flute (handle to tip) to remove the semi-rough edge and 3) and this is not for everyone, I put a micro bevel edge on all my gouges with a 600 grit diamond hone. I like really sharp edges and to me, if the edge wouldn't easily cut my finger...it sure won't easily cut wood!

I freshen up my edges with that hone at least 10 times before I feel the need to start over.

Hope that sheds some light on one mans process.

[Michael Menzli]

Thanks guys..will def. look into an 8" grinding option...In the meantime is there anything I can do to get rid of these burrs without dulling the edge? Back to the angle..im def. a visual person unfortunately.. my jig is set up sort of like a 7.. with the top of the 7 being a piece of pvc pipe I slide the tool into... I stick the tool (roughing gouge for instance) out the other side about 2" and then screw it down in place. I have the pvc bolted to a wood block which then has an 8" long threaded rod run through it at an angle..roughly 30 deg..this would be the bottom of the 7 What angle should the slanted/bottom portion of the 7 be set at? Ive checked the bevels on the tools themselves and they seem to change most are in the 50 -60 deg range. Thanks for the kind welcome for sure!

[Scott Hackler]

The sandpaper down the flute will remove a rolled up burr (the bad kind). Doing this is really honing the inside of the tool flute. Honing the outside (like what I do) replaced that ragged burr from the grinder with a micro burr that is very uniform.

[Dennis Ford]

Michael; I am not sure that I understand your explanation of the jig. From your first post, I thought that your gouge was ground at a 30 deg angle but now I am confused about whether we are talking about the gouge or the jig.

I do know that the vertical distance from the bottom support to the centerline of the grinding wheel has a big affect on the results in addition to the other adjustments.

An 8" grinder will not solve basic sharpening problems, its main advantage is that it leaves less of a hollow ground shape to the bevel.

[Thom Sturgill]

If I understand your description, the tool is offset to the side of the leg when mounted in the jig. I would think this would make an unbalanced grind with one wing larger than the other. the jig i made before i bought one had a hole drilled through a block of wood with a thumbscrew going into the hole p perpendicular to the axis. this held the gouge blade. I leg was centered on the axis but at an angle when looked at from the side. Several sites have articles on the geometry of these adapters.
Packard (http://www.packardwoodworks.com) sells a commercial jig for about $30, I haven't used it, but it might be better than a home-brew and cheaper than a wolverine system (which seems to be the preferred jig). It still needs the arm to hold the leg in place.
215095
Metal has advantages as I was always hitting the wood block against the grinder.

This does not help with your burr, but I think the grinding wheel may need serious dressing. If it is not smooth, your grind produces what I refer to as a serrated edge. besides dressing the wheel, honing the gouge is the best solution, I think.

[Michael Menzli]

Will most def. take some pics. Thom my design is as you describe. The pvc has a thumb screw in the top that holds the tool in place and everything is centered on the axis. When I was talking angles I was talking about the angle of the "leg".. so in your picture the angle of that lower black leg. Ive done some playing since posting..making a few more jigs and playing with angles. Ive found that when the leg is around 45 my round gouges are fantastic... I then made a jig about 28-30 deg and this for my fluted bowl gouge and seems to be great as well.. so I may be answering my own question here.. :) I will say that the burrs decreased with my newer jig as things are a little tighter all around.