New turner questions, anyone near Berkeley? Grinder wheel, belt, disk selection? ...?

[Fitzhugh Freeman]

Hi all, I'm new to turning but not woodworking and am looking for some advice getting started.

I recently immigrated over from the neander world when I picked up a cheap set of shopsmiths* off craigslist. Don't worry, I'm very aware it is not a good lathe and a few things that help some (weight, raising it higher). I got them because I finally gave in and decided I needed a couple power tools: a bandsaw and a drill press, and the set was cheap*. Of course I can't help but start learning woodturning, something I've always wanted to do. As a kid I made lots and lots of little things on my grandfather's Unimat SL and coveted my older brother's craftsman lathe (he never let me near it so of course I wanted to!).

I'm now faced with the oft-discussed issue of how to sharpen lathe tools. I also want to upgrade from my antique, near broken hand cranked grinder so I can more easily hollow grind the high carbon plane blades and other tools I've started occasionally making. I'd love some help figuring out what direction to go and what to buy.
I guess the first question is what grit do I consider sharp? I've seen 120, 220, 400 and 600 mentioned. I'm still trying to wrap my head around "sharp" that doesn't involve shaving hair" I hope to find a setup that lets me sharpen HSS and high carbon lathe tools plus hollow grind plane and chisel blades without relying on my almost broken antique hand cranked grinder. My options are:
Grinding wheel on shopsmith grinding wheel arbor
Sandpaper on each of the three 12" disks I have for the shopsmiths
Belts for the 1x30 belt grinder I have (cheapo HF - terrible quality but it works).

Is there a grinding wheel that handles both HSS and high carbon steel OK that is also fine enough to sharpen lathe chisels/gouges? Norton 3x only come in 46 and 80 grit in the HSS K grade. The Norton tech on the phone said it will work fine for high carbon as well, just not last quite as long and watch the heat, but I forgot about the grit issue.

I could get a 6" I grade 3X in 120 grit instead for hollow grinding plane and chisel blades and sharpen the HSS tools on the belt or disk sanders. Does that make more sense? What grit would I want to sharpen to? With either disk or belt I can swap grits very easily and quickly and I can make a shop made jig. Can you suggest a type of abrasives and range of grits to use? I'm leaning toward the disks since the shopsmith is variable speed and just moving in and out from the center allows yet more speed control.

$250 for two complete shopsmiths (second one just needed a belt), a planer, bandsaw, jigsaw, sanding disks and buffing wheel, bandsaw and tablesaw blade assortment, extra arbors, lathe set up (face plate, live and spur centers, tool rest, chisels... ). All told I'm thrilled. As I said, I know many people really don't like them, probably most everyone in the turning world, but it fits my situation very well: tiny shop with small budget, no production work, just busy hobby woodworking (so changing setup doesn't bother me). I needed a bandsaw and drill press but the rest are all bonus tools I've done fine without for a long time. Even the fear-inducing table saw isn't that bad since I don't work on really large stuff. I took them completely apart except pulling some bearings off shafts or opening the motors, cleaned, inspected, waxed and lubed as appropriate, replaced bandsaw bearings and added cool blocks - I am so impressed with the build quality and have really drunk the kool aid, I'm afraid...
Don't worry, though. I still know it sucks as a lathe!

Anyone near Berkeley? I would love to come watch you turn for an hour and ask questions - I'll bring homemade pie. The local AAW meeting is a bit far (public transportation).

Thanks for any suggestions!
Fitzhugh

[Reed Gray]

Fitzhugh,
This is a start.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDYdo1IoyRY

I really love the D Way tools CBN wheels. You can sharpen any hardened steel, as well as high carbon steel like in most chisels and bench planes. They come round, and balanced, and leave a great edge for turning tools. The fine grit is 180. Some prefer the wet wheels like the Tormek, and there are a lot of belt systems out there. I am sure there are several clubs in the Bay Area. The AAW site has a club listing, which should tell you. Sacramento has a club. If you ever head up Eugene way, let me know.

robo hippy

[Greg Ketell]

Welcome to the spinny world, Fitzhugh. There are a few of us in Pleasanton and the Bay Area Woodturners Association meets monthly up in Pleasant Hill. Actually, the next meeting is this Saturday and they will be covering "From Log to Lathe". For more details you can check out our website: http://bayareawoodturners.org/

I won't be able to make this meeting but would be happy to have you stop by here or I could stop by there sometime in the future.

And, I'm with Reed, the D-way wheels are awesome. I use the 180 grit for everything with a 600-grit diamond plate for honing of the skew.

[Fitzhugh Freeman]

Thank you both for the welcome and information.

I would love a CBN wheel but it is just beyond my budget these days. I've got to look at the lower end for now even if it means putting up with issues. Based on watching Reed's video above and platform sharpening video I think I'll simply get some decent belts, make a better platform and perhaps a jig for winged gouges to start with. That's the lowest entry point. I managed to re-shape my bowl gouge so it had wings by emulating the swing of the tool in an offset leg type jig, freehand on the shopsmith sanding disk. My main problems were symmetry (no visibility on half the swing) and the wetdry paper losing its grit so fast.

After watching the platform sharpening video and practicing with the motor off, I found it MUCH easier to do a better job on the small cheap belt grinder. Instead of swinging and rotating through a three dimensional arc I was swinging in a plane while rotating, just changing the relative rate of rotation to make up for the lack of the other dimension (hope that makes sense). By the way, those videos are a great help!

I'll revisit the grinding wheel issue itself in a month or two. I have a feeling I'm going to want to upgrade the awful stock toolrest before spending money on anything else. Belts will at least buy me time.

Greg, I sure hope to make the meeting tomorrow, just not sure if I can. That looks like a perfect topic since I'm trying to do just that as I learn and avoid spending money on blanks to ruin. I also just like the idea. I do wish I had a chainsaw - breaking down the not big logs by hand is tough work, thicker than any stock I've hand sawed, of course. I would love to visit your shop (or have you here, though I'd learn more seeing your setup). I'll check in with you, with no expectations, in the future when life is calmer. I looked at your photo gallery and absolutely love the manzanita bowl. Live edge is interesting but usually doesn't stand out anywhere near like that. The cryptex is a lot of fun as well. Inspiring all around. Only thing of Reed's I found was an article showing you with a log in the driveway and the wonderfully warped bowl it (or more likely a previous log of same species) made! Warping is bad, but not in that case. It looked so intentional offsetting the clean lines of the bowl.

Thanks again, I'll be back with more questions, no doubt