Sharpening/Grinding method????

[Hilel Salomon]

What do you use to sharpen your woodturning tools??
My nephew called last night, and if I'm king of the profligate spenders, he's the Emperor. His woodworking shop has generally the best of everything. When we talked about turning-he has the top of the line Mayo- he expressed frustration at sharpening his tools. He uses the Tormek. I have two Tormeks but long ago stopped using them for my gouges and scrapers. I'll occasionally use them to sharpen a skew, but what I use in both places(SC and VA) are the Wolverine jigs (though I use a Woodfast holding attachment for gouges 3/4" and bigger). The folks at Oneway said that their newer versagrind could accomodate the larger gouges, but I haven't taken the trouble to find out. Anyway, I told my nephew that of all the woodturners out there few would take the trouble and effort to use the Tormek. Was I right???

[George Tokarev]

Your Tormek is capable of producing a hone-level edge or even a strop-level, which most turners find unnecessary. Presenting even a coarser edge to the work properly will allow the shaving to sort of slide by and fall off. It's actually a bit easier to do rough shaping with a coarser edge, in my experience, because you get quite a bit of the saw effect, allowing you to remove stock without pressing and possibly compressing the softer wood or fracturing the harder latewood into the softer early.

If you do go to a high-quality edge, you will probably find it best to reduce your bite, pressure and contact time to keep it from heating and possibly degrading. Those ridges in the bevel left by the coarser grit represent a bit more thickness to serve as a heat sink and draw it into the steel.

[Brett Baldwin]

My understanding and limited experience is that a fine edge is pretty much a waste of time in turning. The amount of wood cut by a turning tool in a session makes a bench chisel look couch-potato lazy by comparison. The gouge is really just a roughing tool, much like a saw in that other type of woodworking. Then you bring out the scaper (jointer/planer) to clean things up a bit and then sandpaper to get your surface where you want it.

[Scott Brihn]

I'm new to turning and the Tormek. Once I have established the desired grind on a spindle/bowl gouge I have found the Tormek to be almost as fast as the Wolverine system I used during a recent class. I prefer the edge off the Tormek vs. the dry grinder and the extra minute to set up and hone on the leather wheel is no problem in my non-production environment.

For diamond and narrow parting tools, scrapers and at times my roughing gouge I use a 1" belt sander/grinder going up to an aluminum oxide 9 micron belt.

[Darrell Feltmate]

I think that the tool edge from an 80 grit AO wheel will do the trick for turning tools. Skews and scrapers I free hand and for gouges and Oland tools I use a home made jig similar to the Wolverine type of set up. With a bit of practice you should be sharpened and back to the lathe in 30 seconds or so. One of the basics is to sharpen often. When you think the tool is doing just fine, pause to sharpen and turn again. The new edge should astound you. http://aroundthewoods.com/sharpening01.html

[JerHall]

First, I have used Darrell Feltmate's system for 3 years, temporarily I thought until I could buy a real system. I expect I will continue indefinitely. It is a GREAT system. And his documentation is equally great. But there is nothing wrong with getting the Oneway jig either. But jig, don't freehand, fingernail profiles.

Second, there is a good case for honing: A skew, just like a bench chisel must be shaped by the grinder and sharpened by a hone. It just won't work right otherwise, a major source of its bad reputation for catches. Also difficult, final, "hero" cuts with a gouge benefit from honing inside and out. Also "cuts" down on sanding.

Third, you can save one or two trips to the grinder with a quick hand honing, inside and outside the flute.

Fourth you can't do better than to read Alan Lacer's great, free, articles on sharpening and honing and tool profiles at:
alan lacer dot com.
This reflects his years of teaching these subjects.

Finally, for a more dry, but very thorough discussion of the technical aspects what sharp is read this article by Lyn J. Mangiameli:
fholder dot com slash Woodturning slash sharpen.pdf
Especially interesting is the test on how much shavings are produced by a ground vs a honed tool.

Lacer, Feltmate, and Mangiameli are all you need to read and apply to become expert in sharpening.

I know this is very opinionated, but I swear its true!

Jerry

[Darrell Feltmate]

Thanks Jerry
Now I am embarrassed.