Which grinder for lathe tools

[Roy McQuay]

I have a regular bench grinder, 3450 rpm, and want to get a 1725 rpm grinder for my lathe tools. I also have the Tormek in mind. My question is, what are the methods used by the experienced turners as far as sharpening goes ? I keep getting the impression that if I get a Tormek, I will still need a grinder and 3450 rpm is too fast.

[Neal Addy]

3450 RPMs isn't too fast at all. Lots of folks use them.

High- vs. low-speed is just a matter of personal preference. Low-speed is touted because it doesn't heat the tool as quickly but the flip side is that high-speed can get the job done quicker.

From what I've seen, the most popular grinder among turners (at least on the forums) is the Woodcraft 8" slow-speed. I use it and a Wolverine. Works great.

BTW, the Tormek is nothing to sneeze at. It's a great system. Personally I don't know if the cost is justified but that's just me.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Roy....3450 is not too fast and in fact, a lot of turners use one. A lot of the turners here use and recommend a 1750 rpm grinder and the Wolverine jig system. The only advantage a slower rpm gives you is that you remove metal less quickly. Thus for those like me when I started learning to turn and sharpen, you have more time to realize you've taken too much off. The jig system makes it easier for a beginner turner to grind a consistant grind and spend more time learning to turn. There are a number of turners here that use the Tormek system It's my understanding that the Tormek provides a superior grind but also takes longer. The word I've heard is most turners that have the Tormek still end up using a regular grinder because generally takes a few seconds to touch up a tool and back to turning.

BTW...I use a Woodcraft slow speed grinder and a Wolverine jig system. There are a number of web sites where you can find plans to make a similar one even from wood and reduce the cost of the jig.

Good luck with your decision!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Roy I use a 3450 rpm when turning and a 1750 rpm when I am done. I use the slow speed to put a fine edge on when I have completed the project. This setup works for me. 3450 is not to fast. Their are a lot of turners like Mike Mahoney who use a 3450. Get the Wolverine jig and you are set.

[Roy McQuay]

Thanks everyone. I saw the Wolverine set at Amazon. I will hold off on a new grinder and see if I do okay without the slower speed.

[Patrick Taylor]

I'm not experienced, but I have the Tormek and I don't think it's too slow. SlowER, yes, but it only matters if you're changing grinds. To put a new edge on takes less than 10 seconds in my experience.

[Paul Andrews]

As indicated in the previous posts, a high speed grinder works well, however, most come with the gray looking wheels that will not work well with tool steel. You need the proper grinding wheel intended for tool steel in 60-80-100 or 120 grit.

[Bob Hallowell]

I have an old rockwell 3450 I put a pink 120 wheel on it and it works great with the wolverine. I have no need for the slow speed.

Bob

[George Tokarev]

I have a regular bench grinder, 3450 rpm, and want to get a 1725 rpm grinder for my lathe tools. I also have the Tormek in mind. My question is, what are the methods used by the experienced turners as far as sharpening goes ? I keep getting the impression that if I get a Tormek, I will still need a grinder and 3450 rpm is too fast.

Heat comes from pressure and duration, not from speed, so 3450 is dandy, as long as you realize that you're going to remove twice as much in the same time as you would with a 1725. Or ten times as much as a Tormek.

Grinding jigs will, if set and used properly, remake the bevel you had a tad back on the tool. I'd rather use the tool as its own jig to do that. Makes it easy to freshen an edge on any of the several tools I use on any piece, because I don't have to re-set anything. If you could mount a similar jig to do the cutting, precision in creating an edge might be worth a jig. As it is, bevels are pretty forgiving, making cuts as constructed through a wide range of angles, and tool shapes vary to do particular jobs, so you can get two pretty decent gouges for the price of some jigs.

The soft bond versus hard bond controversy rages over and over. Hard bond lasts longer, soft bond cuts better, so they say. I really don't want to cut away a lot of metal freshening an edge, so I don't use soft wheels which cut themselves as fast as the steel. Matter of fact, since I'm grinding mostly gouges, I don't bother to keep the grinding wheels flat, either. Waste of good grit, in my opinion. The other end of the grinder has a flat one for chisels.

[Jim Becker]

Your current grinder is just fine for turning tools. You don't need a slower speed machine nor to you need to spend money like you will for the Tormek. The right wheels, appropriate jigs and a light touch are all you need.

[Paul Engle]

I have the Delta wet / dry as I have planer irons and hand chisels to do and i like the wet 1000grt for my skews, the white wheel on the other end does just fine and I bought the wolverine jig and made a stick of wood bolted to the grinder to use for the pivot . works great for the bowl gouges and the rest i do free hand. As George said not speed so much as pressure. and i dont dress it unless its ( the white stone) really bad and the wet stone gets kept flat and tooth brushed in the sink every now and then. It cost me 159$ and I like it.

[Reed Gray]

The down side to the Tormek to me is that the wheel is so soft. With the turning that I do, I would go through a wheel in a month. If they had a much harder wheel that didn't need dressing each time I used it, it would work fine. It is more suited for bench chisels and plane blades rather than turning gouges and scrapers.

Our local club had a demo last week from one of our local spindlt turning masters. She is self taught. She sharpens her skews on a 5 inch radius 100 grit wheel, and takes it straight to the wood. The results are smooth and clean, and need almost no sanding.

robo hippy

[Doug M Jones]

I just got my lathe and with the addition of pen turning equipment, a grinder and wolverine jig was not in the budget at the present time. I bought a promax wet grinder from menards. It has a 5 in by 2 inch wheel and a small water tank that the wheel runs through. It can run either direction so you can make a jig of your own if the tool rest won't work. It took me a little bit but now I can get a edge sharp enough on a gouge so that I can go right to 400 grit sandpaper. I haven't used it on a bowl gouge yet only roughing and spindle gouges. It was only about $30 bucks and I had a gift card that covered that.

I still want the 8" slow speed and the wolverine but am not as concerned at the present time.

[CPeter James]

Here is another option. Real what Jon has to say and it makes a lot of sense.

CPeter

http://www.bigtreetools.com/products/sharpening-machine.html

http://www.bigtreetools.com/images/machine-w-chisel.jpg

[Wilbur Pan]

I will say that one of the great advantages of a Tormek is that you won't be inhaling grinder and metal dust particles anymore. That is actually one of the main reasons why I went with a Tormek instead of a grinder.

[Jamie Donaldson]

The 8" low speed grinder that Woodcraft sells for about $90 is hard to beat for the average turner. The 2 aluminum oxide (white) wheels are worth that if purchased separately. Put that with the Wolvering jig package and you are set for a good sharpening station.

[Jim Becker]

Welcome aboard, Jamie! :D

[Matt Haus]

I have and use the tormek only. I do use the grinder for profiling the gouge and then sharpen with the tormek. I find that the tormek takes little metal off and gives a superior sharpness. I have written all the measurements out for the jig but even with that, it takes a little time. I have gotten it down pretty fast but I think that I will soon purchase a white stone and the wolverine system so that it goes faster. I hate to leave what I am doing for too long. The tormek works but what I find is that I am grinding away the center of the stone more. I have the diamond dressing stone but find that the center gets ground first, so I will leave it for now. I think I can get those gouges done faster with a grinder and jig like the wolverine. The tormek is still great for planer blades and plane blades. So, eventually I will have both because it will grind a costly tormek stone down somewhat quickly.