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Thread: Sharpening - Hollow Ground

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Sharpening - Hollow Ground

    Sometime back I started sharpening by hand (touch up mostly). As a result worksharp started seeing less and less use. Then one day I needed to reset bevel of my plane blade. Worksharp did not come to rescue. So I decided to make a platform. While looking for plans to make platform I landed up on Derek's page on sharpening.

    Ok, I will cut the BS. Except sharpening by hand, everything else is justification for new tool purchase. Wife bought me a slow speed grinder and I got a deal on CBN wheel. To offset the cost I sold off the worksharp.

    Today I used the setup for first time and I am impressed. Did not want to risk a good chisel or plane blade so tried sharpening a old Narex chisel. I keep this chisel at ~20°.

    Here's the setup:

    IMG_20200714_203442.jpg

    I started off with white rikon 60 grit wheel. Back of my head I wanted to avoid testing on CBN wheel. Here's chisel right off 60 grit:

    IMG_20200714_203451.jpg

    In first attempt bevel did not come out square and a corner got blued. After some fiddling realized that chisel is wider near handle. A little blue tape fixed the alignment. I reground the bevel at correct angle and past the blue corner. This time kept dipping chisel in water.

    Confident with testing I moved to CBN wheel and here's the result:

    IMG_20200714_203937.jpg

    This all took under 10 minutes. Next I moved to stones. I kept count of back and forth motion.

    DMT fine: 20 (took some effort to balance the chisel)
    DMT extra fine: 20
    5k shapton: 25
    12k shapton: 25
    12k shapton: 5 (on the back to remove burr)
    On green compound: 5 (back and front)

    Here's the result:

    IMG_20200714_204935.jpg

    This all took under 2 minutes. DMT fine, I think, was not needed.

    Did paper test and it worked beautifully. May be it's in my head but I think it's sharper than I used to have before. Tried on pine end grain and it worked nicely.

    Well it's safe to say that it's as sharp or better than what I used to have before. Key being, it took considerably less effort to a reach there and will work for plane blades as well.

    Now the bad parts (not that many):
    - Setting angle is a pain. It not accurate. Matching angle across two wheels is even more difficult. Don't really care much about it though, as grinding is pretty fast and minor inaccuracy does not affect me.
    - LV tool rests are good but not as solid as I would have liked. They move a touch when pressed.
    - On the side of white wheel, wheel cover gets in the way of tool rest when setting lower angles. This is probably to do with where tool rest is mounted.

    Grinder itself has very minor vibration. Screw balanced on it's top falls in 2-3 minutes. My 6" DeWalt grinder on the other hand walks off the bench before screw can be balanced.

    Overall, happy with the setup.

  2. #2
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    Getting a sharp edge is always a great moment.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
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    Stone Mountain, GA
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    I don't see any need for using two wheels. You just want a coarse, fast cutting wheel. The fineness of the finish left is irrelevant since you will be honing afterwards. If the CBN cuts fast enough then I'd use that for woodworking tools, save the white wheel for lawn mower blades and such.

    I think you could probably remove one of those diamond stones from your routine as well. After hollow grinding the extra-fine (which I think is 1200 grit) should be enough to raise a burr.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
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    Perth, Australia
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    Hi Anuj

    Looking good.

    You can do this ...




    Article: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Woodwor...ryGrinder.html

    Or purchase on these (as I did) ..




    There is one other, equally simple method to use ..

    1. Take a blade with a known bevel angle, say 25 degrees. Mark/colour the bevel with black texta.

    2. Place the blade on the tool rest and the bevel against the wheel.

    3. Rotate the wheel by hand. You only have to rotate enough to see scratches forming on the bevel.

    4. Adjust the tool rest angle until the scratches are in the centre of the bevel.

    Done.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Hazelwood View Post
    I don't see any need for using two wheels. You just want a coarse, fast cutting wheel. The fineness of the finish left is irrelevant since you will be honing afterwards. If the CBN cuts fast enough then I'd use that for woodworking tools, save the white wheel for lawn mower blades and such.

    I think you could probably remove one of those diamond stones from your routine as well. After hollow grinding the extra-fine (which I think is 1200 grit) should be enough to raise a burr.
    That's the plan Robert. I started of white wheel, as did not want to test on CBN. This is first time I have used a grinder. I will be using CBN (180 grit) alone. It cuts pretty fast.
    Yup, DMT Fine is not needed.
    Last edited by Anuj Prateek; 07-15-2020 at 1:28 PM.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Derek Cohen View Post
    Hi Anuj

    Looking good.

    You can do this ...

    Article: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Woodwor...ryGrinder.html

    Or purchase on these (as I did) ..

    Derek
    Thanks Derek.

    I plan to buy AngleMaster. Currently not able to find it online in CA.

    In mean time I am going to (attempt) to make the wood jig.

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    search for WM-200, it's available on amazon and thetoolstore in Canada.. and a few others.
    ~mike

    happy in my mud hut

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by mike stenson View Post
    search for WM-200, it's available on amazon and thetoolstore in Canada.. and a few others.
    Thanks Mike. That's the one I was looking at. I was searching on Amazon, EBay and LV. Did not know about thetoolstore (bookmarked).
    I ended up ordering from hartvilletool (overall CDN 10 more). Let's see with COVID, when it arrives.

  9. #9
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    Sep 2019
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    Lafayette, CA
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    Quote Originally Posted by Anuj Prateek View Post
    Thanks Mike. That's the one I was looking at. I was searching on Amazon, EBay and LV. Did not know about thetoolstore (bookmarked).
    I ended up ordering from hartvilletool (overall CDN 10 more). Let's see with COVID, when it arrives.
    Glad you found it. It is on Amazon now for Tormek's price-controlled price of $29. Maybe they don't show it to you in Canada?

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bob Jones 5443 View Post
    Glad you found it. It is on Amazon now for Tormek's price-controlled price of $29. Maybe they don't show it to you in Canada?
    Yup. Amazon Canada and US have different items/inventory. Currently, on Amazon Canada it's listed at CDN 86 from a 3rd party seller.

    Many sellers ship from US to Canada but have I been avoiding that due to shipping cost and additional fees charged by shipping companies.

    Let's see how it goes with Hartsville tools. There price was ~ $30 + $8 shipping.

  11. #11
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    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
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    I use these: https://www.woodworkersemporium.com/Batty_AG-1/ They would be better if the surface that fits against the wheel was larger, but they do okay, once you get used to it.

  12. #12
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    Feb 2018
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    Quote Originally Posted by Anuj Prateek View Post
    Thanks Derek.

    I plan to buy AngleMaster. Currently not able to find it online in CA.

    In mean time I am going to (attempt) to make the wood jig.
    I made the wood jig for 25°. Had trouble cutting the curve but it worked close enough. After honing I could crudely measure bevel to be 25°.

    Well to my delight, Tormek Angle Master arrived today in 1 week. Great shipping experience from Hartsville tool and speed from USPS. I was expecting 2-3 weeks for it to arrive (US to CA).

    Tested the jig. Grinded a 25° bevel on a Narex chisel. Then switched to 30° and then back to 25°. My intent was to test repeatability. Jig worked! I could repeat the angle close enough. Happy with the purchase.

    Thanks for the advice Derek.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Anuj Prateek View Post
    I made the wood jig for 25°. Had trouble cutting the curve but it worked close enough. After honing I could crudely measure bevel to be 25°.

    ...
    Anyone wanting to make the wooden version ...

    Fretsaw or jigsaw close to the curve, then ...

    1. Set up the tool rest as close as possible, with the blade on the rest and the wooden jig on the blade.

    2. The wheel should scrape in the centre of the bevel (use a blade with the desired bevel angle).

    3. Start up the grinder, and push the wooden jig into the wheel, burning it into the curve desired.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

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