Woodcarving Sharpening Station?

[Steve Mathews]

I'm looking to add a new sharpening station now that I've embarked on woodcarving. The setup that I have now works well for my woodturning tools. However, since I will be woodcarving in another part of my shop and the what works for those tools my not be the best for woodcarving tools I thought a separate station would be a good idea. I'm currently looking at purchasing a Tormek T-8 Custom and adding a CBN wheel and honing wheels. The Tormek T-8 isn't all that impressive to me but their jigs do add some nice functionality. What do you experienced woodcarvers recommend for sharpening tools?

[Dave Keele]

Steve,

I started wood carving in 1980 and have used the same type of sharpener all these years. When I started turning a few years ago, I thought I would have a good start on the sharpening learning curve, but couldn't have been more wrong. For me, there were very few methods/techniques that crossed over between the two.

First, and foremost, you don't want to use a jig that holds the tool on the wheel like you do on turning tools. You do not want a concave bevel on your carving tools. You want either a flat surface or (my preference) a slight convex bevel.

I free-hand sharpen all my carving tools. If you want a jig, then you should look at systems that uses a disk, like the Work Sharp.

Before you spend a lot of money on a Tormek or CBN wheel, I would suggest you check into a local carving club (if possible) and see how they sharpen. (You're going to get a lot of suggestions as everyone seems to have there own favorite method. Find one that makes sence to you and learn it.) I believe that sharpening is perhaps the most challenging part of learning to carve for a lot of people.

Here's what I use: (scroll down to "building a sharpener.)

https://shellknobwoodcarvers.weebly.com/projects.html

Free hand sharpening on these types of sharpeners have a high learning curve... can take weeks or months to get the hang of it. When using power sharpeners, you need to dip tools in water often to avoid bluing (annealing the steel).

Good luck.

[Steve Mathews]

Steve,

I started wood carving in 1980 and have used the same type of sharpener all these years. When I started turning a few years ago, I thought I would have a good start on the sharpening learning curve, but couldn't have been more wrong. For me, there were very few methods/techniques that crossed over between the two.

First, and foremost, you don't want to use a jig that holds the tool on the wheel like you do on turning tools. You do not want a concave bevel on your carving tools. You want either a flat surface or (my preference) a slight convex bevel.

I free-hand sharpen all my carving tools. If you want a jig, then you should look at systems that uses a disk, like the Work Sharp.

Before you spend a lot of money on a Tormek or CBN wheel, I would suggest you check into a local carving club (if possible) and see how they sharpen. (You're going to get a lot of suggestions as everyone seems to have there own favorite method. Find one that makes sence to you and learn it.) I believe that sharpening is perhaps the most challenging part of learning to carve for a lot of people.

Here's what I use: (scroll down to "building a sharpener.)

https://shellknobwoodcarvers.weebly.com/projects.html

Free hand sharpening on these types of sharpeners have a high learning curve... can take weeks or months to get the hang of it. When using power sharpeners, you need to dip tools in water often to avoid bluing (annealing the steel).

Good luck.

Thanks Dave! I didn't think of the hollow grind that the Tormek would produce. I see now how that would be a problem even based on my very limited carving experience. I'll look at the alternatives including the Worksharp.

[Kevin Jenness]

You don't really need a new setup for carving if you can already sharpen turning and bench tools. A set of flat stones and a strop with honing compound, plus a slipstone and some unbacked leather for the inside of gouges will do you. Once your tools are properly shaped you can maintain them by stropping for a long time before you need to go back to the stones.

I recently bought a set of Schaaf tools which I expected to need some work, and they did. I used a cbn wheel on a slow speed bench grinder for reshaping the tools that required it, holding the edges at right angles to the wheel for a flat bevel and following up with bench stones and a slip, then buffing. Starting with coarse stones is slower but safer.

[David Carroll]

I use a Tormek for initial sharpening of my carving tools, but I do not use the jigs at all. Mine is the older one with just the standard wheel. I use it because I have it. What I do is sharpen sideways, with the tool at a right angle to the wheel. It goes slowly, and with the water there is little chance of blueing the edge. Like Kevin said, many new tools, even the best ones often need reshaping , but this only needs to be done to each tool once. Once you get the tool "commissioned" (Chris Pye uses this term to describe the initial shaping sharpening), then flat stones, slips and strops are pretty much all you need from that point forward. I do use a hard felt wheel and stropping compound to touch up edges. A light touch is all that is necessary.

These days I use diamond stones, which I like because you don't have to flatten them. If the Tormek is out and handy, I do use the leather stropping wheels that I bought with mine. I also keep a leather strop handy near the bench and stop frequently while carving.

DC

[Andrew Hughes]

I use a Tormek for shaping and sharpening my carving gouges. It true about the stone will leave a hollow grind. It’s not the final process the hollow grind makes it easier for me to get the chisel sharp. Using stones then buffing and the leather strop.
I use the regular stone shipped with a new Tormek a lot. I think it’s a good middle ground the stone can be graded to cut very slow or coarse. It’s something I’ve need to grind small v chisels. I also have the black stone and Japanese polishing stone.
Its not a inexpensive investment maybe only for the serious?
Good Luck