Sharpening turning tools

[woodnick]

What! If any are the disavantages of using a slow speed grinding wheel for sharpening lathe chisels?

[rsitzejr]

None that I can see, the slower the speed, the less heat built up. Heat will pull the temper out of steel.

[Mike Davis]

To me the best wheel would be 14 inch or larger, water cooled and around 400 rpm.

[ptt49er]

Originally Posted by Mike Davis

To me the best wheel would be 14 inch or larger, water cooled and around 400 rpm.

Mike, how do you sharpen your chisels?

[Wildwood]

If your talking about dry bench grinders doesn’t matter if your using 1,700 or 3,400 rpm’s with friable wheels. Both will blue your tools and remove a lot of steel in a hurry if not careful. If your good at free hand grinding, mounting a grinding wheel on the lathe and using tool rest, gives you cheapest slow speed (under 1,000rmp) dry grinder around.

If your talking wet bench grinders, which run below a 1,000 rpm. Studies have shown edge will last longer. Now that HP sells a wet grinder for $100.00 price no longer an issue until you start buying jigs.

Both dry & wet grinders have pros & cons. You’ll find studies that say HSS tools should be sharpened on a fast 3400 rpm grinder. Obviously that contradicts what slow wet grinder proponents have to say. Some turners have both types of grinders.

Boils down to cost, how much do you want to pay for a grinder. Also your ability to get a smooth bevel (without many facets) and without changing bevel angle every time you sharpen your tools.


Been using a Sears 3400 rpm 6" grinder for years. Before that used belt sander, stones, & diamond hones which didn’t work well for me. Buying a Wolverine jig helped me with bevel consistency, and cost to replace tools as often.

[Mike Davis]

Originally Posted by ptt49er

Mike, how do you sharpen your chisels?

Depends on the tool, I have the regular assortment except none of the newer more expensive stuff. Most often I use a small belt sander (with special 3-M belts that I order from www.trugrit.com) when the tool needs more than a touch up with the diamond hone. Which by the way works extremely well for me.

I have parts for a home made 10 inch wet grinder but not enough room to set it up, also an antique wet grinder with the same obstacle.

Mostly I have found it's not the tool that is the problem, it's how you use it. I can grind a needle on a dry grinder and not overheat the metal. (That's just an extreme example.) However, it's easier and quicker to use my belt sander.

I think a lot of folks are not comfortable sharpening so they put it off as long as possible. They think as long as the tool is cutting leave it alone.

I absolutely disagree with that way of thinking. Before it gets dull hit it with a hone to keep it fresh and sharp. Then you don't have to take off so much metal getting it back in shape. Just get in the habit of keeping a small hone in your pocket and touch up every time you stop. Same thing with your pocket knife. Don't let it get so dull that you have to work and work to get it sharp. 3 or 4 strokes on each side of the blade should bring it back to life.

[Woodman2k]

"Mostly I have found it's not the tool that is the problem, it's how you use it. I can grind a needle on a dry grinder and not overheat the metal. (That's just an extreme example.) However, it's easier and quicker to use my belt sander."


I agree with Mike,I have both 1800 and 3600 ,6" and 8" grinders and use them on different tools with Wolverine and home made fixture jigs to maintain consistent angles.Regular honings with a diamond file keep the heavy re-sharpenings to a minimum.As far as bluing the tool,sometimes that doesn't mean a thing. Thanx

Sorry Mike,the quote thing didn't work.

[AndyBarnhart]

I am not particularly good at sharpening tools that don't have a straight edge. Actually, I am not good at straight edges either, but I have a Veritas rolling guide I use to get plane blades and chisels beveled and sharpened properly. But honing I can do. I hone my favorite carving gouges religously because I doubt I would ever get them back into the proper arc and the proper bevel without a bunch of facets if they needed grinding. The skew is my favorite spindle turning tool largely because I can actually sharpen one.
I generally did more harm than good trying to use my 6" dry grinder. I have a big cheap wet grinder that is really made more for sharpening mower blades than woodworking tools, but I can get an edge shaped on it without destroying the steel and then I go to diamond stones and then fine grit paper (from the auto parts store) stuck to a fake granite tile with spray adhesive. This is a slow process, but doesn't require much talent or funds, so it suits me pretty well...

[ptt49er]

What do you guys think of hand powered grinders? Like the one I've seen once or twice on Woodworks?

[AndyBarnhart]

Originally Posted by ptt49er

What do you guys think of hand powered grinders? Like the one I've seen once or twice on Woodworks?

No one should ever consider buying one of those (I have been outbid on several ). I am considering converting the cheap wet grinder (the aforementioned mower blade sharpener) into one. The cheap loud universal motor on the grinder is the thing I hate most about it. I have been checking the thrift stores nearby from time to time. My current "look for" list includes a busted meat grinder or similar mechanism. My assumption is that controlling the heat would be much easier at slow speeds.

[Mike Davis]

I'd like to find an old sewing machine cabinet with the foot treadle intact. I could set up a grinder and maybe my jewelers lathe on the same table.

[AndyBarnhart]

Originally Posted by Mike Davis

I'd like to find an old sewing machine cabinet with the foot treadle intact. I could set up a grinder and maybe my jewelers lathe on the same table.

There is one for sale near here for $75:

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/for/633223039.html

I have a plan for a foot powered scroll saw that I purchased on a whim, have never built and probably never will. It has a treadle flywheel plan in it that seems pretty reasonable (in fact, that was the main reason I got it; I don't like the construction of the rest of it and would have built a different table and legs). It is a PDF file. If you want, I can send it to you and if you decide to build the treadle/flywheel mechanism I will delete my copy (I am not trying to violate the license, even though I think it is no longer sold).

[Mike Davis]

That sewing machine looks too nice to butcher for a frankentool.

[FredP]

Originally Posted by Mike Davis

That sewing machine looks too nice to butcher for a frankentool.

ROFL... my thoughts exactly! its worth more as an antique I think.

[AndyBarnhart]

OK, I am veering off in the weeds a bit topic wise, but it reminds me of an interesting anecdote. My wife wanted a sewing machine cabinet; the kind the machine flips down into and all that. I did build a bench for it, rather poorly, but that's another story. Anyway, with all the perfect joins, tight tolerances and fancy mechanisms, this was a project I did not want to take on. So we went to the flea market, the indoor one up on Capitol Blvd in Raleigh, and looked at various ones. She wanted it white (painting it for her is yet another saga) so I was looking at light colored ones. But in one shop she kept insisting about a dark colored one (not a solid dark wood) that looked pretty similar to a scratched up maple one she had just passed over. I was insisting that it would be far easier for me to sand and finish or paint the other than to get this one white. Plus the other one was empty and the dark one had on old junky looking machine with rotted belts in it that I was going to have to remove and deal with. My wife was giving me that smile that says inside she is thinking of strangling me, so I bought the dark one. The price had come down substantially due to my genuine reluctance. I think I paid $30. When we got out to the car my wife finally spilled the beans - "You idiot! This machine is worth 5 times as much as mine!" All it needed was about a $50 tune up at a local sewing center and she had a top of the line machine worth several hundred dollars. But don't even get me started on how hard it is to paint pine white after it has walnut stain and lacquer on it...