Turning Novice Looking for Recs for Sharpening and Lathe Parts

[Pointfiveone.5]

Hey All!

So I was gifted a HF mini lathe (Central Machinery 10"x 18") at the beginning of the pandemic in the effort to maintain some sanity and keep my hands on materials, but I am a complete novice. Barry at Klingspor's Winston was kind enough to reshape and sharpen my tools for me as I do not have the proper sharpening equipment and I was off. A few candle sticks later and the bug was implanted. But now my cheap tools are dull and though Barry set a good price for sharpening, I need to get in order to do it myself.

I have a grinder but need to know what wheels to get on a relatively limited budget to keep a good edge on these tools. That's to start.

I am also wondering what parts and bits I need to take the leap into bowl turning as I can only turn spindles ATM.

All recs welcome - Looking forward to hearing from the turners here!
Thanks All!

 

[bob vaughan]

Does your current bench grinder have wheels on it now?
If so, chances are you don't need to spend $250.00 on a couple of new CBN wheels.
The Oneway sharpening jigs are pretty much the standard. Check them out. With a little imagination, you may be able to make something like that yourself.
Cross grain turning pretty much requires its own set of purpose-ground tools.
If you really love to sand, you can get carbide tipped scraper tools.

 

[Pointfiveone.5]

Does your current bench grinder have wheels on it now?
If so, chances are you don't need to spend $250.00 on a couple of new CBN wheels.
The Oneway sharpening jigs are pretty much the standard. Check them out. With a little imagination, you may be able to make something like that yourself.
Cross grain turning pretty much requires its own set of purpose-ground tools.
If you really love to sand, you can get carbide tipped scraper tools.

I Do have wheels on it, just completely ignorant to what they are TBH.

I'll check out the Oneway products - thanks for the heads up!

As for sanding... well... we'll call it love but its more of a codependency ha

 

[Mike Davis]

Here is the difference between the carbide easy tool (left) and a sharp traditional gouge (right).

 

[Pointfiveone.5]

Thanks Mike - I'll defintely be happier with a nice sharp gouge!
Got your DM - be right with ya'

 

[bob vaughan]

I Do have wheels on it, just completely ignorant to what they are TBH.

The existing wheels on your grinder may be just fine for the time being. There are a bewildering array of wheels available but most are a waste of money right now.
You'll be astonished at your existing wheel's performance once the wheel gets 'sharpened'.
What happens over time is that the little rocks embedded in the wheel get dull plus they get clogged with grinding debris.
Get a Desmond Huntington #0 wheel dresser. Push it against the wheel for five seconds. Dust will fly everywhere. What it does is beats the old dull rocks off and exposes a new layer of sharp rocks. The wheel then will cut like crazy with a whole lot less heat.
Note: A diamond wheel dresser is used to true up a wheel and does a nice job of it, but those diamonds also dull the heck out of the exposed rocks. Then its time to use the Huntington #0 wheel dresser. A wheel dresser should last 10 to 20 years before the wheels need replacing

Lathes and tools come and go but a good sharpening rig is long term.

Hobby woodturning places don't offer these dressers because if the did, they wouldn't sell as many wheels. I've had turners give me perfectly good wheels that got dull so they replaced that grinding wheel with a new one with more interesting advertising hype.

five seconds at good pressure is all you need.

 

[wndopdlr]

I understand tight budgets...don't we all but I am an advocate of getting a CBN wheel as soon as you can afford it. Your grinds on our tool will be much more consistent and you will take considerably less metal off your tools each time you sharpen them. Best place I have found for quality CBN wheels is Wood Turners Wonders in GA.

 

[Mark Johnson]

I agree with the CBN wheel comment, but figure out if you are going to stick with the lathe work first. I started out with old (40 year old) Shopsmith tools. They worked but dulled really fast. After I made the committment, I bought a few really good tools (Thompson). The difference for me was like the difference between a dull handsaw and a new table saw. I'm sure you do not have to have the really good tools to be successful though. But whatever you use, it has got to be sharp!

 

[JRedding]

I do a lot of turning and a 180 grit works well for all gouges - spindle and bowl - regardless of wheel type (CBN, etc). That’s the only wheel I use on them, and CBN was worth the investment but they are expensive. I also use a 600 CBN on skews and similar “flat” tools (bedan, parting, etc.), which may be overkill and 360 will work well. The 180 does just fine on flat tools, but I prefer finer. Finally, I use an 80 CBN for significant reshaping.

Some sharpen by hand and some use jigs. I use the Oneway Wolverine setup which is perfectly repeatable. Others like the 40-40-40 grind (look up Ashley Harwood on YouTube and she shows it). I also use the Ellsworth jig for my bowl gouges because I like his 60 degree swept back grind on the bowl gouge. I use that for all aspects of bowl turning.

There are plenty of suppliers for all of this. For wheels, I happen to prefer D-Way Tools, but Thompson is great, and there’s Woodturner Wonders and others.

 

[wbarnes]

The existing wheels on your grinder may be just fine for the time being. There are a bewildering array of wheels available but most are a waste of money right now.

Not trying to hijack the thread, just trying to clarify and get a better understanding.

Are you saying that for a beginner sharpener, almost any wheel on a bench grinder is fine? I ask because I’ve been putting off using my bench grinder to sharpen tools because I thought I needed specific wheels.

If so I’ll pick up one of those wheel dressers and make a jig to finally use my grinder.

 

[Pointfiveone.5]

Huge thank you to @MikeDavis for being so generous with his time this morning in helping me with the reshaping of my tools.

 

[bob vaughan]

Are you saying that for a beginner sharpener, almost any wheel on a bench grinder is fine? I ask because I’ve been putting off using my bench grinder to sharpen tools because I thought I needed specific wheels.

If so I’ll pick up one of those wheel dressers and make a jig to finally use my grinder.

That wheel dresser sharpens any wheel (vitrous type, not CBN). The coarser the wheel, the better for shaping. A sharpened wheel heats a whole lot less. Fine wheels will work but take a whole lot longer to remove metal. Light, easy passes. You'll only remove a few thousands per pass at best.

Once the tool is shaped, then sharpen with stones.
High Speed Steel tools can be ground fairly aggressively. If its your job to take the temper out of HSS, you can't do it. If your tools are carbon steel like the old Disstons, Buck Brothers, etc., then you'll have to be careful not to overheat.

Turning with an edge right off the grinder will be frustrating because of the burr raised.

A honing stone is helpful. There are lots available. My favorite is the MS44. The MS33 is good for 3/8" gouges.

There are lots of ways to sharpen. Whatever way, the edge needs to be razor sharp for easy turning.

Various stones I use. You don't need the full set starting out.

 

[Jim Wallace]

Using a star wheel dresser one should press hard enough that you don’t see sparks coming off the wheel. If you are seeing sparks you are grinding the dresser not dressing the stone. That is the reason for the two little tabs at the bottom of the dresser: they are meant to hook over the tool rest to give leverage while the wheels engage the stone.

 

[bob vaughan]

I never knew that. I'd always used the tabs for resting on the tool rest. When nobody's watching and the tool rest is at an angle to grind chisels, I'll sometimes turn the dresser upside down and successfully use it that way.