Any one made a sharpening jig for this or similar machine

[Dusty Ears]

Afternoon all,

As the title suggests I am looking for advice or useful ideas form anyone who has/is using one of these Scheppach BTS700 125mm Belt & Disc Sander 240V

I have various grades of belt from 60 to 800 so hopefully these will be good enough, and they seem to work well on my bench chisels.
The difficulty is going to be accurately sharpening/re touching bowl gouges etc so any help with Jig ideas and/or how to approach this would be really helpful. Also which grade belt would be the best to use.

Its not ideal but it's what I've got.

Things being the way they are financially at the moment, I'm not in a position to buy a bench grinder set up yet.

 

[Orraloon]

It will do to make the primary bevel if you make up some kind of jig to hold the tool at the correct angle. Then hone the secondary bevel on a stone. Word of warning if you also use the sander for wood its not safe as sparks and wood dust can spoil your day. Years back I used a linisher type sander to make the primary bevel on chisels and plane irons but it was getting into turning that made me get a grinder. A very basic one at that but its still going and doing a nice job 15 years on.
Regards
John

 

[Dusty Ears]

Thanks for your reply John.
I did have worries about sparks so gave it a good clean out before use and keep the area clear.

I did worry about over heating the tool while sharpening as well, would I be right in guessing that a finer grade belt and light touch might combat this?

I was trying to figure out if a block with a deep V cut and set at the same angle the gouges might be the way to go.

Michael

 

[Phil Pascoe]

It will do to make the primary bevel if you make up some kind of jig to hold the tool at the correct angle. Then hone the secondary bevel on a stone.

He is speaking of turning gouges which wouldn't (usually at least) have a secondary bevel.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Bowl gouges don't really need a jig, it's spindle gouges that are more difficult to get right.

 

[Dusty Ears]

Thanks Phil.
I thought (although happy to be wrong) that a jig was the way to go for bowl and spindle gouges?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Bowl gouges tend to be ground much squarer across the front and nowhere near as shallow as spindle gouges. I've found it easier freehand. A fingernail grind on a spindle gouge is near impossible to get right without a jig and besides you would use up your gouge in a fraction of the time it would take using a jig. The bonus with a jig is you take off so little steel - one pass across the stone is enough, assuming you have a mark to set the jig to. There are threads on making jigs here if you search - one is by CHJ (late of this parish.)
The first points are opinion of course, not written in stone.

 

[Orraloon]

He is speaking of turning gouges which wouldn't (usually at least) have a secondary bevel.

My fault should have taken in the original question better. I had in my mind how I used to do chisels and plane irons on a belt.
Regards
John

 

[Orraloon]

Thanks for your reply John.
I did have worries about sparks so gave it a good clean out before use and keep the area clear.

I did worry about over heating the tool while sharpening as well, would I be right in guessing that a finer grade belt and light touch might combat this?

I was trying to figure out if a block with a deep V cut and set at the same angle the gouges might be the way to go.

Michael

As Phil pointed out above turning gouges are different to sharpen than bench tools. For gouges right off the belt is OK.
Heating the tool is avoided by dunking in water every so often as you go. Dont ware gloves so you can feel things getting warm. Same goes on a grinder also. HSS tools will take a bit of heat without too much worry in any case. Old style tool steel you need to take more care.
As to belt grit you dont need to be too fine for turning gouges. About 120g would do. Think the white wheel I use is 80g. Sounds back to front but the finer grits will cause more heat. Also keep the belts clean as a glazed belt will cause heat and cut less.
As to the rest surface a V cut would do a roughing gouge nicely with a strait across grind but to get a rounded grind you have to swivel the handle left and right as you rotate the tool to form the wings. I use a flat surfaced rest for all my turning tools.
Regards
John

 

[Tris]

When I first started turning I made one rather like this:



If you can take the table off the linisher side and fabricate a bracket to hold the foot I think that could work

 

[TomGW]

I think this is probably the ultimate answer to your question.
https://www.machinistblog.com/modifying-a-craftsman-2-x-42-inch-belt-sander-for-tool-grinding/

 

[hodsdonr]

Have a look at the Australian Forum where there is a whole thread about DIY jigs for sharpening turning gouges

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/diy-gouge-jigs-243670

 

[baldkev]

Interestingly rutlands latest email has an adjustable sharpening rest for 30 quid....
https://www.rutlands.com/sp+sharpen...rce=Rutlands Ltd&dm_i=6YCG,DVMJ,59DOU,1P9S1,1

 

[Ttrees]

Have a look at this thread for fair warning,
Whatever I was sanding in the past was still present and combined with some sawdust and whatnot,
made a really good cherry of embers which couldn't be extinguished, and some drastic measures needed doing to get to them.

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/your-friendly-oil-rag-reminder.106344/page-2#post-1158569

 

[Shan]

I might be a bit late to the thread but I'm using my belt sander turned up side down with zirconium belts. Mainly sharpening bowl gouge but use it on other gouges as well and never gets too hot and seems to put a pretty sharp wedge on the gouge's. Should I need to sand any wood I simply take it out of the stand or holder I made and swap belts. The belts are 75mm x 533mm and didn't have the fund's to invest in a proper grinder or maybe just a bit frugal as I had the belt sander anyway. Made myself a jig but (probably all wrong) my 5/8" bowl gouge gets sharpened like a roughing gouge. As in set at an angle & rolled from left to right. I'm using a jig for a couple of other bowl gouge's and have the option of using the belt sander or a wheel that is set up on the outside of the head stock but as I didn't have a tool test had to improvise on this as well. Can send photos should anyone be interested. Cheers Shan

 

[Shan]

Afternoon all,

As the title suggests I am looking for advice or useful ideas form anyone who has/is using one of these Scheppach BTS700 125mm Belt & Disc Sander 240V

I have various grades of belt from 60 to 800 so hopefully these will be good enough, and they seem to work well on my bench chisels.
The difficulty is going to be accurately sharpening/re touching bowl gouges etc so any help with Jig ideas and/or how to approach this would be really helpful. Also which grade belt would be the best to use.

Its not ideal but it's what I've got.

Things being the way they are financially at the moment, I'm not in a position to buy a bench grinder set up yet.

Dusty Ears, have you tried or thought about getting some zirconium belts/pads for the sander? They don't tend to heat up like the normal belts. Just a thought as I'm using themin my belt sander for sharpening.