Sharpening options

[matt]

OK, first question... Is it possible/sensible to sharpen turning chisels on a waterstone? (as in the manual method - not powered)?

I'm figuring that it might be either impossible or not recommended, at least not using the same stone as used for normal flat chisels and plane blades. I'm guessing this be the case because the shape of turning chisels would/could cause grooves, cups, etc in the stone?

I have an old oilstone knocking about but is it viable to sharpen turning chisels manually?

If I have to go down the powered bench grinder/wetstone route then...

I think I may sell my Bear waterstones, holder, etc and invest in a single method for sharpening.

 

[Harbo]

I have only used my Tormek and the relevant jigs for sharpening my turning stuff.
Looking at Leonard Lee's "The Complete Guide to Sharpening" - he uses a belt sander or a grind stone!

Rod

 

[matt]

Belt sander, eh... I have one of those... :lol:

 

[woodbloke]

I use a white wheel on a Record bench grinder to sort out my turning tools but as you say, they'll leave grooves in a softer stone. A belt sander would do the trick as well but you need to remember not to overheat the steel unless it's HSS, which most turning tools are these days - Rob

 

[tekno.mage]

I have an old oilstone knocking about but is it viable to sharpen turning chisels manually?

It's possible to sharpen turning tools manually, but as most are now made of HSS it would take a very, very long time....

I started turning when I was given a lathe and a few old turning tools. Not knowing any different I hand-sharpened the1/2" skew chisel & the smallest spindle gouge on my norton oilstone as if they were carving tools. Luckily both tools were so old they were made of carbon steel, not HSS, but it still took *ages* to do - and these were the two smallest tools in the bucket! I rapidly discovered turning tools need resharpening far more frequently than carving tools and that some kind of powered sharpening system was an absolute necessity!

As you say you already have a belt sander, give that a try before buying something else.

tekno.mage

 

[DaveL]

This:

Is a very high class belt sander, full details on the Peter Child web site.

 

[matt]

That:

...is a very expensive high class belt sander

I was eyeing up the (currently) £29 Perform wetstone grinder from Axminster. Thinking it will sharpen a variety of chisels, planes, and turning tools for very little outlay.

Just can't work out why it's only £29 (of normal price £41 - still cheap).

 

[tekno.mage]

As to why the grinder you mention is so cheap...

I'd imagine Axminster have overstocked on a model that has not proved as popular as they initailly expected - hence the reduction from £41 down to £29.

However, the original price of £41 still seems quite cheap to me - although that doesn't necessarily mean the grinder is rubbish. (My partner bought a Marksman 6" dry grinder for £15 from a market stall last year against my advice, but that machine turned out to be an excellent little grinder, vibration free, and very quiet running!)

Some things I would be concerned about are:

Are the wheels a standard size - will it be easy to get replacement wheels in the future?

How soft is the wet wheel - soft wheels wear very quickly when sharpening HSS turning gouges.

What about grinding jigs? Will it be possible to use this machine with some kind of jig if you decide you need one for sharpening fingernail profile spindle gouges?

Vibration/Noise. How well does the machine run? There have been other threads on here from people disappointed by vibration problems with other low-end grinders.

tekno.mage

 

[DaveL]

Matt,

Take a look here, I think the Axminster one is the same apart from the colour.
I did use it for a while, but the wet stone was quite soft and the Tormek jig bits I bought were not cheap. The LOML got me a Jet wet stone grinder for christmas a couple of years age and I gave the Rexon away. The biggest problem with it out of the box was the lack of any proper rest for using the wet stone.
The Jet is like a nice modem car compared to an old 2CV, I have driven both, and I could get from A to B in either but it did take much more effort in the 2CV. :roll:

 

[BrianD]

Matt,

may I suggest a Worksharp 2000. Brilliant, you cannot go wrong, even for an amateur like me.

The price is reasonable, simple! and very effective. I have no regrets on this one.