Sorby Pro-Edge

[Chip shop]

Just had Sorby Pro-Edge

Found a chisel in a garden:

Ground the back:

Reground the edge and gave it rub on the stone:

About a minute and a half. All in all, pretty good.

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

Did you buy the pro edge because you found the chisel in the garden? :lol:

Mike.

 

[TFrench]

I love mine, its fantastic for getting really bad chisels into shape!

 

[Chip shop]

Hello,

Did you buy the pro edge because you found the chisel in the garden? :lol:

Mike.

Absolutely, now the chisel is sorted I sold it. :lol:

Truth was; I wrote a long winded post then clicked the submit button and it disappeared. I couldn't be arsed re-typing it, but I'd spent time uploading pics so posted a much shorter version, and I really do think it's quite good.

General synopsis...

Oil stone - I have one. It's grey and orange and what I use for rubbing edges back and forwards on. It has grits, but I'm not sure how many.
Water stones - tried 'em and we didn't really get on. Fafftastic.
Sharpening Jigs - never had one, but wouldn't be adverse to giving one a go
Worksharp - go whir whir whir for ages, but you get a decent edge after a long wait, grey hairs on thy.
Wet stone grinder (AKA Tormek and their copyists) - My fave up 'til now, but a bit faffy and messy.
Big cast iron thing my Dad gave me - scary and eventually exploded.
Pro-Edge - The culmination of man's scientific development. It's possibly the greatest invention since the Soda Stream.

I obviously have no involvement with Robert Sorby, other that the large BACS transfer deposited in my current account.

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

I like my Tormek, but it has its limitations, so I was considering getting a dry grinder to supplement it. I have a Tormek toolrest mount, so I can use the tool jigs etc. on another machine, but probably needs to be a wide wheel grinder. Your post just got me thinking, though. I have a fairly brutish, 4 inch belt sander, that has seen very little use as such in all the years I have had it. It might be worth me setting the Tormek tool rest to work with that. It will be noisier than the Pro Edge, but still could be a convenient compromise.

Mike.

 

[Chip shop]

Mike,

You're only in Liverpool, why not call over for a cuppa and try the pro edge?

Ed.

 

[woodbrains]

Mike,

You're only in Liverpool, why not call over for a cuppa and try the pro edge?

Ed.

Hello,

What a kind offer, I might just do that, thanks! =D>

Mike.

 

[Honest John]

I’ve just changed from a wide wheeled 8 inch grinder to a Proedge. The grinder was fine for many years, but I won’t be going back since I’ve tried the Proedge.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I believe it depends upon your preference. I know brilliant turners who swear by one ............. and brilliant turners who refuse to use one. It much depends whether you want the hollow grind or not.

 

[Honest John]

Absolutely right Phill. Nothing intrinsically wrong with a conventional grinder. I was very happy with mine until it started to vibrate. I started to get concerned about the energy stored on the wheels wizzing round at 3000 revs! My very first experience with the Proedge was very good, and although I have not had any difficulty with sharpening on a round wheel, I did find the Proedge easier and quicker to accurately resharpen my turning tools. When you switch the Proedge off, it stops! Ie it doesn’t run for 2 minutes being just something else to be aware of. It would be wrong really to say there is anything wrong with a conventional grinder, I just like the Proedge better. Not sure there is any advantage/disadvantage to the hollow or flat grind profile once you have changed from one to the other.

 

[Clwydianrange]

I’ve had the proedge for years and wouldn’t be without it especially for woodturning. How else are you gonna touch up a gouge in less than ten seconds. Repeatable and accurate.

 

[Chip shop]

Mike,

You're only in Liverpool, why not call over for a cuppa and try the pro edge?

Ed.

Hello,

What a kind offer, I might just do that, thanks! =D>

Mike.

Any time, I'm just by Denbigh, LL16. Let me know when you're coming.

 

[Noho12C]

Reading lots of positive things about the pro edge.

I bought a tormek T4 about 6 months ago, and I must say I havent been too impressed by it. I am not turning, so it's only used for chisels and planes irons (all PMV11). It takes ages for the tormek to grind the primary bevel. Plus I am not a big fan of the hollow grind.

I've been considering to get the proedge to put the primary bevel, and then use my water stones to put a secondary bevel. Is the proedge suitable (ie fast and efficient) for plane irons ?

Many thanks for your thoughts !

 

[CHJ]

....
I've been considering to get the proedge to put the primary bevel, and then use my water stones to put a secondary bevel. Is the proedge suitable (ie fast and efficient) for plane irons ?

Fast enough to need care not to remove excessive material, all depends on Belt Grade.
Trading Rapid cut-Course Finish with something like a Ceramic 60 grit against Slower Cut-Fine finish Trizact A30 (P800 grit) or finer and heating risk. and dozens of grades in between.

 

[Noho12C]

ok, so it will not struggle (and takes ages) on plane irons ?

 

[JohnPW]

I've read a lot about the Pro-Edge on this forum but I get the impression it doesn't overheat the steel. Or perhaps it does but you have to do the dip in water thing, as you would on a bench grinder.

I've used a linisher before and it certainly overheats the steel if you abrade for more than a few seconds, in exactly the same way as a bench grinder.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I suspect most users also use a jig which means very, very little steel is removed (to my mind one of the best reasons for using a jig) - 99% of turners use HHS tools anyway and wouldn't choose to quench them. (I confess to quenching mine quite often - but I quench to stop them getting hot, not to cool them after they've got too hot.)

 

[custard]

I've read a lot about the Pro-Edge on this forum but I get the impression it doesn't overheat the steel. Or perhaps it does but you have to do the dip in water thing, as you would on a bench grinder.

I've used a linisher before and it certainly overheats the steel if you abrade for more than a few seconds, in exactly the same way as a bench grinder.

I wouldn't say it's impossible to overheat the steel with a Pro-Edge, but I find it accomplishes most day-to-day grinding tasks without ever having to dip the tool in water. I normally use ceramic belts, maybe that makes a difference.

But I've also used plenty of traditional grinding wheels and, as long as you replace the standard rubbish wheel with something half decent, then I never found overheating to be too much of a problem there either. Once you've got some experience with any grinder you should be able to avoid overheating, and even if you occasionally make a mistake and there's a bit of bluing, so what? It's not like the tool's ruined. You just cool it down and grind away the mistake, it's not a big deal.

I have a permanently set up sharpening station, with a Pro-Edge left at a 25 degree setting, once it takes more than about ten or a dozen strokes to hone a tool I give it a touch on the Pro-Edge to grind back to within about half a mill or a mill from the cutting edge and that's it. As long as you don't have to grind right past the cutting edge (as you would for example if you're grinding out a nick), then overheating is most unlikely to happen.

 

[Trafalgar]

Yep. No matter what kind of grinder you use, grinding should never shorten the tool unless a nick has to be taken out. Cutters are only shortened during honing, and by basically the size of the burr that's raised.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Not so with turning tools - many (most) turners never hone.