What have some of you found to be especially effecient / good for sharpening your wood lathe tools? How much can you do with a belt sander? Precautions, suggestions very welcome! Thanks Steve

I wouldn't use a belt sander under any condition as it is too hard to control the amount of material being removed. All of my sharpening has been done by hand using the Scary Sharp system. This system uses a piece of plate glass with different grades of wet/dry sandpaper glued to it. In the article on the link the author goes all the way down to 9000 grit. I feel this is a little too much, I have grits starting at 100 and going up to 2000. The system works!!!
[www.woodcentral.com]

Regards
Dave

Fishing is Life the rest is just Details

I use the Wolverine sharpening system by Oneway [www.oneway.on.ca] It's sold by Oneway, Woodcraft, Peen State and just about every wood working store

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Veritas makes a great dry sharpener. The various wet wheel models from Tormek and now Jet are highly thought of.

Sharpening tools is a bit of an art form in itself. Check on some of the better woodworking books and magazines for the how-to. The difference between a tool you think is sharp and one that truly is will really amaze you.

.............

One thing you can do with a belt sander is to burn the tool rather quickly unless you have a light touch and know what you are doing. And the angles and the shape that the tools are ground to have a big effect on how they work. I too use the Oneway jig mentioned by Mike. But it is pretty expensive when you get all of the attachments. It cost about 180 to buy a slow speed grinder with 2 white wheels and the basic Oneway jig from Woodcraft. But it works pretty well. Another thing I have used in the past is the slow turning horizontal water wheels. There are some low cost models on the market and they work quite well for keeping tools sharp, but cut too slow to be much use in actually shaping the tool to start with.

I like the slow speed grinder and the Oneway jig better than all the othe ways I have tried (Diamond hones, water wheel, standard grinder, belt grinder) because it is fast to get a fair edge. I use a buffing wheel a couple of times in between grinding to prolong the life of the sharpening. My tools are probably not as sharp as they should be and the bevels don't always look pretty, but they generally cut okay. I find that I have to sharpen a lot when I am turning, like a couple of times an hour for some woods and more often if I sand then decide to use the tool again and dull it on the embedded grit.. I just don't like sharpening enough to use a slow system

Headed out to the shop today to rig up a jig to grind my jointer knives on the Oneway platform.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/2006 01:19PM by Bill Moschler.

Contrary to the posts above, A belt sander can be very effective in sharpening tool with some practice. I owned a sharpening business for a number of years and 1" vertical belt sander can be a very versatile tool. I have shapened tools, knives, lathe tools, circular saw blades and many other objects.

The benefit of a belt sander is the ability to put very little pressure on the tool, due to the belt flex. It is also easily accessible,the tool can be placed in multiple positions and different holders and jigs can be used. The key for the inexperienced, is to start with belts that are fairly worn. And take your time.

The belt sander works fine but I prefer a hollow grind. The very best suggestion I have is to buy an 8" slow or variable speed grinder with coarse and fine Alm oxide wheels.The wood craft is very good. Get a set of cheap Harbor Freight or Penn State high speed steel (HSS) turning tools and learn to sharpen by hand without a jig. Read up on it, practice, and experiment. It's not that hard to do. By the time you grind down those cheap HF tools a bit, you'll be quite good at it and know what grind works best for you. You'll be ready for better tools and those HF chisels can then be used to grind into custom tools. Sharpening is like wood turning in that you develop a feel for it.

Tony

I use a Delta low speed wet wheel for initial grinding because it leaves a concave surface that is easier to work. I follow this with Arkansas stones and then finish using a buffing wheel to polish the edge. The best advise I can give is to touch up the tool before it gets very dull. Sharp tools are safer and easier to use.

rhr

I noticed that Harbor Freight sells a system similair to the delta refrenced above.

Anyone else use it ?

To set and maintain the geometry of my gouges I perfer to use a jig of some sort. The Wolverine system works very well with grinders and can be made to work with a belt sander (1x42"). The best value in a grinder is the 8" Slow Speed grinder from Woodcraft. It's a pretty cheap grinder but it does come with wheels appropriate for sharpening turning tools. I use this setup for grinding new geometries on my tools and sometimes for sharpening. For sharpening I prefer to use a Tormek, especially for skews. At one time I fabricated a bar mount for a small belt sander so I could use my Tormek jigs for grinding on the belt sander; works well, I just prefer to use the Wolverine.

I'd have to agree with Tom's comment, but I'll tell you that I use a series of grinding stones and machine oil. Being extremely cautious to follow the angle that the tool was originally sharpened at.

I've got the most expensive chissel set that Harbour Frieght sells (and it's fairly inexpensive) and haven't had any issues with getting a good finish on my turnings.

Domenic Federico
Infinity Rod Creations

I too have tried most all the systems on the market from simple jigs to plate glass ect. Never happy with the results, I finely gave in and got a Tormek and have never looked back! Simple to use with repeatability. A bit pricy if you have to get all the attachments at once, I didn't, only got a few that I needed and continue as needed. The difference between sharp and really sharp is amazing! The diference between sharp and REALLY sharp is amazing!

Fred Crum
Dixon, Ca.