Woodturning: My Super Simple Method to Keep Your Lathe Tools Super Sharp
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ค. 2024
- I made this video for a few of my Instagram followers who asked how I sharpen my lathe tools. In the video I focus on how I do some basic sharpening, how I can produce repeatable grind/bevel angles, and how I set up my sharpening station to keep the task of sharpening as simple as possible. I really need to keep things simple. I'm old and get confused easily. How old you ask? Well, lets say I'm a bit older than 37. If you are laughing now you must be a fan of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It also means that in some sense you're an awesome person. Hey, that gives me an idea for a woodturning project. I think I should make two halves of a coconut. Now, if you have never seen the Holy Grail, you probably think I'm insane. If you have seen it you're totally thinking I'm a bad ass right now. Ok, I'm insane anyway but that's besides the point. After all, what sane person would put a sharp blade on a piece of wood spinning at 1500 RPM? But if you think that's nuts, you should watch me use a chainsaw on a spinning piece of wood. Now that's insane on steroids. I learned that from my friend Derek. If you ever watched him turn, he's the master of lathe insanity. but that's a story for another day and another video
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Thankyou so very much for showing use your lathe tools I realy didn't have any idear how to start them I realy learn a lot from this show.
You're welcome. Thanks for watching!
Thank you for sharing your method. I have been turning for four years and sharpening remains the hardest operation in my shop.
I'm glad you found the info useful. There are as many sharpening routines as there are Woodturners. I just like to keep things as simple as possible. Thanks for watching!
First time viewer. Great job, I'll be back
I hope you found my sharpening system useful. Thanks for watching!
I have a brand new DeWalt 8" standard grinder, but I can easily lower the speed on it by simply plugging it into a variac (a variable voltage transformer) by lowering the voltage it will lower the motor's speed and since the variac can be adjusted from 0 to 130v I can adjust it to whatever speed is best. It beats going out and buying another whole new grinder. I can use an rpm app on my phone to know what speed the grinder is turning.
That a great idea. I'm fairly certain my low speed grinder runs at 1700 ish rpm.
@@ScottsMiniWoodshop Variacs are less than $100 on amazon, but I already own one I picked up several years ago to use in radio restorations, using it to bring the voltages up slowly so I could see whether they'd have any shorts in them before they'd be able to destroy old tubes or old transformers that were sometimes difficult to find and/or replace.
Good info thanks for sharing
You're very welcome and thanks for watching
I used to be 37. Now my son is 37. ;-}
You read the description!! I didn't think anyone ever read that. Thanks for watching (and reading 😁)
Hello thanks for the video been struggling to keep my chisels sharp, I was also wondering if you recommend getting an extended tool rest, and if so where I could find one?
Hi and thanks for watching. Since this was a sharpening video, I'm not sure if you're asking about the 'tool rest' on the lathe or the 'platform' on the grinder. I'll just answer both. I have several sizes of tool rests for my lathe and a couple of curved ones for bowls. Different sizes and shapes definitely do come in handy. Robust Lathes makes tool rests for most lathes. But you should be able to find tool rests just about anywhere that sells Lathes and lathe accessories. Just make sure the post diameter will fit your banjo. The platforms I use on my grinder are definitely larger than the standard platforms that came with the grinder. The extra real estate makes it easier to get a consistent bevel. With that said, although the platforms are larger than the ones that came with the grinder, they are standard size for sharpening lathe tools. I guess it's a sweet spot. Anything much larger would just get in the way.
Another Great video. Thanks!
You're very welcome and thanks for watching!!
Hi scott would a digital table saw angle gauge work on your wheels they are cheap and just write angles required on each tool ??
I'm not sure. It definitely would give an accurate angle of the platform relative to level. But the angle relative to the curved wheel is quite a bit different
Hi Scott, Lewis Elliott here. Great sharpening video. What are the distance settings for your wolverine arm, from the front of the base to the front edge of back wall of the pocket for both your spindle gouge setting and your bowl gouge setting? Please let me know. Thanks
Hey Lewis, I know we discussed this already but I'm answering it here in case someone else has the same question. You would need to have your grinder set to the same height above the clamp and the front edge of the clamp would need to be the same distance from the center of the spindle on the grinder. If they were not exactly the same, the distance you asked about wouldn't be helpful. Since we all set up our grinders a bit different, the best way to match an existing angle is to put the tool in the Vari Grind Jig, Use a known measurement for the amount of tool that protrudes out from the jig, and then slide the bar in or out until you get the bevel of the gouge sitting as flat as possible on the grinding wheel
Thank you for the timely response, I decided to make a new reply to not bother the op above. So many thoughts..
I am looking for one more wheel, I have by accident a 1” and it is 180grit.
You say you have a 180 to reshape..I am using a 180 to touch up. To really reshape on it seems like it takes to long. Should I get a 1.5 80 grit for my second? Can you spare some advice.
My CBN wheels are 180 & 600. My thought process on the 600 is that I want to take off as little steel as possible while sharpening. It will make the tools last longer. The 600 is on the side I sharpen my bowl gouge which is the gouge I use most often.
I don't reprofile my tools very often, but when I have to, the 180 seems to work well enough. But I do know what you mean about it not being as fast as I'd like.
My ideal setup would be two grinders. One for reshaping and the other for sharpening. The sharpening grinder would have two 600s. The reshaping grinder would have a 120 cbn and a coarse aluminum oxide wheel. I think that would cover just about anything I could think of that I'd ever need a grinder for. Unfortunately I just don't have the room. My 600/180 single grinder setup seems like the perfect compromise for me.
I guess the best answer for your question would be to tailor your setup to compliment your work flow. If you reshape often you might want to look at something a bit more coarse than the 180. If you don't, perhaps the 180 is good enough. Just remember, the more coarse the wheel, the more steel it will chew off your tool. Your tools won't last as long. Also, a more polished edge from a finer grit wheel will be sharper and will stay sharp longer. You need to find the right balance for your work flow.
My opinion on the width is a simpler answer. I definitely like the wider wheels better!
Hi Scott, thanks for a super informative video,
One of, if not my favourite tools for spindle work, and also for tenons and recesses, is an angled oval skew, I invariably sharpen that on a flat oil stone, which seems to work ok? would I be better using the grinding wheel, and if so, should I only use it "one way up" to utilise the burr?
One thing for sure, none of my tools seem to cut as well as the one sI see on videos ( they're all good HSS Sheffield made tools) I'v just ordered a new bench grinder, as the one I have has a white wheel, but fixed 90 degree rests, so it's all done freehand. Thanks again, hopefully using your advice, and the new grinder I might use less sandpaper!! Best regards...Pete
Hi Pete. There is no definitive "right" way to sharpen. We all have to do what works best with our individual style. I know plenty of turners who freehand sharpen all their tools. Derek Weidman is one that comes to mind and Derek does things on a lathe that has to be seen to be believed.
With that said, my sharpening method works for me and its relatively simple. I'm glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for watching!
My opinion on your skew question is, if you're sharpening it as a scraper it wont cut as well when using it as a skew. The opposite is also true. When you sharpen a scraper a burr of metal forms on the up side of the tool . If you turn it over the burr is now on the bottom. you can force the tool to scrape wood with the burr facing down but it will be very inefficient and will leave a less then desirable cut surface. Some turners have two matching skews with one side marked so they wind up with a right facing and a left facing scraper. I just resharpen if I need the burr on the other side. As mentioned above, there is no issue with sharpening freehand as long as you're getting the edge you want. I use the platform for speed and consistency. Getting that bevel angle the same every time also makes the tool very predictable for me. If your grinder wheel is too coarse and its creating a large burr that "gets in the way" when using the tool as a skew, try stropping. Stropping the skew will remove the burr altogether and if done properly will leave you with a razor sharp tool.
If your tools don't seem that they are as sharp as they could be, my guess is the culprit is the freehand sharpening. It's a difficult skill to master and any error could give you a less than sharp edge. I hope this helped somewhat. Best of luck with the new grinder, happy turning, and thanks again for watching!
@@ScottsMiniWoodshop Thanks very much for that Scott, all good advice,
Even though I've had the lathe for a long time, I've never had a grinder until recently, and had to use a flat oil stone, which for gouges, as you san imagine, is not easy! As I think I said, my current grinder only has a 90 degree rest, so looking forward to the new (Record Power) one.
I think maybe, watching many videos of skilled people turning often, green wood where great ribons come off the bowls doesn't match the results I get always turning seasoned wood on a very small lathe. Oh well, new shed in the summer, so perhaps a new lathe to go in it! Thanks again Scott. Best wishes...Pete.
Hi Scott, which grit are the CBN wheels you use?
The wheel on the right is 180 grit.
The wheel on the wolverine side is 180. The wheel on the platform set for the 40/40 is 600. The thought is the 180 can be used to regrind or reshape a bevel angle or profile. Since I use the 40/40 bowl gouge more than anything else, I can touch it up on the 600 and get a nice edge while removing as little steel as possible. Ideally they would both be 600 and I'd have a second grinder with coarse wheel(s) but I just don't have the room
Does the size matter. Is there a reason you went with 1.5” wheel va 1” wheel?
Diameter size would matter more than width. To be honest, to get the bevel angle as accurate as possible you wouldn't use a grinder at all. A sharpening belt would give you a straight edge on your bevel instead of a hollow ground one from a grinder wheel. But you specifically asked about the width. I don't think the width will really matter at all. The wider width will give you a larger area to sharpen on so that may make it easier, or less likely to slip and fall of the edge. I bought the wheels I did to have the curved edge for sharpening my hollowing tool cutters. In hind sight, I think I should have bought one rounded and the other square since the wide square wheels I was looking at had grit on the side which would have been very convenient for shaping some specialty tools.
But, would your turned coconut be able to be carried by two African swallows on a line? My problem is that a friend used my hammer and didn't put it back where it was the night before at about 8 o'clock.
Hahaha, you read the description! No one reads the descriptions. I sometimes write some nonsensical story in the comments for some of my videos 🤣
@@ScottsMiniWoodshop 😂😂
U talk too much rubbish
I'm not a professional speaker. I'm just a woodturner trying to share some information that works for me, hoping that it will help others. Sorry the video didn't work out for you.
@jungltr how about you do a video and then we will judge you. This is one of the most informative sharpening videos I found.
@@joeg4049 u r not qualified to judge me.. So sit down