Sharpening Tools

[JBCustomPens]

Hi everyone,

I need to sharpen my tools up better than I have been and I am by no means an expert. I have currently HSS tools, I don't think I can get carbide right now. But, I have access to a bench grinder and a belt sander. Does anyone have any tips for me on sharpen tools without jigs? Thanks in advance!

Also, how sharp should a tool be when it is really sharp? Do you have an analogy?

 

[skiprat]

Did you ever see that episode of New Yankee Workshop where Norm sliced a sheet of paper sideways with a chisel? That was sharp!!!
I reckon you could cut yourself just looking at it!!:biggrin:

 

[chrisk]

+1 on slicing a sheet of paper. For real. While I never saw the New Yankee Workshop, I'm doing this even with my gouges. I'm using the Tormek grinder and sharpen all my tools on the leather wheel.
Same result with a leather strop but it's a longer process.

 

[low_48]

I would suggest that you get an 80 grit aluminum oxide wheel on your grinder. Then if you can look at a Wolverine sharpening system for the grinder, make your own from wood. The only thing that you will probably not be able to simply duplicate is the Vari-grind holder for finger nail profiles on your gouges. Scrapers can be sharpened on any rest on grinder, or just a wood platform in front of the wheel. Here's a good link on "rolling your own"; http://aroundthewoods.com/sharp.shtml

 

[Mr Vic]

Check out this video....he's using a home made jig

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVWrT5LDeuA

also do a search on capneddie and DarrellSF some good sharpening videos and jigs

 

[RAdams]

I would suggest that you get an 80 grit aluminum oxide wheel on your grinder. Then if you can look at a Wolverine sharpening system for the grinder, make your own from wood. The only thing that you will probably not be able to simply duplicate is the Vari-grind holder for finger nail profiles on your gouges. Scrapers can be sharpened on any rest on grinder, or just a wood platform in front of the wheel. Here's a good link on "rolling your own"; http://aroundthewoods.com/sharp.shtml

actually there is a pretty sweet homebrew version of the vari-grind as well! Surely the fingernail grind is older than the vari-grind grinding attachment.

 

[workinforwood]

I sharpen my carving chisels with diamond stones and a strop all by hand. The angle is very important and they need to be hair splitting sharp. My turning chisels that are HSS, I just sharpen those on the belt sander with 200 grit paper on it. I have a wet stone sharpener and obviously I have strops, but I don't believe a turning chisel should be sharpened to the point of splitting hairs. If the chisel is too sharp, it will dull faster because the cutting edge will be more fragile. The angle on a gouge is not that critical either, so you can just lay that down on the table next to a disc sander and roll that baby around and it'll be fine. When it dulls down, run back and do it again. Every so often, grab a piece of 320 paper and sand the inside of the gouge, in a swiping motion toward the edge and you will notice quite an improvement as this will remove any burrs building up on the back of the cutting edge.

 

[JBCustomPens]

Thanks for everyone's tips. I have learned a lot so far!

 

[leslie hines]

Sometime back the AAW had plans for making a sharping jig out wood might check their web site or back issues May have been couple years or more:cowboy: