Cheap Sharpening

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dhallnc

dhallnc

Member
Joined
Nov 2, 2010
Messages
219
Location
Kings Mountain, NC
Ive got my lathe, a set of tools and have been playing with 2x2 pine blanks. I do not have a grinder or disc sander and it will be a month or so before I can get one. Needless to say the tools are getting dull. I have tried a regular whetstone and honing oil, but I don't think I'm doing much good.

Any suggestions for any kind of improvement?
Thanks
Darryl
 
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Sharpening with a whetstone on High Speed Steel makes for a very long day --

Belt sander (used) upside down, or a disk on a faceplat to take sandpaper disks would work better. You can get most acceptable results with a 6 inch sander from the big box store (I have a royobi where I snobird - cost $39) -- Not as goods as a ,,,,,, but works acceptably
 
I use an oilstone to tune up my tools between turning sessions. Periodically, I need to take more drastic measures, and for that I use a sanding disk.

My lathe came with a faceplate. I glued a piece of MDF to a piece of plywood, mounted it on the faceplate, and turned the whole thing down to a circle slightly larger than the faceplate. Then I glued a piece of sandpaper (emery cloth would be better) on the MDF.

To sharpen, I just mount this on the lathe, run it at the lowest speed, and sharpen my tools. I usually hold the tools against the toolrest with blade at a downward angle so that the bevel on the tool rides against the face of the sanding disk.

I got a starter kit with my lathe that included three tools (gouge, skew and parting tool) that are made of tool steel. These need to be sharpened very frequently. I've since bought some HSS tools that don't seem to get dull nearly as fast. But the cheap tool steel tools work just fine if they are sharp, are much less expensive, and have helped me learn how to sharpen tools.
 
monophoto said:
I use an oilstone to tune up my tools between turning sessions. Periodically, I need to take more drastic measures, and for that I use a sanding disk.

My lathe came with a faceplate. I glued a piece of MDF to a piece of plywood, mounted it on the faceplate, and turned the whole thing down to a circle slightly larger than the faceplate. Then I glued a piece of sandpaper (emery cloth would be better) on the MDF.

To sharpen, I just mount this on the lathe, run it at the lowest speed, and sharpen my tools. I usually hold the tools against the toolrest with blade at a downward angle so that the bevel on the tool rides against the face of the sanding disk.

I got a starter kit with my lathe that included three tools (gouge, skew and parting tool) that are made of tool steel. These need to be sharpened very frequently. I've since bought some HSS tools that don't seem to get dull nearly as fast. But the cheap tool steel tools work just fine if they are sharp, are much less expensive, and have helped me learn how to sharpen tools.
Click to expand...

That sounds doable. Why did you use plywood & MDF? What grit sand paper do you use?

By holding the blade down to the sandpaper, does it create a burr on the tip?

This may sound stupid but I don't know, so thanks for bearing with me.
 
dhallnc said:
That sounds doable. Why did you use plywood & MDF? What grit sand paper do you use?

By holding the blade down to the sandpaper, does it create a burr on the tip?

This may sound stupid but I don't know, so thanks for bearing with me.
Click to expand...

I tend to grab mdf whenever I need a small piece of very flat material. The piece that I had was 1/2" thick, so I wanted something to make it a bit thicker, and found a biece of 1/2" fir plywood in my scrap box. Work with what you've got.

I used 220 grit sandpaper, but it seems to wear pretty rapidly. When the time comes to replace the sandpaper, I plan to use emery cloth.

This approach can produce a burr. You can easily hone that off.
 
I have a used side splash for a sink that I lay flat and glue a piece of 180 grit on. Use a marker to color the blade both sides and slide it on the flat sandpaper,after a few strokes look at the blade to see if the marker is wearing off even, correct as needed. I find if I do this on a regular basis tools seldom need to see a power tool to sharpen.
 
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