Maintaining lathe tools

[JohnRobert]

Hello everybody, newbie here. Any tips for sharpening lathing tools on your own? Or is it better to let a professional do it?

[Dan_Shade]

There are a lot of grinder jigs.  Some folks use a belt sander.

I'm a proponent of learning how to do it yourself.

I have a oneway jig, it makes it pretty easy 

[Dan_Shade]

https://oneway.ca/products-category/sharpening-grinding-jigs/Grinding%20Jig

[btulloh]

X2 what Dan said. I use the Oneway jig also. Best to use it with a half-speed bench grinder and white wheels. Works well. I use a small diamod stone for quick touchups. Sharp tools are a must. They need sharpening and touchups much more often than sending them out would allow. 

My cousin uses the Tormek sytem and gets incredibly good edges. The strop really puts the icing on the cake. 

Pick a system and set it up for convenient access. Turning requires sharpening skills. Make it a primary goal. 

[Tom King]

I use a 1x42" belt sander, but only because I already had it for other stuff.  If one needs reshaping, I'll use a CBN wheel on a bench grinder, but used to use regular, friable wheels.  

 Lathe tools are some of the least particular woodworking cutting edges.  I get my chisels, and plane irons WAY sharper with a more complicated process.

[Larry]

I can get my lathe tools sharp enough just by freehand grinding which takes practice.  But I do not sharpen my tools freehand because of two reasons.  I don't get angle the same every time and I waste too much valuable steel from a expensive tool.  With a jig I just barely remove a wisp of metal.

So....for those two reasons I mainly use the Oneway Wolverine with the Vari-Grind for gouges.  There are other jigs as good.

You may be able to learn on your own.  Its a lot faster to get guidance from somebody that knows how, or join a woodturning club.  Taking a class is also a good way to learn.

[Dan_Shade]

Here's another one:

https://oneway.ca/products-category/sharpening-grinding-jigs/Vari-Grind

I have this one too, but haven't used it much.   I tend to use a roughing gouge and a skew. 

[Raym]

For a majority of my turning I use Batty's 40/40 grind. I use CBN wheels on a slow speed grinder and usually leave the grinder running if turning a large bowl. Depending on the wood being turned, I will sharpen after about 2-3 passes and I can sharpen the gouge in about 10 seconds.

With the platform setup at 40 degrees roughing gouges and traditional grind bowl gouges are sharpened with ease.

Here is a video to watch but you can search out his other videos on sharpening and turning with the 40/40 grind. Enjoy and happy turning...

Stuart Batty Sharpening - YouTube

[aigheadish]

I'm also on board with Oneway and Vari-Grind. 

[low_48]

Late to the game, but wanted to mention that professional sharpening is really not an option. I'll sharpen a bowl gouge about 3 times doing a 12" bowl. Maybe 4 if working tougher wood. You really need a method in the shop to get a good edge.

[aigheadish]

Agreed with @low_48 

I think it's also safe to say it takes a fair amount of practice to get good at sharpening, take it slow and maybe learn on cheap gouges as it's easy to grind right through them. I've noticed a newly sharpened gouge is much nicer than a dull one but also notice when I've sharpened one really well. 

One good trick I've heard is to Sharpie all over your current bevel then start sharpening very slowly and gently and you'll be able to see where you'd grinded and where you haven't. 

[Joe Hillmann]

If you do any amount of lathe work you HAVE to be able to sharpen your own tools.  I couldn't imagine not sharpening my own.  Any time mine feel the tiniest bit dull I touch them up.  I am in the process of turning tenons on on both ends of about 480  four inch spindles for porch railings.  So it is common that I sharpen the tools several times a week and touch them up several times in a session.  The more practice you have at both turning and sharpening the easier it becomes.

[Al_Smith]

Although I do own a wood lathe I seldom use it .However on metal lathe tools it just takes practice and the correct grinding wheel to sharpen free hand .
In my case regarding metal I have a lot of indexable carbide inserts so it's rather easy to keep a good sharp tool .Grinding carbide tipped is not so easy .Hi speed steel is not a problem ,drill bits etc, but some take a different angles   depending on the metal used on .

[Ed_K]

 One other thing to think about is to keep your grinding wheel properly clean, and sharpened also.

[Dan_Shade]

Do any of you guys use a cbn wheel on your grinder? 

[Larry]

I've used cbn a lot at schools, both as a student and a teacher.  You should see the abuse they get in a school but keep on grinding.  It stays the same size so your grind remains the same through out the life of the wheel.  No re-shaping or sharpening as you would need to do on a stone wheel.  Lots of opinions on the best grit.  180 or maybe a little higher seems good to me.

At home I use a Kalmazoo belt grinder similar to the Sorby Proedge.  I've adapted it to use the Oneway jigs.  I like it better than cbn buts its a flat grind and a lot of opinions on that also.

[Al_Smith]

You have to keep a stone wheel "open " which means not clogged with metal residue .Using a water dip helps somewhat plus keeps the tool from becoming over heated .I have diamond dressing tools for such things plus star wheel dressers .I suppose a piece of solid carbide could do it too in a pinch .
I might add while I'm not a wood turner many of my wood lathe stuff have been made from large files which came with the lathe when I bought it .Hard as a rock, I've never  had to dress them .

[aigheadish]

I'd like a cbn but haven't forked out the cash yet.

[Al_Smith]

I had an old farmer tell me once ,"son a sharp tool will always make you money, a dull tool will cost you ".You have to remember the geometry involved .Lots of difference between a straight razor and an axe . ;)

[Sod saw]

.

Just stumbled upon this thread.

Some of you are talking about grinding and keeping tools sharp.

I seem to have difficulty with preventing the cutting edge of what ever (drill bit, or plane, or knife) from overheating and changing color.  I assume this problem is from using a higher speed normal bench grinder that is found in most home shops.

My question:  What brand of grinder do you all use that has a slow turning stone that may not heat up the edge a quickly?  Or is it that I need to learn a special technique?

Is it the tool or the operator that has issues?   (my daughter might vote for the operator)


. 

[aigheadish]

There are many slow-speed grinders out there that all likely perform well-enough. I still overheat mine with the slow-speed but I'm still learning as well. I've got cheap Harbor Freight gouges that get burnt up pretty easily. One thing that helps is an insanely light touch. Probably not possible with a normal-speed grinder. People also will grind a bit, then dunk the gouge in water, as mentioned above, then grind some more. There is definitely an art to it. Go slow. 

To go along with my Sharpie tip above with the Oneway jig and Vari-grind: As I learn the angles the sharpie is nice because you can turn the grinder wheel by hand and it'll remove small bits of sharpie, that'll tell you if you need to change the angles on your jigs. 

[Al_Smith]

There are tricks for dressing tools like drill bits .For one using plenty of water and making sure the wheel isn't clogged and cutting free ..It just takes practice to free hand .Some people pick it up quickly and some never do .For those who struggle it's obvious you have a computer else you would not be commenting .Get on You Tube plus there are a zillion web sites  populated by machinists who are more than willing to provide good information of how to do . 

[Al_Smith]

Regarding lathe tools as I've said I seldom use a wood lathe and if so have many I've never had to dress .
Metal lathes in addition to literally having drawers full of high speed steel  I have enough carbide indexable tooling to supply a small factory for months .Those I use an Aloris type system with various slides I've made in about 20 types .
On rare occasions I might need to grind something special like for cutting Acme threads which I look up the angle and grind away until I have it .On a heavy piece of high speed steel that takes a long time .It's not a 5 minutes job for sure .Its just an interest or hobby to me as I'm only a self taught machinist not a pro .However given enough time I can  turn out parts as good as a tool and die maker .It just takes longer for me to figure it out .