Wood Turning Tool Sharpening - Anyone use the Grizzly wet slow grinders?

[Left Coast Chris]

For the last 5 years I have been sharpening my wood turning gouges, scrapers and skew chisels with a little Delta GR050 wet 4-1/2" slow grinding wheel.  I have gotten by pretty well with it but it gave up the ghost over the weekend.   Im thinking of upgrading but did not want to fork out for a Tormek and don't want the speed of a regular grinder.   I have some high end Hamlet particle steel gouges and good quality Sorby and Packard scrapers etc that I cannot bring myself to putting to a high speed grinder that many turners use.   


Im thinking about the Grizzly 8" or 10" wet slow grinders (T10097 or T10010).   It looks like only one rest can be used at once and that is a minus since my little Delta wet grinder had two rests and I could have one set up for the gouges and one for the scrapers.   I do have an adjustable wood turning tool bench top rest system for a standard grinder and it does not look like it will slide under the wheel of the Griz wet grinder.  Another minus.   I would have to fabricate rests to be set up correctly but it looks like it may be worth a try and replacement wheels are available (a plus).

Anyone use the Grizzly wet slow grinders and how have they done for you?  :P

[jdtuttle]

I have the Tormek grinder which i beleive is the same thing. The attachments are easy to change out. I haven't bought the gouge attachment yet but it looks well made. I like mine & it works well.
jim

[Burlkraft]

I have never really like the slloooooowwwww speed grinders. When you are tuning and sharpening the slow speed grinders are just too slow. I had a  Tormek and I donated it to the forum and it was auctioned off. I have a low RPM Delta with 80 and 120 silicone stones. I have a Wolverine grinding jig mounted on there. Sometimes you gotta be careful with smaller tools, but for most of my turning tools it works great.

Disc.

Did I tell you that I do things backwards of most folks? This is just my opinion.
In no way should this information be taken as factual or safe!

[CHARLIE]

I like to turn wood and not spend a lot of time sharpening, though I know my tools have to be sharp. I have a dual speed Woodcraft sharpener with 8" wheels  that I run on the low speed, which is half the speed of a regular grinder.  When my tool needs to be sharpened on the grinder, I grind it until I see sparks coming over the edge. Then, unless it's a scrapper, I remove he burr on top with a few strokes from a round medium stone.  Between sharpening on the grinder, when I feel the tool just starting to dull, I hone with a credit card sized diamond sharpener. It only takes a few strokes and I'm back at it. I have good tools too and I want to spend my time cutting wood and not grinding them on a slow water grinder.

[Norm]

Part of it depends on your skill level. I've got the tormek and do okay with it. Slow but not to bad of an edge. Burlcraft comes out, grabs my regular grinder and in a tenth of the time I'd spend on the tormek has a gouge that is razor sharp! Bad part is getting him to come back and keep doing this for me.  :D

[tyb525]

I use a white silicone carbide wheel on my 10" regular-speed grinder, it works great, you just have to know how long you can sharpen before the edge gets too hot (blued)

Sometimes I keep a bucket of water nearby to cool it off so I don't have to wait. If it doesn't sizzle when you dip it in the water, that's good and it shows you are not holding it on the stone for too long.

[Left Coast Chris]

Thanks guys.   I guess it is what you get used to.   I sharpen pretty fast with the wet grinder keeping the angle the same and don't spend too much time with it.   The full time turners I learned to turn from use 1750 RPM grinders and their gouges are half as long as new (over the years).   I do enjoy sharpening as a break from turning so thats likely part of my tendency.    The trick will be to combine the Wolverine jig with the Griz wet stone.   I also like the 220 grit white stone.  I then hit it with a round stone and have had great results.   

Steve, is your low RPM delta a 1750 rpm?  They are the most common for many turners.   They also have the variable speed grinders that may be a consideration.