Daily grind.

[Sam_Jack]

Spare the rod.

Thought this may be the best place to ask what is probably a dopey question; however. A mate brought me a cutter from a Stanley hand router, he’d found it in a box somewhere. it is a mess; plenty of meat left – but – the angle (on the top edge) is at about 60˚ (+) and it needs to come back a bit to allow a reasonable cutting angle (say 30˚). I have a rarely used bench grinder; serviceable and square; but also a decided lack of skill in the use of it.

Preamble over – is there any way I can ‘grind’ the top of the cutter on the wheel? I can do it on the ‘stones’; but, it will take forever (and a day) - awkward little sods are router cutters.

Any and all suggestions welcome – favourite would be to bin it – but I owe it a chance of redemption; anyone help? :?:

 

[AndyT]

Paging Derek Cohen! What time is it in Perth?

 

[AndyT]

Assuming Derek mainly reads the hand tools section, here's a link to his powered method.

http://inthewoodshop.com/WoodworkTechni ... lades.html

 

[AES]

I'm definitely NO expert on sharpening (far from it) but I've just been given a cheapo wet stone grinder ("normal" grinder at one end, BIG wet stone - drives through a reduction gearbox) at the other.

I've only just been given it and haven't tried it yet, but I GUESS this type of machine would be ideal for that job - by which I mean, get the angle, shape, and square-ness down to roughly what it should be, then finish off with whatever your normal sharpening and final honing routine is.

The only other thought I have, if the cutter is not too hard (it probably isn't) why not "attack" it with a sharp file? Again to get it back to roughly the right shape, angle, etc, then finish off sharpening and honing "as per normal".

The biggest problem with a normal off hand bench grinder, especially if you're not used to them, and you see that there's a fair bit of metal to grind off, is that you run a very high risk of the cutter being in contact with the wheel for much too long, therefore overheating the cutter and destroying the temper. It really IS a question of just a few seconds in contact, followed by a dip into cold water. This is especially true if the cutter is small, which I guess it is.

Either of the above 2 methods should pretty much eliminate that risk (unless you really go at it like a bull in a chins shop).

HTH

 

[deema]

My solution is a little more brutal!
From the bottom of the cutter drill and tap a hole that extends into the shaft. Counter sink for the bolt head. Now cut the cutting head off. A simple stick of wood or metal can be used to screw the cutting head onto it now inline not at 90 degrees allowing relatively easy sharpening. Once sharp simply bolt back on to the shaft. In essence it makes them into the style of the Veritas router cutters so I can’t take any credit for the original idea.

 

[Sam_Jack]

Cheers (again) Andy and well done Derek – what a bloomin’ gr8 idea. I shall try it out directly.

Thanks AES and deema for offering a solution. Time to take a brave pill and try out Derek’s method.

 

[AES]

I haven't seen Derek's sharpening method, but from what I've seen of his work generally on here, I'd guess you can follow whatever method he suggests and be confident of getting a good result. From what I've seen, he's what (IMO) is relatively rare on here - a member who's a "proper woodworker" - and that definitely ain't me BTW!

Good luck