Sharpening jig/bench grinder advice

[thedonutman]

I think my tools we need sharpening soon and I'm looking to buy a bench grinder. Somebody mentioned in another thread that I can just get a grinder and use the toolrest that comes with it until I buy a proper jig for sharpening. Has anybody else had any experience with this?

Another question about grinders themselves:

Will something cheap like this £15 from B&Q work well enough?

Or should I go for something a little more expensive like this axminster one:
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp? ... =1&jump=44

That one comes with an aluminium oxide wheel already which I guess must be a bonus, right?

 

[loz]

Works for me DNM !

bought on a whim 18 months ago ( when i got my lathe ) - still use it serveral times during a session. course enough to shape your grind, although with a gentle touch will sharpen without taking off much steel.

i suplimented with a RS Universal jig.

wheels arent very wide, but wide enough to sweep a fingernail on a spindle gouge, and an irish on a bowl gouge, and im able to put my scrapers, and skews to it also with a little patience.

I was going to upgrade, but not now, i was jumping on the bigger tools bandwagon.

For my work, and tools its ideal.

Others with bigger tools, planes etc might suggest something with mounts like the schepagh, or tormek ( and its clones )

Loz

ps - 18 months later and some shaping, and lots of sharpening, the wheels are same dia.

 

[gandy]

i might get yelled at, but i have my grinder set back from the front of the bench, and its sitting on bit of wood i had laying around, why? with the bigger tools the handle rests on the egde of the bench, and i can match the angle on the tool, and the smaller tools the but of the handle rests on the bench and the angles can be match with or with out the bit of wood

i know its not as good as a propper jig, but it works well for me.

 

[Chrisp]

Don't worry about the cost of your grinder i'm using a second hand one that a picked up about 15 years ago and its still going strong! Axminster make a flat jig for your roughing, parting and skew tools, have a go at making a jig for the fingernail profile like this one.

Pip have a go at making your own, I did and it turned out well with great results and saved myself the money to buy my shiney new Patriot chuck! if you need any help or advice just let me know.



Hope this helps, you can see the before and after grind (I didn't show the worst one I had!) let me know if you need any advice I'll be happy to help you out.
Chris.

If you need any help, let me know, it will save you a few pounds to upgrade the wheels supplied!...
Best regards Chris.

 

[CHJ]

I think my tools we need sharpening soon

I don't think I know they need sharpening, they needed it by the time you finished your first piece, and that's assuming they were sharp to start with which is problematic.

Or should I go for something a little more expensive like this axminster one:
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp? ... =1&jump=44

That one comes with an aluminium oxide wheel already which I guess must be a bonus, right?

That one should be fine, may need the wheels truing up, seems to be the main defect with that range.

I've been using the equivalent since spring 2005,
an aluminium oxide wheel is the 'standard' for HSS tools.

 

[wizer]

I use exactly the same setup as Loz except with a better rest on the left wheel. It's fine for what I've been doing so far. If money were no object I'd probably plump for the full OneWay system but it's not really essential. While I've been latheless I've had a little play with grinding things free hand. With practise I reckon I could get it spot on. Which means no need for jiggery pokery

 

[Boothie14]

I have the axminster one,and it is brilliant.Im currently working on a tormek style jig-I will post pics when done

 

[Blister]

I think my tools we need sharpening soon and I'm looking to buy a bench grinder. Somebody mentioned in another thread that I can just get a grinder and use the toolrest that comes with it until I buy a proper jig for sharpening. Has anybody else had any experience with this?

Another question about grinders themselves:

Will something cheap like this £15 from B&Q work well enough?

Or should I go for something a little more expensive like this axminster one:
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp? ... =1&jump=44

That one comes with an aluminium oxide wheel already which I guess must be a bonus, right?

If you can stretch to it , get a Sorby Pro Edge :lol:
I have used most types of systems and this is the one for me 8)

Repeatable grinds every time and as its a belt and not a wheel your chisels dont heat up and turn blue :wink:

 

[Carl]

I have bought the Axminster grinder with the 40mm wide white wheel and it wobbles and causes the grinder to vibrate, so I sent it back and got another one which did the exact same thing, yet the grey grinding wheel runs perfect.

Carl

 

[CHJ]

I have bought the Axminster grinder with the 40mm wide white wheel and it wobbles and causes the grinder to vibrate, so I sent it back and got another one which did the exact same thing, yet the grey grinding wheel runs perfect.

Carl

Common Fault, The poor quality bore filler material will be drilled off centre from the wheel inner recess.

The pressed steel clamping washers, the inner ones in particular may not locate correctly on the shaft shoulder either.

Replacement turned from solid washers should be available from Peter Childs to cater for this later problem.

I'm afraid the wheel problem can only be remedied by fitting a better quality wheel unless you have the relevant engineering background to correct it. The stones OK in my experience, just the manufacture poor, I even suspect the bore filler is soft enough to distort in transit through the weight of the wheel.