tool sharpening ...help please

[Keithie]

From what I've read online as well as what is here, cutting tools arent usually honed, scraper tools are (sometimes). The chap in our village says he leaves the burr on (ie doesnt hone or strop). Its the burr that does the cutting, as I understand it.

Maybe what you're telling me is that, for woodturning, keeping & using the burr obtained from even quite a rough grit grinder/linisher is enough. Other woodcraft areas might need different tool sharpening / edge maintenace techniques.

So what I'm doing is unnecessary for woodturning. But it seems to work (so far, even though the bevel is by no means perfect) and it makes me happy ...which is all good! Obviously I've tried 'fresh off the grinder' each time vs repeated honing...with the honing I seem to have a sharper tool and think, perhaps wrongly, that I remove less metal than regrinding each time without any honing.

Ultimately I guess I'll find the practical limitation of honing as I get better ... it'll probably then become obvious why it's better not to do it ...but not got to that point yet!

 

[CHJ]

I know possibly sixty turners. The vast majority never hone anything, and after long discussions with many of them in fact probably only two or three hone anything at all and that is a skew once in a blue moon.

I've only ever seen one honing an edge and that was Mark Hancock finessing a skew with a fine diamond card when slicing his sycamore? pieces.
This being much like the eastern European turners do with their slip stones when producing razor edges to their self made carbon steel tools they use on Linden wood pieces.

I have done the same in the past with a diamond card (it's easier on a flat diamond plate) on a skew but so rarely do I do spindle work with wood conducive to this level of finesse I get on better with a continental spindle and detailed spindle gouge, which should I feel the need or have a wood compliant enough not to wreck such a refined edge I now have the luxury of Trizact Abrasives to use with them and completely avoid micro bevel issues.

 

[Keithie]

aha ! ... so if I'm honing, even perfectly (which I'm not) to a very sharp edge and then using this to hack through green, knotty, western red cedar .. I may as well have been just doing it with a quick 80grit grind for all the finesse I'll produce with my turning skill level on a big chunk of less than elite wood!

#penny finally drops

cheers

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yes. Not so much that it's wrong, but that it's pointless. As Chas says, there is more reason to hone carbon steel tools, and I suspect most of the honing done on them is a quickie to save stopping for a regrind rather than a need for a super sharp tool.

 

[kevinlightfoot]

I have been watching this thread with great interest ,it is very surprising to me that people are going down the route of buying different grinder ,sones wheels etc which will all be very expensive.In 1983 I began turning wood to make a living I bought a good quality grinder8" diameter wheels one coats and one fine wheel both of them grey wheels as standard.So 30 years or more Bever changed the wheels just dressed regularly with a diamond tipped dresser very lightly.My tools are plenty sharp enough for all types of turning and I never put them near ant kind of stone .As has been said practise turning wood use the standard grinders rest when sharpening flat section tools and become proficient at sharpening gouges freehand.Anyone can spend money looking for the easy way but it's like learning to ride a bike you fall off now and again but you can't keep changing the wheels till you can ride it.Sorry but that's my two pennorth.

 

[bobajobob]

I might have posted some c..p but this is diarrhea.

 

[selectortone]

Sharpening is boring. It's the turning that's the fun. Having a bench grinder at my elbow and a setup that puts a good, repeatable sharp edge on my tools quickly and with the minimum diversion is the important thing for me.

Unless it's a piece that's particularly hard on the tools, I use the grinder (CBN wheel) before I start and then when I'm doing a final cut that needs the tool at its very sharpest. In between I keep the edges fresh with a diamond card and have a set of these which are very handy and look like they are going to last forever. This is what my tutor does, and also what they do during demos at the club. If it works for those guys it'll do for me.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

This is what my tutor does, and also what they do during demos at the club. If it works for those guys it'll do for me.
:lol: :lol: Which is why I do the opposite - I've never seen a pro turner or demonstrator use one. Each to their own.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I might have posted some c..p but this is diarrhea.

Happy New Year to you, too.

 

[kevinlightfoot]

Just checking ,did you mean to say that my post was diarrhoea or the thread in general?

 

[selectortone]

This is what my tutor does, and also what they do during demos at the club. If it works for those guys it'll do for me.
:lol: :lol: Which is why I do the opposite - I've never seen a pro turner or demonstrator use one. Each to their own.

:lol:

 

[bobajobob]

Sorry Kevin. Definitely not you.
Just disappointed that your sensible summary did not put an end to this.

HNY Phil. No offence intended to you either.

 

[kevinlightfoot]

Thanks boba job I was feeling the same that's why I posted ,no offence taken and Happy New Year!

 

[Keithie]

In the interest of sport I could refer you to pages 87 & 88 of Frank Underwood's 1981 'Beginner's guide to Woodturning' which discusses the sharpening and honing of faceplate (bowl) gouges (the objective of honing being to correct the nature of the burr created by the grinding wheel) using an oilstone...the honing approach being recommended for sycamore & beech etc while the 'straight from the grinder' for rougher wood (pretty much as Chas highlighted). It suggests that more advanced turners might typically take a slipstoneto the gouge rather than use an oilstone. But that was 35 years ago.

I'd like to say thank you to everyone on this thread and hope it hasnt caused too many gut problems !

The amount and quality of advice has been excellent and I reckon I have as good an understanding of the theory and practical experiences of seasoned turners as any newcomer could possibly hope for !

Many thanks again

Keith

 

[Robbo3]

Over the years I've seen quite a number of professional turners honing their HSS tools. In some cases it may be to save transporting a grinder but they still do it.

It's only a time saver on hollow ground tools & is normally done to obtain a really sharp edge for the final finishing cut. If you try it on flat ground tools, you'll be there all day as you have to remove material from the whole face of the tool rather than just the heel & the cutting edge.