On 3/6/2010 4:41 AM, Andy Dingley wrote:
On 4 Mar, 17:17, wrote:

My "biggest task" for the grinder, is to put a 3" camber on a plane
iron. Any thoughts on how you would you approach that sharpening task?

Japanese 250 grit waterstone. It has quite an appetite 8-)

Failing that, the big wet wheel.

I just don't get these "half speed" white& pink wheel grinders.
They're probably great for HSS and turning tools, but for something
like a plane iron (thin, narrow angle, a steel that will burn easily,
especially if laminated) they're still going to be too fast& too hot.

Especially considering that you can get a usable Tormek clone for a
hundred bucks from Grizzly (Harbor Fright seems to have discontinued
theirs).

I've got a variable-speed bench grinder but the only time I turn it on
is when something needs some serious reshaping. Half-speed and friable
wheels were a good solution when the alternatives were either crappy or
expensive but that's no longer the case.

As I get older though my approach to sharpening gets more and more
pragmatic--I don't even bother getting out the stones for the kitchen
knives anymore--the bottom of a coffee mug puts as good an edge on them
as I need. I dunno if that's because I've had enough practice that it's
easy or that I'm less finicky about having some kind of impractically
perfect edge.