In article ,=20
am says...
On Sun, 2 May 2004 20:14:28 +0100, "Richard Sterry"
wrote:
=20
Yes, I'm having problems sharpening my chisels to 30=B0. The basic probl=
em
seems to me to be that my sharpening stone is far far too fine. It's in
perfect condition, but is probably quite a lot older than me and is mark=
ed
"Bauxilite 479 Medium". Bauxilite is of course the abrasive material, I'=
ve
managed to figure that one out, but the number is meaningless and "Mediu=
m"
is a very subjective term. I have some brand new chisels to sharpen, alr=
eady
ground to 25=B0 but blunt, and some old ones which due to years of horri=
ble
mistreatment really could do with regrinding to 25=B0 before I grind the=
m to
30=B0.

snip

Before I roam the local DIY and tools stores, any advice?
=20
Yep.
=20
Treat yourself to a Tormek machine
=20
These are a low speed, water cooled grindstone which can be graded as
required for different operations.
=20
www.tormek.se
=20
Which is an excellent web site explaining how it all works.
=20
You can sharpen virtually anything on one of these - chisels, gouges,
plane blades, knives, scissors,.....
=20
=20
.andy
=20
To email, substitute .nospam with .gl
=20

I dunno.

I've had one for years but it rarely gets used now. Its o/k for putting
the initial bevel on a chisel but after that a Japanese water stone is
much quicker for maintaining that edge until the main bevel needs re-
doing, which in my workshop is hardly a weekly occurence.

About once a year SWMBO gets her tongue, whoops, knives, and scissors=20
sharpened

I find it slow at stock removal also.

Turning gouges and chisels are much more quickly brought to spec on the
bench mounted grinder. A quick touch is all that is required and can be
done while the lathe is left spinning.

I once let a Spanish itinerant knife grinder loose on a pocket knife I
always carry. Big mistake. He ground the blazes out of the blade and
when I got it back it was still blunt. I suppose it was too small for
him as I came across him outside the door of an hotel where he was
sharpening the chefs knives.

There used to be an old gentleman who went from hotel to hotel in Dublin
riding a combined bicycle/knife grinder. The bicycle was setup on a
stand when he had arrived and he could rotate the grinding wheel via the=20
bicycle's pedals

Paul Mc Cann