What's the groups experience with sharpening turning tools? What's better,
a 1" belt sander freehand or a slow speed dry grinder with jigs? What's the
experience of the group?

Philly wrote:
What's the groups experience with sharpening turning tools? What's better,
a 1" belt sander freehand or a slow speed dry grinder with jigs? What's the
experience of the group?


I am happy with a 1" belt sander.

--
Gerald Ross
Cochran, GA

I can handle reality in small doses.





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Philly in my opinion you will never (never say never) be able to get as
sharp an edge with a loose sandpaper/belt than you can with a grinding
stone, (yes I know there are people going to disagree), the reason for
this, the belt always has room between itself and the platen it rides
on, you place a tool on that and now force the belt to dive under the
tool, and it will come right back up, past your tool, this will
therefore cause a rounding of the edge you are making.
However that does not mean the tool will not cut, just that the edge is
not as well formed and for cutting, it's like the honing versus
straight from the wheel tool use.
I do have a 1" belt sander also a 4" wide belt sander, and I have used
it and again and again I will try to get that polished sharp edge on a
tool, and every time I'm disappointed and go and use my diamond hone,
for that very fine edge that I need sometimes, like with the real small
stuff.

http://homepage.mac.com/l.vanderloo/PhotoAlbum28.html

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

I use a grinder to establish the angle and then sharpen by hand from there
with diamond stones and hones. I get a really good edge.

Having said that I have a slow and geared down motor that gives a shaft RPM
of something like 150. I plan to build a sharpener with that and may even
go so far as using lapidary diamond plates although I have used paper
affixed to plates to sharpen in the past.

Folks on this group use everything under the sun for sharpening. Find
something that works for you and just keep the edge.

Brian

"Brian" wrote in message
...


Folks on this group use everything under the sun for sharpening. Find
something that works for you and just keep the edge.


That's the key - keep the edge. Your tool will come with a grind which you
should replicate until your are either competent in using it or absolutely
convinced it's not usable. Takes time to evaluate.

Then and only then should you modify the grind to overcome a shortcoming.
Could be you use a jig, could be just the tool support on your abrasive
carrier, because an abrasive is an abrasive. A lot of steel is wasted to no
purpose in search of the uniformly reflective edge. "Facets" which reflect
light differently don't mean much at all to a soft and deformable medium
like wood, so if the edge isn't positively saw-toothed, it's fine. If you
like the edge, just tend to it on your wheel or belt or flat grinder to keep
it the way you like it. If it happens to correspond to the way some jig
does similar gouges, great.

Turning tools don't really require the same quality of edge as carving
tools, and may suffer for it as such edges are thinner and more likely to
burn if you press them into the cut. No other edge beyond the lawnmower
gets such casual treatment, yet they do a great job. Hand stones are used
for touchups if you care to.

I like slow wheels because they do carbon steel better, tolerate imbalance
better, and I'm inclined to skip honing in favor of a quick return to the
wheel, so I don't want them to whip off a lot of steel each time. A belt or
other sander should not be used as a grinding wheel is - into the tool - but
like the honing wheel, away from the tool. Wouldn't let the platen gap
business trouble me. If you press, it conforms. If you don't compress,
eventually it conforms when the pressure against the belt is less than the
tension. It's the in-betweens that might round the edge.