Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 16 to 19 of 19
  1. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Eugene, OR USA
    Posts
    322

    Default

    The #2 comment about jig sharpening taking off less metal than free hand sharpening just doesn't make sense to me. I have been free hand sharpening with a platform for some years now, maybe 8, and just don't find that to be true. Done correctly, one pass does it. Same with jig sharpening. For sure we all tend to over sharpen, going back and forth a couple of times, 'just to make sure'. Now, some free hand sharpeners like Mike Mahoney and Jimmy Clewes prefer a 60 or less grit wheel for sharpening because they feel a more serrated edge cuts better. I don't know about that one. I do switch back and forth on my wheels with my gouges, and can't tell any difference, so end up most of the time on the finer side (180). Now there is a 400 grit CBN wheel available, but I don't have one of those yet. I have used a wet wheel a few times (Tormek), and again couldn't tell any difference from a CBN wheel on edge durability, or more clean cuts. There are those who claim that a more polished edge lasts longer because there are fewer teeth to wear down. The biggest difference I have ever noticed in edge durability has more to do with the wood I am cutting rather than the wheel I am sharpening with.

    robo hippy

  2. # ADS
    Google Adsense Advertisement
    Join Date
    Always
    Location
    Advertising world
    Posts
    Many





     
  3. #17
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Canberra
    Posts
    1,820

    Default

    The comparison of per-chisel sharpening to sandpaper is a very good one.

    Considering my chisel work accounts for 95% of my work, it would seem, based on NeilS' conjecture, that 95% of the real cost is in fact elsewhere!

    This is so true.

    One may wince at a very fancy $120 chisel, but it will last a very long time.

    I might add though, that I was recommended the colour coded cloth backed sandpaper a few months ago....my Great Many Gods! It is fantastic! It's goes and goes and goes. No nasty little ridges and it gets into all the little corners and curves.

    Didn't know about the 400 CBNs....might have to get one. I still feel the 180 it too fast.

    Regarding smooth vs serrated finish....maybe it's like a very fine bread knife or a flint knapper stone the great many regular ridges may assist with some parts of the roughing stage! TO SCIENCE!!!!

  4. #18
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Adelaide Hills, South Australia
    Posts
    4,311

    Default

    Lots of good insights there RH.

    I know that many professional woodturners like yourself free hand sharpen their gouges. The current range of jigs have only been around for a couple of decades, including the better adjustable platforms designs like your own, so anyone who woodturned before that had to free hand sharpen. If you learned to do so and did it enough to get highly proficient at it you may feel no need for jigs and the associated fiddle. And, even if some do remove a bit more steel free hand sharpening, for a professional turner time is more valuable than steel.

    I free hand sharpen myself for many decades until the first jigs became readily available here in Australia, about twenty years ago. I tried one, preferred it for a number of reasons, and have progressed through several models since. I find I remove less steel to get a fresh sharp edge using a jig, although that is not the main reason I use it. A consistent Irish grind profile is my primary reason for doing so. I find with free hand sharpening my profiles gradually drift away from the optimum for me.

    My observation is that novice and occasional turners make a dog's breakfast of free hand sharpening, chewing up a lot of steel unnecessarily, taking longer to do so and producing a variable edge profile that is not conducive to good turning. With instruction and practice they would get better at it, but there are very few teachers now that have the proficiency themselves to pass on those skills.

    I respect your perspective, RH, and having considered it I think I will stick to my #2 point, ie the majority of forum readers will lose less gouge steel unnecessarily by using a jig. That is not to say that some turners can't match that free hand, but only after the considerable practice that a professional turner typically puts into developing that skill.
    Stay sharp and stay safe!

    Neil



  5. #19
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Auckland, New Zealand
    Posts
    80

    Default

    Just a "thank you" for everyone's input - it seems either choice will be good

    but seeing as I am purchasing something else, and to save on shipping, I will be getting a Vicmarc ½" bowl gouge which is the same steel as the Thompson tools. Come Christmas I will be getting a couple of the thompson detail gouges and in the mean time will get a Woodcut spindle gouge (which I can later put a bowl gouge tip on if I prefer the Thompsons).

    Appreciate the comments re freehand sharpening and enjoyed Reed's youtube vid on freehand sharpening - definitely a skill to learn. Have been trying it on the cheap chisels and not doing too well - partly lack of skills and partly that I didn't start off with a "correctly" shaped gouge so I was trying to shape the tip and sharpen it. Will be getting a jig though as don't think my son will have quite the patience I have to learn the skill now and will be a bit a of a security blanket for me.

    thanks
    Robin

Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12

Similar Threads

  1. Average relative humidity maps
    By Woodwould in forum NOTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH WOODWORK
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 7th March 2011, 04:44 PM
  2. Misleading Gmaw and relative terms
    By Grahame Collins in forum WELDING
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 2nd January 2011, 06:45 PM
  3. Relative mechanical strengths of various Mortise & Tenon Joints
    By thumbsucker in forum WOODWORK - GENERAL
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 5th June 2007, 11:21 PM
  4. Relative humidity in Australia
    By BobR in forum TIMBER
    Replies: 16
    Last Post: 1st March 2007, 10:23 PM
  5. A relative Grunt??
    By Gra in forum NOTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH WOODWORK
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 25th September 2006, 10:15 AM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •