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25th October 2014, 04:23 AM #16Senior Member
- Join Date
- Feb 2010
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- Eugene, OR USA
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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
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25th October 2014 04:23 AM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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25th October 2014, 10:28 AM #17Retired
- Join Date
- May 2012
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- Canberra
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- 1,820
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!!!!
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25th October 2014, 10:47 AM #18
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
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25th October 2014, 07:06 PM #19Member
- Join Date
- Aug 2012
- Location
- Auckland, New Zealand
- Posts
- 80
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
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