Sharpening Tools

[lushy]

Can anybody tell me if the jigs you can buy to help sharpen woodturning tools any good as I am finding it very hard to get a good grasp of doing it free hand, thanks for the replies.

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[davidh]

I, like you had difficulty sharpening free hand. Many of the Sydney woodturners guild (southern region) use a jig called a heli grind. I have found it very good for gouges and skews. It also has a facility for facing off your grinding wheel and a small table for sharpening scrapers. A phone contact for this jig or info on it is John Crawford on 02-9546 2941. There are many similar jigs on the market but this one works for me.

Regards,

Dave

[RETIRED]

Lushy.

Do a search for unijig posted by me and read that.



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Ian () Robertson
"We do good turns every day"

[ubeaut]

G'day Lushy

Give Vic Wood a ring on 9808 4441 or email him at [email protected] He has been trialing the heli grind jig and I believe he is John's agent for the jig in Victoria.

I hate jigs with a passion as do most turners who know how it is done. However this is a pretty good tool and one of the few I have seen that I would endorse. (I have trialed a goodly number of jigs & sharpening systems in the past for a video on sharpening that we were making)

Don't ask for the video because it was shelved, due to a complete lack of interest on behalf of the video buying woodworking public.

Great video, apathetic woodies.

Catchyalater
Neil

[JackoH]

I bought a Heli-Grind jig from Vic Wood because I was having trouble getting a repeatable finger nail profile on detail gouges. I cannot reccomend it to highly for that purpose.

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John

[lushy]

Thanks so for your help the helijig sounds like the go.

[Steve Walkom]

Hi guys.
This line of conversation has prompted me to ask a few questions in relation to sharpening turning tools.

1. What size grinder is the best 6 or 8 inch?

2. What grit wheel is best?

3. I've heard that Vic Wood designed a wheel specifically for turners. Does anyone know more?

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Steve W.

[RETIRED]

Gooday.

Steve, I have used an el cheapo Taiwanese 6" grinder for a lot of years and had no probs.

Some turners prefer 8" wheels. One thing for sure though is that under 6" you get rather a large hollow grind in the bevel.

Wheels are white (aluminium oxide)and are available from Woodturning suppliers or bigger hardware stores. I would recommend 60 grit although I use 36 but I am always in a hurry.

I know nothing about a special wheel by Vic.

Hope this helps, any more questions whack em in here and we'll try to answer em.


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Ian () Robertson
"We do good turns every day"



[This message has been edited by (edited 20 January 2000).]

[Steve Walkom]

Thanks .
Obviously buying a 6 inch grinder will save me a few bucks which will both keep my wife happy and also leave me more money to spend on wood!

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Steve W.

[ubeaut]

G'day Steve

I have a cheapy 6" and a cheapy 8". Give me the 8" any day. You get a lot more for your money. For a start the wheels outlast the 6" by about double and only cost a little more to buy. The hollow grind is not as deep initially as the 6" making it a bit easier to use the tools. I reckon they sharpen a lot faster than a 6" and it is not quite as easy to burn the tools on the bigger wheel as they run a little cooler.

With some of the reasonably priced stuff coming in from Taiwan you will find that the 6" is not a lot cheaper than the 8". Shop around.

My biggest regret was that I was too tight to pay an extra $20 and get a 10" instead of the 8". Oh well.....

As says get white stones I would get 60 and 80. If you intend doing a lot of scraping on bowls etc then swap the 80 for 100 or 120 to use on the scrapers.

You should also invest in a good wheel dresser to keep the wheels in tip top cutting condition. A diamond dresser is probably the best but a bit on the pricey side.

The Turnery in SA sells bits of cement cutting saw blade which is diamond tipped. These are fantastic and a fraction of the price of other dressers. They will mail order Ph: 08 8358 1400 e-mail: [email protected]

Hope this is of some further help.

Neil