Sharpening on a budget

[rtyuiop]

Hi folks,

Realised my Dad took his grinder with him when he moved out of the workshop I'm now setting up!

Can anyone recommend a cheap grinder? I went over budget on the lathe, hoping to keep the grinder a bit more reasonable. Is the Masters wetstone one (https://www.masters.com.au/product/900028279/909-120w-200mm-wetstone-sharpener-ps120-blue) any use for turning tools?

Cheers,

Danny

[dai sensei]

Better off getting a second had decent grinder, not necessarily a wet stone one, the one you reference are hmm :no:

[artme]

That looks like a boat anchor to me.

[Paul39]

Danny,

Do a search here on grinders & sharpening systems.

A piece of 120 grit sandpaper glued to a round piece of wood on a face plate will do until you get a grinder. If you have a chuck, a piece of 35mm + - made to grab by the chuck with sandpaper glued on works.

Sooner or later you will need a jig for bowl gouges. A skew can be sharpened forever on a piece of sandpaper on a flat surface - lathe bed or block of wood.

[rtyuiop]

That's very handy advice, Paul39 - I am turning my pop's old lathe into a disc sander, so that sounds like a good solution for now! It even has a sanding pad on the headstock handwheel, once I get the 15 year old adhesive off that I can have two different wheels (a ply disc on the front and the build in disc on the wheel).

[Bopper]

I had one it is no good dosnt sharpen well all the angles are wrong stone run out was terible dont waste your money

[johnnyrsa]

I have also been using the sandpaper stuck onto a piece of plywood method as mentioned by Paul, it's not ideal but it does work. I have even been able to sharpen bowl gouges with it.

[Evanism]

Keeping it all low dollar is pretty challenging.

I thought the advice on the sandpaper was an excellent one. When I first started out...hmmm, 2 years ago, it was similar to this scenario.

Rule #1: don't buy stuff from the big box dudes and expect quality. It doesn't exist and if you get it, it's a fluke. You will feel robbed, every time. Save the bikkies and buy something good after research
Rule #2: people retire, get bored, move or downgrade, so there are heaps of really good second hand stuff out there. eBay, gumtree, local wood shed are excellent places to start
Rule #3: don't buy all at once. Buy what you absolutely need and buy bit by bit. The postage will feel terrible, but in the end it works out best.

After 2 years of begging, scrounging, saving and quite a few board members having pitty on my miserable existence and donating stuff, the setup is now really nice. Nice stones, grinder, CBN wheels and jigs.

Take your time. Put an ad up on the wanted area (it works) and "make do" in between.

Do put saved searches onto the sales sites so you are alerted and keep an eye on the local auctioneers (we have 3 good ones here in Canberra).

Again, the sandpaper referral is excellent. You just need something flat (MDF if fine until you get a marble scrap from a bathroom place), wet and dry, water and patience.

Keep in mind the ancients were doing this without technical wizardry. I often forget my early training when using my whizz bang CBN wheeled high speed grinder :)

[nalmo]

It looks identical to the Scheppach (http://www.machineryhouse.com.au/W859) 200mm wetstone grinder. Sure, it's not as good as a Tormek, but if the wheel runs true, there's a lot I could buy with the $800 saving when I go to the WWW show this weekend.

[dai sensei]

It looks identical to the Scheppach (http://www.machineryhouse.com.au/W859) 200mm wetstone grinder. Sure, it's not as good as a Tormek, but if the wheel runs true, there's a lot I could buy with the $800 saving when I go to the WWW show this weekend.

Looks can be deceiving. It is NOT as good as a Scheppach, not even close, which in turn is not close to the Tormek. You are comparing arranges with grapefruit, and one will give you a nasty sour taste :~

[Evanism]

Looks can be deceiving. It is NOT as good as a Scheppach, not even close, which in turn is not close to the Tormek. You are comparing arranges with grapefruit, and one will give you a nasty sour taste :~

Nothing's more sour than a lemon.

I bought a similar slow speed grinder and it was hopeless. Needless to say, I sold that P.O.S and saved for a "good" solution.

A good mate and woodie, Delbs, has a Tormek with a big CBN wheel and it's the bees knees. It's very very nice to sharpen on.

rtyuiop, If you are feeling you are going to be in the sport for a while, save the money and buy well. Even if you feel hard done by and have to use a poverty solution for a bit. In 2 or 3 years you won't be thinking of the price.

If you do loose interest, the resale will be strong too.