Thread: DIY gouge hones

Just wondering why no-one has suggested turning the required profile(s) in an MDF wheel, and then covering it with a layer of felt? (For those who are anti-MDF for whatever reason, or feel a surface with some 'give' is a good thing)

Cheers,
Andrew

There's an ancient ref in FWW to a thin leather covering on a wheel Andrew. Course the smaller the flute radius the harder it would be to do without wrinkles - maybe soaking and stretching.

Hard felt wheels can be profiled with a sanding drum in an electric drill .... but they cost about $50 each. And great care would be needed to avoid dubbing over the edge of the tool.

Edit: just came across another ancient ref in FWW: guy stacked 4 1/4" thick discs of cardboard, trued them up and span them in his pedestal drill.

And a 3rd: trued alum disc, used on the face with 200g W&D glued down; not an option that suits my purposes tho.

4th: epoxy applied to a ply disc edge, trued and then used to glue a strip of emery on

Here's another one, for polishing HSS tool flutes specifically:

Profile an MDF wheel and use an appropriate grit emery stick to charge it.

Lacer and Wright in Summer 2009 issue of American Woodturner

Originally Posted by rsser

Here's another one, for polishing HSS tool flutes specifically:

Profile an MDF wheel and use an appropriate grit emery stick to charge it.

Lacer and Wright in Summer 2009 issue of American Woodturner

Define "an appropriate grit emery stick".

Lacer doesn't specify what they used.

Have seen 8 grits listed on ebay uk. Odd grading system.

Can't seem to locate grades for sticks sold here by for jewellers etc.

Found coarse emery compound here

Update on that emery stick: the retailer advises that the grit rating is 200 +/- 50

Pardon my ignorance, but if a "rouge" works with cloth wouldn't it also work with leather? That is, my uneducated approach would be to use the red and white sticks I bought last century.

Anything's worth a go.

Not having experimented yet, 'rouge' applies to some kind of abrasive in a carrier designed to stick to cloth (and felt?). Those wheels are meant to run on bench grinders at c. 2500-3000 RPM, whereby the cloth is flung against the surface to be polished and so the carrier has to be pretty sticky.

It may stick to the furry side of leather. But it's v. diff forces involved and the paste may just be pushed aside by the tool bevel on the leather. Just speculation.

Originally Posted by rsser

Anything's worth a go..

FWIW, I use a stitched cotton buff with the white rouge to hone my carving chisels,
I usually cut through the first 8-10mm of stitching on the outside of the wheel,
I find this allows enough stiffness to polish the outside and loose enough for the cotton to access inside the gouges,....seems to work ok

Thanks UF.

Does this give you a minor bevel on the flute?

Originally Posted by rsser

Thanks UF.
Does this give you a minor bevel on the flute?

mostly I push down hard on the bevel and then gently touch the flute to fold the burr.
If I'm doing "V" gouges... that's a different story.....and usually requires sacrificing something to your deity of choice

Well I have had a first shot at power honing of turning tools; in this case, gouge flutes which sometimes have milling marks remaining. Click me.

Ok, I clicked. And found this:

"I'm working on another option: 1" belt sander (Ryobi) with a jig in front. Have been able to source custom made belts in Zirconium and Trizact for shaping and honing."

We must have been communicating telepathically, Ern. Here is my experiment with a 355x70 belt for the Ryobi made with the same bookbinding leather you have, held together by a backing of thin synthetic silk material glued with Aquadhere and loaded with rouge. The last photo is evidence that, for the first time in my life, I could shave with a plane blade (and a 1'' no. 3 carving gouge). Straight from the 400 grit of the whetstone.

The "jig in front" will consist of a stand holding the Eclipse guide you kindly gave me and a pressure control screw.

Time will tell whether durability is an issue and other compounds are more suitable. <!-- google_ad_section_end -->