Thread: How do you grind?

https://www.carbatec.com.au/sharpeni...r-mounting-set

I use a tormek, but gonna get one of these for initial shaping. ...

Is this what you had in mind (I know you're now in the states but so carbatec is useless - just knew where to look for it)...

Sorry for the short reply, in a hurry today

Gab

Originally Posted by Gabriel

https://www.carbatec.com.au/sharpeni...r-mounting-set

I use a tormek, but gonna get one of these for initial shaping. ...

Is this what you had in mind (I know you're now in the states but so carbatec is useless - just knew where to look for it)...

Sorry for the short reply, in a hurry today

Gab

That's actually one of the things I'm considering. Not necessarily the Tormek version, but just something involving a round steel bar and then constructing jigs for it.

Originally Posted by Luke Maddux

I need a pretty universal grinding setup. I need to be able to hollow grind both straight and profiled hand tools prior to honing, and I also need to be able to grind/sharpen turning tools, some of which will be honed.

I've got a 6" grinder, and have replaced the wheels with CBN.


Cheers,
Luke

Have a look at Derek Cohen's site, he has it all outlined for flat tools, turning tools is just the addition of the Tormek jig I presume on the same tool bar.

What have you got to measure the total included bevel angles of your tools?
What are the best bevel angles for all of your tools?
Hindsight tells me that for wood carving tools, consistency = any day, every day, is happiness.
I need 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 25, 28 and 30 degrees.
That spans everything from my Pacific Northwest crooked knives and adzes through Pfeil gouges to spoke shaves, draw knives and a Stanley #5.

There are times when I think that a machine would be a good deal.
But, I was taught freehand and have done it for so long, might as well go the distance.

Question: is it really necessary to hone a turning tool edge with grit of 0.5 micron and smaller, if you plan to sand the surface?

I hone my edge tools and grind my turning tools. Sometimes my edge tools find there way to the grinder, usually to bring the bevel angle back down because I am lazy and creep bevels without a care in the world. I use a woodcut grinding jig for my bowl gouge, and the grinder toolrest for the turning scrapers (I am soon to upgrade my toolrest into something more fancy). The rest of my tools, chisels, plane irons, spindle gouges, parting tools, skew chisels etc etc I just freehand on the grinder without a jig or toolrest. I am not that particular with how I get there, or what I did to get there, or what the final bevel angle is. I only care about speed and whether or not the tool cuts as expected.

". . . . . the tool cuts as expected." Exactly. That's all there is to it.
I learned early on that I had to pay attention to bevel angles to meet that expectation.

I go for a very low tech system. I made a L-shaped rest, which is held to the grinder bench by a bolt which goes through a slot in the base of the L and is tightened in place with a wingnut. The slot enables the rest to be moved closer to or further away from the wheel.
The upright of the L is trimmed so that blades resting on the top of the upright reach the wheel at approximately the angles I want to grind (between 25* and 35*, typically). The precise angle is determined by moving the rest closer to or further away.
For chisels and plane irons I have worked out the correct projection of the blade from the rest to the wheel and I use a record honing guide (pictured) to set that distance. It then sits firmly against the back of the upright and ensures very accurate and repeatable grinds.

I agree that consistency is important, and I believe that with the right system you can have both consistency and speed.

I like to keep a nice hollow grind on my tools, so having a good grinder and being able to repeat angles is important for me. I want to be able to sort of systematically change the bevels on tools as well, so that I can experiment.

I have very few carving tools, but I'm interested in getting some more and improving my sharpening techniques on profiled blades. Being able to consistently restore their bevel angle would be valuable.

Cheers,
Luke

I knew when I wrote my earlier post that the setup I used was not original.

Last night, I found it in Robert Wearing's book, The Resourceful Woodworker.
I have copied and scanned the page, to make it easier to see what I was describing. The page is also useful for showing you how the setup can be used with gouges.Grinding jig.pdf

Thanks for the article, JMK. There are some Ideas there that I had already had, but definitely several that I hadn't, or that I had thought would be harder to do.

Cheers,
Luke