Thread: another hss sharpening link

Nice Link. I am loving playing with HSS at the moment and as soon as time permits I will build a proper grinding rest so I can work on accurate grinding. I like the little honing jig on that page too...very nice.

What a good read. I am a free hand grinder ... don't have a rest of any sort.

I use a industrial diamond encrusted thing for honing . I got a set of three different grades . They are about 50mm X 100 X 3mm . They have a mirror like surface on the underside . From a UK ebay seller for about $30 . They smooth down HSS steel like nothing else. I tried stones with little success.

MIKE

Originally Posted by 19brendan81

Nice Link. I am loving playing with HSS at the moment and as soon as time permits I will build a proper grinding rest so I can work on accurate grinding. I like the little honing jig on that page too...very nice.

Hi Brendan,

Have you come across these wood turning tool sharpening jigs, sold by CarbaTec among others? They are a bit flimsy, but make a very nice job of sharpening HSS tool bits. The first photo shows the jig with a couple of shop made tool holders to make the tool bits easier to handle. One is for 3/16 &1/4, and the other for 5/16 & 3/8 square HSS tool bits.

The second shows a template for setting the tool rest angle to the stone - this one is 20 degrees. I made templates for 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 degrees from 3 mm aluminium, following the principles of the templates supplied by the manufacturer for wood turning chisels. Intermediate angles can be estimated. The required angle was ground on an appropriately sized piece of square key stock held in the tool holder and it was then placed on the jig's table. The table angle was set so the face of the keysteel made best contact with the wheel. The aluminium strip was then placed on the table and the profile of the stone for that angle marked on it for cutting out. A new end was then ground on the piece of key steel using the template to set the table angle, and the angle checked for accuracy. The templates were made for 1/4" square tool bits, which I use probably 90% of the time. For the bigger tool bits which sit a bit higher on the jig's table, the angle can be set slightly lower than the template indicates if more accuracy is needed.

I'm aware that this set-up only gives approximations to the correct angles and is slightly affected by wheel wear, but it grinds much more consistent and better tools than I ever could produce freehand. I was originally going to replace it with something a bit more robust when I "got around to it", but this works so well that it will probably never happen unless something breaks.

Frank.

Hi Franco,

No I hadnt seen those before. They look great though, thanks for pointing them out....I might start hunting. I fear that if I wait to make one for my self it may never get out of the list of things to do. This however, would be an immediate solution.

Thanks again.

Brendan

Hi folks,

Hi Brendan, hows that lathe coming along?

I have one of these multitools and the side mitre attachment. You can adjust side to side and up and down angles in one hit which allows you to set the tool angle and the clearance in one go.
I have not used it for a while as I need a new disc. The linishing belt I use all the time. One of my most used tools.

I have read that link about sharpening HSS cutters and found it most interesting. The more I read, the more I seem to be doing wrong. I really need to spend an entire day playing around with sharpening and try out some of the ideas and info I have picked up but just so many other things to do. Am I the only one who spreads themselves to thin?

Simon

Cheers,

Simon

The lathe is sensational...im cutting with confidence and accuracy, and am making functional threads at will.

Re tool sharpening - im excited about this at the moment. Im giving myself until next payday to build something similar to the carbatec that franko pointed out...if it hasnt happened by then, im buying one. It would be particularly helpful for me as im not that flash at offhand grinding.

"Am I the only one who spreads themselves to thin?"

Definately not. My 'to do' list perpetually hovers around 100 items, regardless of how many I finish.