Thread: Took a closer look at my gouge edge

Interesting!

That provides a good mental picture of what we aim for while sharpening.
Thanks for posting it.
Regards
John

To Cool... everyone needs a toy like that... what digital microscope did you get?

Originally Posted by Doug Thompson

To Cool... everyone needs a toy like that... what digital microscope did you get?

The family gave me the Digital Blue QX5 USB Microscope for Xmas. Details here

I use it mainly on my Japanese knives to check the finish I'm getting off my various waterstones. The grind pattern you get off the different stones determines the sharpness and durability of the edge. But it is has also been interesting to take a closer look at my turning tool edges.

In retrospect I would go for an entry level microscope digital eyepiece (like this ) and add it to an old secondhand microscope. The image quality would be much crisper than I have been able to get with the QX5, but it will do me, at least for now.

neil, do you sharpen and hone after using the 120# diamond wheel?

Darn, sometimes I think these things tell more than I need to know.

Originally Posted by bench1holio

neil, do you sharpen and hone after using the 120# diamond wheel?

Not usually on gouges. I'm yet to be convinced that the extra time taken to hone adds enough cut time to be worth the effort on bowl gouges. It's so quick to put the gouge back into the jig and run it over the diamond wheel, especially with the fine edge that comes off the #120 grit diamond wheel.

Honing the flute on gouges to remove the milling grooves is a separate issue and very much worth the effort, IMO.

Originally Posted by hughie

darn, sometimes i think these things tell more than i need to know.

........

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Neil, thanks... a picture is worth a thousand words.

Great pics Neil. Thanks for posting.

What did you use for honing and is the tool garden variety HSS? What's the bevel angle?

As posted elsewhere, off a dry Alox grinder with a scraper you get a rough edge too though the bur is not so curled back. When lapped and burnished, you get a more even bur, approaching a hook, IME. (Have just been rereading Lee's sharpening 'bible' and he is enthusiastic about burnishing a hook. I've not warmed to it but he says getting the lathe speed right is important).

Originally Posted by rsser

What did you use for honing and is the tool garden variety HSS? What's the bevel angle?

Honed on an old #1000 waterstone, but not something I would want to do on one of my good waterstones...

Here is a 60x image of a honed area. You can still see a few residual #120 grind marks that haven't been removed.

Attachment 159774

All images were of powdered HSS tools (either Crown PM or Thompson). It would be interesting to look at some non-PM tool to see if there's a difference.

Bevel angles all 60deg.

Wow, that is amazing and interesting.