Thread: Can I sharpen lathe tools on this disc?

Yes you can, but as a beginner, not sure that I would. With just a table, not jigs nor experience, you might make a mess of it and end up with a short blunt tool. If you do, get some crap steel to practice on before subjecting you chisels to it.

John, with sharpening, wot Neil says is right.

Do yourself a favour and slide a lenght of 3/4" (19mm) ply thru the channel under the bed of the lathe. This will strengthen the entire frame of the lathe and reduce some of the flex. I started on this style of lathe, a little while ago.

Find a club or a friendly turner in your area and learn from them. Learning from books (in my case) or even the plethora of "instructional" videos on youtube is the hard way.

Grab a second hand grinder like this one: http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/newnh...der/1067860894

New wheels are available from a car store like Super-Cheap. There is a little to learn here, but the issue of grinders and wheels are well written about in other threads.... but this $10 grinder will save you a LOT of monetary pain.

It'll get you going very quickly plus if the turning bug doesnt bite you can sell it for more than you paid.

Ok so the bench grinder is better than the disc on the lathe?

So the real question is "did you have a great time whilst bluntening the tool?"

If so get a grinder and a jig to help you sharpen consistently
also get a mentor as Pat suggests

and welcome to the addiction

Originally Posted by dunamis

Ok so the bench grinder is better than the disc on the lathe?

For newb I reckon the disc might be a better way to go.
The Grinder is single high speed while the speed of the disc can be varied to suit PLUS the grinding speed can be varied by changing the position on the disc.

Grinders are useful if you want hollow grinding but that is not needed on turning tools.

Originally Posted by Sawdust Maker

So the real question is "did you have a great time whilst bluntening the tool?"

and welcome to the addiction

I'm knee deep in chips and I can't stop!! Here's the first reel seat spacer. Trying to finish it with CA glue now but gotta get some accelerant

and so the Great Accumulation begins.....

Accelerant: http://www.cwsonline.com.au/shop/cat...ot-stuff-glues

BTW, Jims site is pure evil. It has made me a much poorer man

The other backing pads (get velcro) and disks can be obtained from http://www.veneerinlay.com.au/127-23...iscs-hook-loop and http://www.thesandpaperman.com.au/230-mm-dia-no-hole/ . Obviously these links/businesses aren't the last answer to your problem, but all 3 businesses have served me very well over the last few years and you'll get the disks you need ASAP. The advertisers on the right are VERY well worth familiarising yourself with too. Better decisions can be made later on in the gig.

Eventually, you will end up with a grinder, so keep one eye on that. Only so much sharpening can be done on paper (though its damn convenient to have it to the left of the lathe and often makes me wonder why I dont mount my 180 grit CBN wheel there...... getting a tad blunt? leeeaaannn left, zing zing, right to go!... seems so sensible to me)

Originally Posted by Evanism

.....
Eventually, you will end up with a grinder, so keep one eye on that. Only so much sharpening can be done on paper (though its damn convenient to have it to the left of the lathe and often makes me wonder why I dont mount my 180 grit CBN wheel there...... getting a tad blunt? leeeaaannn left, zing zing, right to go!... seems so sensible to me)

It might sound like a good solution but having stray bits of tool steel landing on the work piece or the abrasive dust land on the bed of the lathe aren't so ideal. Best to have some separation between grinder & lathe.

Originally Posted by BobL

Grinders are useful if you want hollow grinding but that is not needed on turning tools.

+1

Originally Posted by Mobyturns

Best to have some separation between grinder & lathe.

+1

But, until you can acquire a separate grinder it will get you underway, especially if you are just spindle turning and only using a roughing gouge, spindle gouges, skews and parting tool. Bowl gouges would be more of a problem.

My concern is the platform, which I would find too large to manoeuvre the tool to the desired grind profile. Perhaps rig up a smaller platform that sits on the existing one.

May turners are satisfied with 80 grit grinds.

having a look at your reel seat spacer you seem to be turning uphill

I've taken the liberty of putting a couple of arrows on your picture

if you use your chisel downhill as the (poorly drawn) arrows show you will likely get less tear out
essentially cut with the grain not against it

reel spacer.jpg

I'll show you the straw analogy that I've heard from a couple of people
wood has a lot of capillaries running up the trunk taking moisture etc to the leaves etc

imagine these capillaries are like a bunch of straws (eg magnified heaps)

so from the piccy below the orange arrow is cutting against the capillaries and is likely to cause splintering or tear out
the blue arrow is cutting with the grain and is slicing the straws/capillaries and is a cutting action less likely to cause splintering/tear out

straws.jpg

hope this makes sense

Makes sense I think. I used a roughing gouge and cut both ways then I used the skew to smooth it. I do find it easier to cut right to left because I have more control. Would this be ok when roughing the blank round then cutting left to right to turn the piece to final shape?

Originally Posted by NeilS

+1



+1

But, until you can acquire a separate grinder it will get you underway, especially if you are just spindle turning and only using a roughing gouge, spindle gouges, skews and parting tool. Bowl gouges would be more of a problem.

My concern is the platform, which I would find too large to manoeuvre the tool to the desired grind profile. Perhaps rig up a smaller platform that sits on the existing one.
.

Yes those tools are the only ones I'm using right now.