Honing tools on bench grinder

[Tiger]

At the Wood show in Melbourne last week, I noticed Guilio Marcolongo using a type of cloth wheel to quickly restore the edge on his tools. He swore by it and said it didn't cost too much. Does anyone know what sort of wheel it was? It was connected by a tapered spindle onto a 6 inch grinder and worked quite well as after a quick hit on the grinder it left a nice finish. If you have a wheel connected up to your grinder, are you satisfied with the results?

[Jim Carroll]

Yes they are a stiched mop

You use a tapered mandrel on the end of your bench grinder and screw the mop onto this.

Apply some green rouge and polish to your hearts content, also good for carving tools etc.

[Tiger]

Thanks, Jim. What are these mops made of? Can you get one that will do woodturning and woodcarving as I thought you needed a softer wheel in order to do the carving chisels as they would give a bit and adjust to the contour of the chisels.

[Jim Carroll]

They are made from calico and stitched all the way round .

You take of the first row of stitching which makes it more pliable and the contours of the gouges can then be polished easier.

Yes we have in stock just not on the web site as yet.

[Tiger]

Thanks again Jim. I'm getting a little confused with all the wheels out there. There are cotton, wool, felt, leather etc. Do any of the wheels have advantages over others? Are they longer lasting? Would appreciate any links or guidance.

[brendan stemp]

All you need is the calico mop that Jim has mentioned and the honing rouge and you will be right. I saw Guilio use a disc of MDF with honing rouge on it and this worked well. Leather is also fine. Some mops however are more for buffing your work than honing tools. I use the honing mop on my carving chisels and the difference it makes is remarkable but I no longer use it on my turning tools. I just don't find it makes that much difference with general woodturning and if you are not careful you can hone the edge of your tool blunt. Its worth doing if you are doing very fine work. The other point worth mentioning (and I mention this because I know people who have made this mistake including myself!) DO NOT present the chisel to the honing mop the same way you would a chisel to a grinding wheel. It will dig in badly. The tool's edge must be facing the same way as the rotation of the mop. And the mop can make the grinder shake a bit more than it might otherwise.

[brendan stemp]

Oh, by the way, the mop I use for honing is felt.

[Tiger]

Thanks, Brendan, it looks like I'll probably need the 2 wheels which is okay, I think my grinder can handle the 2 wheels, and I too have had that nice dig-in as a result of presenting the tool the wrong way .

[Tiger]

Actually had a go at a friend's place yesterday with a felt wheel. I'd have to say that it did little for the woodturning tool. Anything more than a quick swipe seemed to dull the tool. Obviously there's a bit more skill involved than what I thought. Guilio made touching up on thsi wheel look easy, but I think correct angle presentation is critical. Guess it becomes easier with practice.

[rsser]

Yeah, the risk is dubbing the edge.

If you've dry ground towards the edge the burr can be quite hard and takes a bit of care to remove. If you've wet ground away from the edge the burr is quite flaky and comes off quickly.

[brendan stemp]

What is "dubbing" Ern?

[rsser]

Brendan: as you pointed out, you can lose the edge if you run the wheel over the point, so you get a rounded or dubbed edge.

Just to add: one of the pluses about honing gouge flutes is to get any machining marks out. There's no point getting a polished bevel if the flute looks like tram tracks.

[brendan stemp]

Ern you articulate my thoughts much better than I do. I agree fully. The honing I did with carving tools was on an edge sharpened by hand with a 3200 (I think that's the right grit)wet stone so the 'tram tracks' were eliminated. So, if one is only using an 80grit white stone (or even 120 grit) on their turning tools before honing then one must question the worth of honing.

[gtwilkins]

I have been honing the edge of gouges etc between grinding with a rubberized diamond wheel from:

Matz Abrasives

Works great for a touch up and not that expensive, don't know if you can get them in your neck of the woods but worth checking into.

Trevor

[issatree]

Hi Tiger,
Yes I agree with all that has been said. Although I do Hone my Skew Chisels now & again.
I have seen Carvers stand behind their Grinders with the Green Rouge on the Wheel/Mop, & you are able to hone the Carving Chisel On the Top Of The Wheel.
Therefore you can see much easier, what you are doing.
A lot of carvers use the Small Grinder with 4in / 100mm. Mops.
They are not as strong, power wise, so you get to learn not to press to hard or the little Grinder stops.
They get Great Results..
Regards,
issatree.
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