Sharpening Woodturning tools

[petebucy4638]

Having just gotten started into woodturning, I was expecting to use my Tormek for all my sharpening needs. Don't get me wrong, the Tormek does a great job and has some fantastic jigs, but it was just a bit too slow if I wanted to do much of anything other than resharpen an existing bevel or shape. I invested in a slow-speed grinder and CBN wheels from Woodturnerswonders.com with a Oneway Wolverine sharpening jig. The new CBN grinder has 180 and 600 grit wheels. It can easily put a new grind on a tool as well as produce a nice finish with the 600 wheel. My plan is to use the Tormek for quick touch ups and for sharpening tools that it can easily handle and to keep the CBN grinder set up for heavier duty jobs, skews, and scrapers. Of course, the Tormek leather stop wheel will get a lot of use whether the tools are sharpened on the Tormek or the CBN grinder.

This plan will undoubtedly change as I sort out the best way to use both of these sharpening tools. The Tormek will still retain it's primary duty of sharpening knives, chisels, and planes.

 

[bob vaughan]

Tip: make holding and indexing jigs for just about each tool. Mark them well. Its a short term pain for a long term gain. There are a gazillion ways of doing it. Choose one and go with it.

 

[petebucy4638]

Tip: make holding and indexing jigs for just about each tool. Mark them well. Its a short term pain for a long term gain. There are a gazillion ways of doing it. Choose one and go with it.

I saw a couple of Youtube videos where indexing was discussed. It sounds like a good idea.

 

[bob vaughan]

Here's some shots of shop-made rigs I've been using for nearly 20 years. These photos were taken and annotated in 2006.

 

[blackhawk]

I have a Tormek with the diamond wheel. I use it exclusively to sharpen my gouges, parting tools, and skews. It is painfully slow to shape tools with it, so I use the Tormek BGM-100 with a Rikon slow speed grinder. With the BGM-100 you can still use all the Tormek jigs. I rarely need to re-shape a tool though, once a year at most. I prefer to sharpen my scrapers on the Rikon with just the original aluminum oxide wheel that it came with. I feel like it gets a better burr than the Tormek.

 

[iclark]

For your shews, I recommend getting one of the tear-drop-crossection 600grit hand hones from Lacer or from WoodturningWonders. Use the hand hone to maintain the skew sharpness. Go back to the grinder when the hollow is too much removed to provide a guide.
The larger curve of the hone can also be used to hone the inside of gouges.

 

[petebucy4638]

I have a Tormek with the diamond wheel. I use it exclusively to sharpen my gouges, parting tools, and skews. It is painfully slow to shape tools with it, so I use the Tormek BGM-100 with a Rikon slow speed grinder. With the BGM-100 you can still use all the Tormek jigs. I rarely need to re-shape a tool though, once a year at most. I prefer to sharpen my scrapers on the Rikon with just the original aluminum oxide wheel that it came with. I feel like it gets a better burr than the Tormek.

I ordered the BGM 100 and the adapter for the Oneway Wolvering sharpening jig. As much as I like the Tormek for knives, chisels, and planes, it has turned out to be a little slow for woodturning tools.