Role of this sharpening set-up?? Suggestions?

[Jamie Straw]

Not long before I shut down my shop, I bought the sanding-/honing-wheel set-up seen in the picture below. It was made by a professional turner who was retiring (I think you'd recognize his name if I could only remember it!). Since it was an impulse buy (went there to get a powered respirator), I tucked it in a corner of the shop and never got to using it. I tried it out today when reshaping the evil oval skew, kinda like it, but am curious what folks would recommend regarding grits to put on it (2 sanding wheels), and how to use the rubber wheel. And any other tips. It's been so long, I can't remember what the previous owner suggested. It is variable speed and perhaps reversible.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Not long before I shut down my shop, I bought the sanding-/honing-wheel set-up seen in the picture below. It was made by a professional turner who was retiring (I think you'd recognize his name if I could only remember it!). Since it was an impulse buy (went there to get a powered respirator), I tucked it in a corner of the shop and never got to using it. I tried it out today when reshaping the evil oval skew, kinda like it, but am curious what folks would recommend regarding grits to put on it (2 sanding wheels), and how to use the rubber wheel. And any other tips. It's been so long, I can't remember what the previous owner suggested. It is variable speed and perhaps reversible.

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That "rubber" wheel might actually be leather that has been oiled with mineral oil and then charged with a metal polishing compound such as the type used by the Tormek sharpening system. It doesn't take long before the leather turns black and looks like rubber. Even if it is rubber, I would treat it the same way except maybe not use the mineral oil. The mineral oil is to keep the leather from getting hard. I think that I would try about 180 grit and 400 grit on the other two wheels if this homemade rig runs slow like the Tormek. If it runs fast then use a coarser grit. If you want a really surgically sharp edge like wood carvers use then try finer grits.

 

[Jamie Straw]

Yep, probably leather. Speed not a problem.

If it runs fast then use a coarser grit. If you want a really surgically sharp edge like wood carvers use then try finer grits.

Thanks for the info on the rubber-like wheel, Bill, I think you're right. Hopefully, it didn't dry out from not being used. Do I want one of those green Lee Valley sticks then? The machine is variable speed, so I can set it from really S-L-O-W to too fast. It's not running as smooth as I would like right now, despite the link belt. Will take a closer look at it in the next couple of days, see if it's the wheels themselves, or something else.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Thanks for the info on the rubber-like wheel, Bill, I think you're right. Hopefully, it didn't dry out from not being used. Do I want one of those green Lee Valley sticks then? The machine is variable speed, so I can set it from really S-L-O-W to too fast. It's not running as smooth as I would like right now, despite the link belt. Will take a closer look at it in the next couple of days, see if it's the wheels themselves, or something else.

I think that the Veritas green stick is for hand stropping and is probably too fine an abrasive for woodturning tools. The stuff that I use is a white paste that comes in a tube. It looks like toothpaste. The brand of metal polishing compound that I mainly use is Tormek, but there are several others that are similar.



One of the other metal polishing compounds that I have used is Dursol.



I would run the wheel at about 100 RPM when honing -- that's between one and two revolutions per second. If you run it too fast the polishing compound will sling off.

 

[Jamie Straw]

Thanks, Bill, for the details on the polishing compounds you use. I've heard the Veritas stick mentioned by a couple of turners, but have to learn more about honing and polishing. As far as this black wheel goes -- I really am not sure what it is. It feels very much like rubber, but I think I'd have to take it off the wheel to find out for sure. Since there's a pretty good gap between the two ends on the wheel, I'm inclined to replace it, just have to figure out what with. The middle sanding strip that came with the machine is 100 grit. Can't tell what the one of the far right is, but it is finer.

 

[Richard Coers]

Looks to me like it's already shot. There appears to be a gap at the seam, and it doesn't look that tight on the wheel. You might have to apply a new leather.

 

[Bill Boehme]

If it's like the Tormek and rotates slowly around 100 RPM and away from the cutting edge then the gap shouldn't pose a problem. Only very light pressure is applied during honing.

 

[john lucas]

You could put what ever grit you want on it. It would be best for final sharpening or touching up the tools so I would use finer grits. Probably something like 220 on the courser wheel and 600 on the fine followed by the strop. This should produce a very good edge. If you were using it for sharpening carving tools I would probably go a grit higher on each, maybe 400, 1000, and strop.