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Spindle gouge sharpening video

Joined
Oct 6, 2009
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Thanks John. Good demonstration. It's almost enough to make me try free hand sharpening. Almost. (yup, I'm chicken. Need more practice, even with a jig.)
 

john lucas

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Apr 26, 2004
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practice is how you get there. The best thing that happened to me was to think of my tools as consumables, like sandpaper. Consequently I sharpened more often to be able to always have a keen edge.
I didn't worry about using the tool up. Even sharpening as often as I did it still took 3 or 4 years to use it up. So divide the cost of the gouge or 3 or 4 years and you get the idea. It really isn't that big a deal to use one up. In reality it takes quite a bit longer than that.
What this did was to improve my sharpening very rapidly. Because of that I took off less metal with each sharpening so the tool last longer.
Doug Thompson asked one time how much metal we grind off per sharpening. Of course no one knew the answer. I had however just ordered a new gouge because I wanted a separate grind on that tool. When it arrived I was comparing it to my 3 year old gouge that was handled. I couldn't check the total length but when I aligned the flutes I noticed my old tool was 1" shorter. I called Doug and asked if the flute lengths had changed over the years and he said no. So I told him I didn't know how many sharpenings but in 3 years use had only used 1". Now I have to tell you I sharpen a lot, sometimes 2 or 3 times per bowl because I love how a sharp tool cuts.
So you may use up your first bowl gouge somewhat quickly, 3 years or more, depends on how much you turn of course, but look how much better you'll be at sharpening. You can bet the next one will last twice as long.
 
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