Sharpening anxiety

[Gene Gabriel]

I don’t know why, but I was nervous about sharpening my bowl gouge. I’m new to turning and my bowl gouge wasn’t performing well, it was dull. I do realize that any type of chisel rarely comes from the factory “ready to use” out of the box. I also didn’t want to “screw up” a brand new tool. What a difference a sharp tool makes. As it does in any setting. Still a learning process, but getting better.

 

[Jon Rista]

Sharpen often. All the time. The more you work at it the easier it gets, the faster it will get, and you'll get that edge really cutting clean. I don't know what you are using to sharpen, but I'd pick up a CBN wheel if you don't have one yet. I recently switched to a 600 grit from Woodturners Wonders that a friend offered me, and it has been wonderful. I was using a 350 grit, but something about this particular 600 grit from WW, it sharpens better, faster, and the edge is amazing. Cleanest cuts I've achieved so far.

FWIW, depending on what you are turning, you may need to sharpen more than once while you are turning it. If I'm turning anything larger than a 6x6x3 bowl blank, I'll usually sharpen more than once on both outside and inside. IMO, the moment you start feeling like instead of the gouge just gliding through the wood, and you are then having to use some force to "force" the gouge through the wood, even if its just a little...sharpen again. Once you start having to push the tool through the wood, then the risk of tearout increases, IME.

Sharpening actually starts going really fast, and I'll sharpen 4-5 times maybe more depending on the size of the blank, per side, and each sharpening attempt only takes maybe 30 seconds from flipping the grinder on, setting up my jig, then whipping through a few back and forth swings with the gouge, to flipping the grinder off again and getting back to it. Once you get used to sharpening often, you can keep that edge cutting the wood like butter and it really doesn't take long. You'll minimize tearout, and turning is just a lot easier, gets faster, when the tools just kind of moves through the wood without a lot of manual force.

A CBN wheel, though, is probably necessary for that, so if you don't have one yet, I'd pick one up. Also, I'd really check out the Woodturners Wonders wheels. The 600 grit I have is second hand, but its actually still grinding much better than my 350 grit wheel. I don't know what kind of differences there might be between different brands of CBN wheels, but this WW 600 grit wheel is really quite phenomenal. You can also readily see the wheel removing the metal from the edge, which makes it very easy to shape the edge of the gouge EXACTLY how you want it. I also have a 180 grit wheel that I use for reshaping or initially shaping tools, but generally speaking the wheel I use most is the 600 grit.

 

[hughie]

Yup all good advice, and if you have a sharpening jig it will give you good results from the get go. Remember anxiety or fear of an event exists only in the future, you are in control,

 

[John K Jordan]

I don’t know why, but I was nervous about sharpening my bowl gouge. I’m new to turning and my bowl gouge wasn’t performing well, it was dull. I do realize that any type of chisel rarely comes from the factory “ready to use” out of the box. I also didn’t want to “screw up” a brand new tool. What a difference a sharp tool makes. As it does in any setting. Still a learning process, but getting better.

This reminds me of what someone told me when I started turning almost 25 years ago - "If you can't sharpen, you can't turn!" At first, I didn't know how to sharpen so I paid someone at the local Woodcraft store $6 each time to sharpen a bowl gouge. It wasn't long before I decided I could do as well as he could. I do collect free or cheap old tools to regrind or give away so I had plenty to practice on.

Unless you learn to sharpen by hand, the key to a good edge is a good jig. I use two: I sharpen spindle gouges on a 1200 grit Tormek wheel with their gouge jig. I sharpen bowl gouges on a 600 CBN wheel with the Oneway Wolverine with their Varigrind jig. (NOT the Varigrind II. I have words about that one) I keep both jigs preset for the grinds I've decided I prefer so I don't have to adjust them. For more than one grind I'd get another jig.

There are a zillion "favorite" grinds out there and every mfgr (and every "pro" turner/demonstrator) uses one. The thing I discovered is the exact grind doesn't matter much. There are subtle variations that matter in some cases to some people. But when starting out, just go with some grind, learn to sharpen it, and learn to use it. The tool control, arm/hand/leg movement and sharp, sharp, sharp edge is far more important than the exact grind. You can adapt to almost any grind as long as the tool is sharp. In my opinion, of course.

If you don't have a sharpening system, there are lots of options but many, many people use the Wolverine. I use the platform and mini platform for all skews, parting tools, bedan, and such, and the Varigrind for all sizes of bowl gouges. Some mfgrs, like Thompson, provide recommended settings for the Varigrind. Basically, set the angle on the jig, adjust the amount of the gouge that sticks out the front, adjust the support bar so the bevel angle is close to the existing bevel, and grind away. Much of the shape you get (at the nose, the wings) depends on how much pressure and time used at different places on the bevel.
A sharp tool with some reasonable profile far beats a less sharp tool with any profile, original mfgr or not.

I mount the bench grinder and the Wolverine base to a square of 3/4" plywood so I can move it if needed. Note that some bench grinder castings may need some grinding on the bottom before they will sit flat on the plywood or bench. 1/2hp grinders are fine for 8" aluminum CBN wheels. I did use conventional grinding wheels for years but far prefer CBN now.

If you are a member of a club, ask and you might well find someone willing to spend some time with you on sharpening. Some clubs have a formal mentorship program. Some have willing and experienced members. I've had a number of people come to my shop for sharpening as well as turning help. (One guy brought a gouge that looked like it was sharpened by holding it out the door against the pavement on the ride over!! )

Another option, until you get comfortable with sharpening, and depending on what you like to turn, may be to get one of the Hunter carbide tools. These have extremely sharp round cutters that can be used as a gouge or as a scraper. You replace the cutter instead of sharpening. The first one I use for a long time, can't remember, maybe a year or more, before replacing it. (It is advised to rotate the cutter a bit ever day or so to even out the wear.) I prefer one in particular, the small Hunter Hercules for turning at least part of almost every bowl/platter/box I make and on a lot of spindles as well. I used it on almost all of the turning, rough and final, of a wand I just submitted for the June challengem made of very hard and dense African Blackwood. It cut like butter and left an almost polished surface. I keep various Hunter tools but the small Hercules is my go-to. (I do also use various spindle and bowl gouges as appropriate or depending on how I feel at the moment.) John Lucas has some videos on using Hunter tools.

JKJ

 

[Alan Weinberg]

Learning to sharpen and doing it often would be the first and most important thing I’d tell someone asking woodturning advice.

 

[Jon Rista]

Another option, until you get comfortable with sharpening, and depending on what you like to turn, may be to get one of the Hunter carbide tools. These have extremely sharp round cutters that can be used as a gouge or as a scraper. You replace the cutter instead of sharpening. The first one I use for a long time, can't remember, maybe a year or more, before replacing it. (It is advised to rotate the cutter a bit ever day or so to even out the wear.) I prefer one in particular, the small Hunter Hercules for turning at least part of almost every bowl/platter/box I make and on a lot of spindles as well. I used it on almost all of the turning, rough and final, of a wand I just submitted for the June challengem made of very hard and dense African Blackwood. It cut like butter and left an almost polished surface. I keep various Hunter tools but the small Hercules is my go-to. (I do also use various spindle and bowl gouges as appropriate or depending on how I feel at the moment.) John Lucas has some videos on using Hunter tools.

JKJ

Only thought here is...if you REALLY want to learn how to sharpen, having a fallback option that gets you out of the NECESSITY of sharpening, might hamper progress.

I would stick with the gouge, and not get any carbide tipped tools, as a way of forcing the issue: You HAVE to sharpen, there is no way around it, so do it, learn it, learn it well, and do it often.