Texturing Woodturnings

I wrote this to show some of the tools and methods I use to add texture to woodturnings. It’s a rewrite of a doc I wrote maybe 10 years ago, updated to accompany a separate document on turning thin spindles for a recent demo.

Most, but not all of the examples concern spindles, things like wands and handles.

Perhaps someone will find it interesting, or even [gasp!] useful.

Corrections or suggestions for future updates are always welcome!

JKJ

 

[John K Jordan]

@John K Jordan Another quick question for you. With regards to the pointed wheel. Do you ever sharpen yours? Have you ever needed to? I'm noticing that with mine, the points are slightly square, not true points. That shows up in the texture. I don't think the wheel is worn really, I have used it but not enough to cause that kind of wear. I think it may just be how it was machined. Anyway, just curious if you have ever bothered to sharpen yours and if so, how you recommend doing it.

I've never felt the need to sharpen any of my texturing wheels. Nore paid any attention to the shape of the indentations.

Do you mean you see square flats instead of points if looking at the end of a point with a magnifier? That would not be acceptable.

If the points are nicely pointed and pressed deeply into soft, fine-grained wood with some force, I would expect to see square holes on the surface due to the way the wheel was made. If so, is that indicate using too much pressure?

I checked some of my star pointed wheels and they look like they were all made the same way - a disk machined first to have a sharp circumference, then the points formed by machining a series of v grooves from the side.

Looking closely with a magnifier I see the points on the older wheels are slightly worn with use, slightly rounded/softened - no visible squares. Further away from the point the shape of each point is square or rectangular. But it seems the texturing "holes" would have to be pretty deep for that shape to show, and then only on fine-grained wood.

I experimented with sharpening a few slightly softened tips, honing both the sides and the inside machined surfaces. I used the Fine and Extra Fine Eze-Lap diamond hones. They did appear to sharpen the points I worked on. But none were what I considered particularly dull.

I have the advantage of having multiple point wheels on hand for comparison. If I suspected one was poorly machined I would compare it with other wheels, and if bad, get it replaced.

JKJ

 

[Tom Gall]

@John K Jordan Another quick question for you. With regards to the pointed wheel. Do you ever sharpen yours? Have you ever needed to? I'm noticing that with mine, the points are slightly square, not true points. That shows up in the texture. I don't think the wheel is worn really, I have used it but not enough to cause that kind of wear. I think it may just be how it was machined. Anyway, just curious if you have ever bothered to sharpen yours and if so, how you recommend doing it.

Probably not necessary. BUT, if you want to try - the easiest and quickest way is to mount a cylinder of wood on the lathe. Hold the texturing wheel against the wood (tool on tool rest) so that it spins. Hold a small diamond hone (or even a file) against the teeth (points) to sharpen as it is spinning. Experiment for the best access - forward/reverse ... top/bottom ... angle, etc. I might take a while if the points are really square.

I suppose you could also hold it against a grinding wheel as long as you hold texturing wheel at an angle so that it is always spinning. Will work a lot quicker so you will have to be careful not to overdo it.

 

[John K Jordan]

Probably not necessary. BUT, if you want to try - the easiest and quickest way is to mount a cylinder of wood on the lathe. Hold the texturing wheel against the wood (tool on tool rest) so that it spins. Hold a small diamond hone (or even a file) against the teeth (points) to sharpen as it is spinning. Experiment for the best access - forward/reverse ... top/bottom ... angle, etc. I might take a while if the points are really square.

I suppose you could also hold it against a grinding wheel as long as you hold texturing wheel at an angle so that it is always spinning. Will work a lot quicker so you will have to be careful not to overdo it.

I've thought about how to sharpen - my idea was to mount a disk of HDPE in a lathe chuck then hone as you mentioned.

However, all methods that removed metal from the outside bevel would eventually make the "points" into straight lines on the circumference. Some method of sharpening inside the machined cuts would be needed, perhaps a fine EZE-lap hone (which I tried and looked like it would work) or a small rotary wheel (used very carefully), or mount it on the milling machine and recut the points. Still would all have square cross-sections that were wider the further from the points.

But realistically, I've used the same wheel for years and haven't noticed a problem.

JKJ

 

[Jon Rista]

@John K Jordan @Tom Gall I suspect I am just pushing too hard. I have rounded several most blanks for use as handles, but before I turn them down to size and shape, I'm going to practice a bit with the technique and see if I can refine it.