SFTurners.org

Jan 8 2018 – Meeting Agenda Sharpening

 Sharpening with Presenters:  Bob Seigel, Alan Becker, John Cobb, Derek Roff, Dave Wahl and You

Sharpening gouges and scrapers involves (1) a dull tool and (2) some abrasive surface that will remove metal from the tool.  When we see a ragged surface on a piece we are turning, we frequently say to ourselves “I need to go sharpen this gouge.”  But do we really need to sharpen the tool if it doesn’t do what we want it to do?  What does sharpening mean? And what are the differences between dressing, grinding, shaping, honing, and lapping when you want to sharpen your tool?

Well our presenters will have something to say about these things, and all of us are supposed to chime in too!
We talk about dressing a grinding wheel to return it to its original round shape & clean away clogged areas to expose a fresh cutting surface.  We usually sharpen a tool on a stone or diamond surface to create or refine a sharp edge of appropriate shape.  Honing is done with a stone or diamond surface to improve and refine the form and edge of the tool after it has been sharpened.  And lapping the tool on a belt or fiber with a compound will refine the edge of the tool even more.

An old  Kentucky woodturner, Rude Osolnik, always had a curved and flat honing stone in his shirt vest pocket, and during an hour long demonstration he would very frequently hone the tool he was using, and he never went to the grinder.