Sharpening Lathe Tools and Tutorials 1-2018
SHARPENING LATHE TOOLS: BOB SEIGEL MY TWO CENTS:
Sharpen about four times more often than you did before and don’t wait for the tool to get dull
Wear both eye and lung protection
Use small magnets on your grinder to catch metal particles from the wheels: Harbor Freight
Wolverine system from OneWay works very well for jig type sharpening:
and the Vari-Grind Jig (don’t buy VG-2 jig):
https://www.amazon.com/Oneway-Manufacturing-2480-Vari-Grind-Attachment/dp/B000CSSIOK/ref=pd_bxgy_469_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B000CSSIOK&pd_rd_r=6M1N0
Slow speed or variable speed 8” bench grinder with a light. I have the Delta 8” bench grinder with a light and it works well:
https://www.amazon.com/Delta-23-197-8-Inch-Variable-Grinder/dp/B00LHUWAFK
but Ken Rizza at Woodturning Wonders sells CBN wheels and a grinder together that looks great, but is $450:
Ken Rizza at Woodturning wonders (https://woodturnerswonders.com/) or Dave Schweitzer at D-Way tools (http://d-waytools.com/) are good resources for selecting the grit and types of wheels: I think 80 and 180 CBN wheels are fine, but the 350 grit makes touch up easy with very sharp edges. Ken has multiple choices of straight and radius edge CBN wheels with different grits.
Aggregate wheels are fine as long as you have proper dressing tools: 46-100 grit, J or K hardness, but must leave guards in place and be careful on getting steel too hot
Have water handy to cool the steel. Don Geiger uses a 46 and 80 grit aggregate wheel with his diamond tool dressing tool and says it works very well with no need for CBN.
CBN wheels are great and do not get smaller in diameter with time and the steel does not get too hot with reshaping.:
Best Youtube on the advantages of CBN over aggregate wheels: https://woodturnerswonders.com/collections/radius-edge-cbn-wheels
What is CBN?—Cubic boron nitride (CBN) is a synthetic chemical compound made up of boron and nitrogen atoms in a one-to-one ratio. It exists as a cubic crystal lattice, with its atoms arranged in a symmetrical, cube-shaped structure like the crystalline structure of diamond. Its material properties include extreme hardness, stability under heat, and superior chemical resistance. Cubic boron nitride is the second-hardest known material after diamond, making it useful in a wide variety of industrial applications, where it is often used as an abrasive or cutting tool.
The heat resistance of CBN is quite high. Diamond begins to decompose to carbon dioxide in air at around 1,472°F (about 800°C), whereas cubic boron nitride is stable in air up to about 2,552°F (about 1,400°C). In industrial grinding applications and other processes where intense heat is generated, CBN is preferred over diamond.
Reed Gray’s sharpening platform (Wolverine compatable) $95.00 plus $10.00 shipping: http://www.robohippy.net/store/robo-rest-ow-oneway-compatible
reedgray@comcast.net for questions
Don Geiger’s sharpening systems: http://www.geigerssolutions.com/
Evolution low cost system: $59 for the Vari-Grind jig set up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrpEkWprzZc&feature=youtu.be
This has replaced my more expensive ProSharp 4X system which he no longer sells, but his less expensive system does the same thing with angles varying: 40, 50, 60 and 70 degrees. Geiger says his microbevel set up with a 70 degree top and 40 degree bottom bevel is great for bottom of the bowl work.
Stuart Batty grinder platform and angle guides sold at Woodworkers Emporium in Las Vegas, NM: http://www.woodworkersemporium.com/shop-by-brand/sb-tools/universal-grinding-system/
SHARPENING TUTORIALS:
https://jlrodgers.com/pdf/sharpening.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNCZP3veFqk#t=1031.193194
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfXbzy1lO4k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_KDSIDAtGc
SFTurners.org 