Ridgid OSS as a sharpener?

[Prashun Patel]

In rehabbing some old plane blades, I find some of them require a good amount of initial grinding and sole flattening.

Hand lapping takes forever. And without a tool rest, the bench grinder is touch and go.

I got to thinking: Can I use my Ridgid OSS as a crude grinder. It has a tiliting table and a belt sander attachment. Anybody have experience doing this? Any ideas? Am I an idiot? (don't answer that last one )

[Jason White]

You are not an idiot (or maybe we both are)!

I've thought of trying the same thing using a miter gauge and the belt-sander attachment to sharpen some of my chisels. I'm sure I'd still need to do some final honing with the sharpening stone, though.


Jason

In rehabbing some old plane blades, I find some of them require a good amount of initial grinding and sole flattening.

Hand lapping takes forever. And without a tool rest, the bench grinder is touch and go.

I got to thinking: Can I use my Ridgid OSS as a crude grinder. It has a tiliting table and a belt sander attachment. Anybody have experience doing this? Any ideas? Am I an idiot? (don't answer that last one )

[Prashun Patel]

My worksharp's got me covered on the honing part. It's that initial part to true up an edge so you can even begin honing that has me flummoxed.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I use a sander quite frequently for metal work. I do have belts made for metal. It makes a big difference.
Only things I'd caution you about it speed causing heat build up ( have a dish of water handy) and not putting the cutting edge into the rotation like you would with a grinder. The sharp edge can dig in and make a mess of everything.

[Myk Rian]

If all you have is a grinder, OSS, and hand lapping equipment, the sander will get you to a starting point as will the grinder. You'll still need to hand lap though.

[Jay Jeffery]

I use a sander quite frequently for metal work. I do have belts made for metal. It makes a big difference.
Only things I'd caution you about it speed causing heat build up ( have a dish of water handy) and not putting the cutting edge into the rotation like you would with a grinder. The sharp edge can dig in and make a mess of everything.

You can do quite a bit of sharpening on a sander. They work great with drill bits if you are careful. Just don't sand for more than about 2 seconds without quenching in water. If you mess up the temper, it may get sharp but will be either too soft or brittle to stay sharp (usually soft).

[Phil Thien]

I tried the Rigid OBS for sharpening chisels and found that it was kinda hit or miss in getting the angles right. And it removes material very quickly. I prefer the WorkSharp.