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Thread: Buying used tools, a word to the wise.... to New Turners

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
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    Lima, Peru
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    Exclamation Buying used tools, a word to the wise.... to New Turners

    After finally getting the Wolverine Sharpening jig through customs and getting it set up, I set out to get the tools I purchased off eBay sharpened this morning. The tools I bought off eBay were a set of used chisels.

    Low and behold, every spindle gouge was too short to use the Vari-Gring jig. and every one of them had to be reshaped.

    So a word to the wise, when your buying used tools off of eBay or Amazon, or somplace else, you might want to ask the seller a question about how long the tool steel is. If the tool steel isn't at least 5 1/2" inches long, don't buy the. At 5 1/2", you only have 7/16ths of an inch to grind, which isn't much if you have to reshape them.

    Next time, if there isn't at least 6" of tool steel, regardless of who made them, I ain't biting.

    Learn from my mistake fellow New-Turners.
    Anything worth doing that requires cutting down a tree, deserves doing it right the first time.

  2. #2
    Which is why I like to use D-Way handles. There are other good handles out there, too, including Doug Thompson's and OneWay. It takes about 15 seconds to remove the tool from the handle to grind it if that becomes necessary. When I started turning, I made wood handles for my tools and I like the feel and look. But, functionality can become a concern and this is a good example.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
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    Fort Pierce, Florida
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    I agree entirely with John. I make my own handles similar to the D-Way handle. Knock the existing handles off in needed and grind a flat along the top for the Varigrind to seat on.
    Retired - when every day is Saturday (unless it's Sunday).

  4. #4
    Join Date
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    Evanston, IL
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    Quote Originally Posted by Thom Sturgill View Post
    . . . and grind a flat along the top for the Varigrind to seat on.
    I have plenty of steel left on my gouges, but the flutes on some spindle gouges are short enough that getting a consistent alignment in the vari-grind is a problem. Your solution to that problem sounds like something I want to try, Thom. Any tips on grinding the flat along the top, such as how wide do you make the flat and do you grind with the tool parallel to the wheel or perpendicular on a rest?

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    Another thing to consider is how the tool steel was initially manufactured. Most & hopefully all manufacturers of wood turning tools put the tool steel blanks through a regime of tempering / hardening the tool steel to improve the hardness and wear qualities of the steel.

    Various processes can be used including high frequency induction hardening where the tool blank is placed in or passed through an induction coil .... this process may harden all or only part of the tool steel blank, or only to partial depth of the blank. So depending upon the manufacturer, target market price point etc a tool may or may not be hardened full length of the flute or blank.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIhKcGeIlPo
    Last edited by Geoff Whaling; 04-27-2016 at 4:14 PM. Reason: added video link

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
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    San Diego, Ca
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    You mention that the tools are less than 5-1/2" long. How much less? I may have a work-around for you.

    If you are looking for a standard Ellsworth grind, you could make your own (fixed) grinding jig and intentionally keep the part that holds the gouge short. So if the barrel was 1" and you have a 2" overhang, you could - - in theory - - use a tool as short as 3".

    BTW, I experimented with different overhangs and if you have less overhang than 2", you can largely compensate for it by moving up the pivot point so that you have the desired tip angle. There is nothing particularly magic going on. I could get the exact desired tip angle with 1" of overhang or with 3" of overhang by adjusting the pivot point foot. I didn't see much difference in the wing, although I'm sure that there was some. I think that the most important thing is being able to repeatably sharpen your gouges to the same profile every time. BTW, when I was doing google searches I found some references to using a 1-3/4" overhang for an Ellsworth grind rather than the standard 2".

    For ideas on the homemade sharpening jig, take a look at Eddie Castelin $2 sharpening jig video and his web page or the dozens of plans on the internet. I made one out of steel and one out of wood. The wood one took 5 minutes to build.

    Just a thought to allow you to sharpen your tools rather than throw them out or hand grind them....

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    lufkin tx
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    Old, short chisels are also probably carbon steel--find some HSS--well worth the money.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
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    Erie, PA
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    You can also get JoHannes Michelsen's Vector jig. This will sharpen you gouges right to the very end of your flute plus gives you an almost catchless grind with no bevel rub.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Lima, Peru
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    1st, y'all have given me several ways to resolve the issue. Thanks for that.
    2nd. I'm going to have my local machine shop turn me some aluminum handles, because the cost of buying handles up there, then shipping them down here is a bit too much at the moment.
    So, I have a Question for those of you who have metal handles.... should I have him drill the bottom and thread it, to put some lead weight in? Or is there something else that is used.....?

    (Note: I tried tapping the tool steel out of the handles on the bench vice and they are coming out. Thus fare, they have all had tangs instead of being round stock. Looks like all of the gouges were made from flat stock. They do seem to all be very, very shallow.)
    Last edited by George Courson; 04-28-2016 at 3:19 PM. Reason: Added Note
    Anything worth doing that requires cutting down a tree, deserves doing it right the first time.

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