Sharpening back in the day...?

[Doug Rasmussen]

Over the years I was around and knew fairly well a few individuals who turned for a living. One was the turning specialist for a high end mill work company that did major restorations of historic homes, etc. Another turned wood forms for a metal spinning company. Yet another did general woodturning, whatever was needed, but his main deal was porch columns on his 16 foot lathe. I got to know these guys through my business where I had an automatic wood lathe.

Last week I was at the shop clean out of another local turner I only knew by reputation. All that was left were a few chunks of turning wood and his grinder. The grinder was a 6" Baldor, 3450 rpm, one grey wheel and a fine grit white wheel. This got me to thinking about the above mentioned turners, none of them had anything more than a bench grinder with no sharpening jigs, etc and a few hand stones.

Having been away from woodturning and woodworking in general for 25 years until recent retirement, I'm surprised at the current emphasis on sharpening equipment. Somehow turners seemed to do fine in the old days. (I will admit to being somewhat skeptical of the new sharpening equipment.)

Opinions, thoughts?

[Robert Hayward]

My thoughts are that I am not as skilled a sharpener as those pros were, for I am an occasional weekend chip maker. I need and like the current crop of jigs, aids and CBN wheels we have available to sharpen our turning tools. Allows me to get professional results with weekend warrior skills.

[Ryan Mooney]

A lot of the old tools were not high speed steel, but just high carbon steel which is a bit easier to sharpen (but needs it done a bit more).

When I first learned turning we weren't allowed to use the grinder except very very rarely and had a set of oil stones with grooves in them to match the gouge profiles (we only had 2 or 3 gouges as well) - and a flat stone for the skew (and a slip for the scrapers). I reckon that using those oil stones on most of the modern steel that's being sold now would take all day. Some of the new steels also have larger carbon/carbide crystals which grey/white wheels tend to tear out whereas something like the CBN wheels will cut them leaving a sharper edges (the CBN wheels tend to gum up on soft steel though so keep your old grinder for the lawnmower blades )

Having said that, I use a hand held ceramic hone on my skews and a white stone with just a tool rest for my gouges. I think a few of my gouges would benefit from a CBN but haven't quite sprung for the upgrade yet.

I'm pretty sure my edge shapes are not quite as consistent as someone using a jig.. and sometimes I get the profile a bit off which wastes a bit of steel. There is some trade off here between consistency, speed, stubbornness, skill, stubbornness, repeatability, stubbornness, and metallurgical realities.

[Mel Fulks]

And don't forget the geared hand turned grinders. Formerly high tech and still useful. Always lots of them on Ebay.

[Reed Gray]

I think the difference has more to do with recreational turning and professional turning. Most of the recreational turners find jigs easier to use than free hand sharpening. It does take some practice to become effective with it, and even though you use exactly the same movements you do when turning, not everyone can transfer/translate those skills. Both, after a while become automatic.

robo hippy

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Blame the tool, blame the grinder, blame the lathe, blame the wood, blame the light, ............................blame the Turner ??????? NEVER.

Just need a better tool, grinding wheel/grinder, lathe, wood, lights, or maybe a better ............. what er uh Turner ??? .

[david privett]

around 1970 when I was in high school we had a grandmother clock production class that the parents funded by purchasing the clocks. Anyway I was chosen to make the posts and fennels . What I learned to sharpen on was a oil bath slow speed grinder and I mean slow somehow how 160 rpm rings a bell . Everything was free hand. I still freehand sharpen . But now I use a water cooled low speed grinder. I guess some old habits die hard.

[Olaf Vogel]

Last week I was at the shop clean out of another local turner I only knew by reputation. All that was left were a few chunks of turning wood and his grinder. The grinder was a 6" Baldor, 3450 rpm, one grey wheel and a fine grit white wheel. This got me to thinking about the above mentioned turners, none of them had anything more than a bench grinder with no sharpening jigs, etc and a few hand stones.

As you said, they do the job. My first instructor had big Baldor grinder that was smooth a silk and supposed cost $800.
He also told me to get a cheap grinder, decent wheel and a wheel balancer. He was right - just as good at a fraction of the price.


Grey and white stones are all I use. But mostly because I bought a used grinder with enough wheels to last my lifetime (and I’m cheap). So for $150 - my grinding needs are met for the next 10-20 years.

However, manufacturers need to sell new product to stay in business. Some are improvements and some are …..uh….well…..”marketing?” There are some products where I have to question why?


The Sorby Pro-Edge system is one example. IMO it looks a DYI version of a Rolls Royce.
This is closer to high end audio gear where only the purchaser can "hear" the difference.
It could be replicated with a $100 belt sander and a really good belt. No idea what makes it worth $600…..


All skepticism aside, the various gauges and jigs really do help. 30 Years ago, grinds were typically pretty simple. Most turning tools were scrapers. There were fewer gouges and fewer 3D type profiles. Grinding those by hand would require quite some skill.
And it does shorten the learning curve, while increasing the success ratio. Not really a replacement for experience, but if gadgets help, then why not?

Olaf

[Frederick Skelly]

My thoughts are that I am not as skilled a sharpener as those pros were, for I am an occasional weekend chip maker. I need and like the current crop of jigs, aids and CBN wheels we have available to sharpen our turning tools. Allows me to get professional results with weekend warrior skills.

+1. I spent a lot of time learning to sharpen plane irons and bench chisels. I'm brand new to turning. And if I can short cut the learning curve on turning tools with a cbn and a homemade jig, I'd sure like to (and so I have). That let me start turning sooner.

Fred

[Aaron Craven]

The old-timers-didnt-need-that vs. new-stuff-is-better argument is older than woodturning itself. The answer is always up to the individual. Can you do it in the time-honored way? Absolutely! You might even be able to do it better! But it may take a lifetime of skills to get to that point. On the other hand, new technology tends to make possible what wasn't previously possible.

In the end, unless you're a production turner, it doesn't matter. Find what works for you and enjoy it. I've hand-sharpened gouges on a belt sander (freehand) and I've used the Wolverine system. The Wolverine system is far easier for me, but a good part of that is that the skills for using a jig-based system are far simpler than those for freehand grinding. I'm a hobbiest; if I was fascinated by the art of sharpening, I might hone those freehand skills. But I'm more fascinated in wood turning and would prefer to just get the tool sharp so I can get back to the lathe. If I can find something that accomplishes that goal better for a reasonable price, I'll buy it. This is why I don't have CBN wheels. They're still priced a little too high for me to make the leap (especially since my current wheels have plenty of life left in them). Get 'em about half the current price, and I might just go for it...