Well after watching countless videos.......

I decided to buy me the Robert Sorby Proedge Sharpening System. My grinder just doesn't do it for me. I can tell I'm just not getting my edges where I need them. I turn my pens and I can clearly see where I have a good edge and where there is a bad spot. As soon as I try to get rid of the bad spot, I create another one. Lol I've not really seen anything negative on the Sorby system and after watching the video (over and over again, Lol) on how to sharpen the different tools, it looks like the system that will fit my needs better. I probably won't see it for a week or so but I will surely give an update after the first attempt I make to sharpen.

 

I'll be interested in hearing your thoughts on it. I'm already pretty invested in the OneWay system, but have been intrigued by the Sorby sytem.

 

Bobby - I just ordered one too. I will have it by Saturday but I won't be able to use it for months as my basement shop is not set up yet. I'm also very interested to see what you think since it sounds like you are still new to this too!

 

I have the OneWay system with the Vari-Grind. Won't be turning much as the shop is at 50 degrees this morning and will take a lot to get it up into the low to mid 60s. Need to cover and insulate the garage door...real soon. Sorby is out of the budget. Just thought, how did turners sharpen tools before we got all this electric stuff? Recall a video of a guy who turned with his toes and sharpened with a file or stone. Anyone remember it?

 

I hear ya John. But as with anything, technology advances in all areas. I dont think it hurts one bit to have a little help to aid and/or speed up processes that were, and still are done by hand. I'm hoping this system will sharpen as it shows, as it would be a great asset to me knowing what a properly sharpened tool looks like in hand. I think then I can learn more about how to sharpen my tools outside of using the system.

 

Bobby, aren't we glad we graduated from the springboard lathe? I think that what it is called.
Edit- It's a spring pole lathe. A search came up with a lot of examples. Interesting.

 

The spring pole lathe was the first cordless variable speed lathe an advanced technology way before it's time. Green Technology!

 

Mike, it even had a speed control. That depended on how tired you were after pushing the treadle 1,000 times.

 

Bobby, got off topic a bit but let us know how you like the Sorby system. I could get one for my wife for our anniversary. Won't she be surprised! Make a good grave marker?

 

Bobby,
If you're interested in seeing what a properly sharpened tool looks like, somebody collected pictures years ago and published them here:
http://woodcentral.com/newforum/grinds.shtml

 

Hi, Dean! Thanks for the link. It is interesting how each turner takes a tool with a basic grind and modifies it to meet their needs or their own ideas of what a grind should be.

 

Bobby,
I have used a Sorby pro edge sharpening system for 4 years now, and I love it. I can sharpen my bowl gouges in less than 2 minutes. The grinds are consistent and the sharpnesss is excellent.
Now having said all this, as a member of a local woodturning club, I get to visit other people’s shops. All seem to have the Wolverine system. I find using that system works well. I just like mySorby system better because changing over to different angles or length of grind (for example, going from traditional to Ellsworth grind on a bowl gouge) is much faster and easier.
I believe you will enjoy your new sharpening system. By the way buy your grinding belts from SuperGrit (just type that in Google) rather than from one of the craft stores. You will find they are 1/2 the price.
Jon

 

Thanks Jon! I bought the whole setup along with long jig and prosetup jig and besides the 2 belts that come with it, I bought a 60 and 120 grit ceramic belts. The belts were $13 & $14 each. All from the same seller. hartvillehardware
It actually comes in today so I'll be looking forward to setting it up and trying it out.

 

Jon - do you find that the SuperGrit belts match the performance of the Sorby belts?? As you say they are much cheaper - but I have seen some negative reviews about their durability.

 

Rob, I found no difference in performance. I use the 60 grit to get the shape I want for each tool. Then I use the 120 grit for sharpenening. Buy the ceramic belts, not the zirconium belts.

 

Well FedEx never showed with my sorby yesterday. I figure it will be here tomorrow. I'll just have to update my results hopefully in this next week.

 

Yea, not many people there either. Lol

 

So I got my sorby in today. Just mounted it up and tried out sharpening my skew. I use my skew a lot on my pens and can never get a decent edge. So here are before pics and after pics. Took me about 4 min to get this result. Can't wait to do my other tools. So far, it performs as described.

 

And my spindle gouge. It was in bad shape. I think I'm liking this setup.

 

Heres the setup.

 

Good to see that it works for you. I received my Sorby on Saturday, but it will be a few months until I can use it as I need to get my basement wood shop put together.

 

Bobby,

I use the Tormek system, but I recognize when jig-based sharpening has happened. It makes for a great grind, but more importantly, it is repeatable.

I have come to believe that the repeatability feature is most important as you will have the same grind each time you place the tool onto the wood. That way, you don't have to re-learn how to use it each time you resharpen.

Hope it continues to work out for you.

Kind regards,
Rich

 

Bobby,
Nice edges on the tools you showed us. I am glad you like your new Sorby system. Hopefully you will get many years of service out of it, like I have with mine.

 

good looking setup. really like the look of the system. I didn't know about this when I got all my stuff - may have to switch over!

 

You bring up a good point Rich! I could sharpen my tools enough to use them but never the correct edge. I would have to reshift my tools, especially my skew, around the wood to get it to work. I could se what wasn't working but fix it and create another spot. Lol

 

The biggest leap in progress with the skew for me was learning to hone it.... Never could get the hand held diamond cards to work right, but blowing the dust off of the Tormek and putting the honing compound on the honing wheel did wonders. I have a friend I did a sharpening video with (Larry Karlin) who is retired, and he had the Sorby set up and liked it. Main thing he liked was the gouge jig they had. He feels it is the best one ever made, though the Oneway is more common. I looked at that set up when it first came out and thought it didn't look heavy duty enough. though I haven't heard of any problems with it. Sharpening is another art we have to learn...

robo hippy

 

As for heavy duty Robo, it seems pretty well built. Not a whole lot of pressure is needed to sharpen, but there is no play in the tool rest jig if I start to press down too hard. I really like the fingernail jig.

 

The best belt sander set up I ever saw was one that Stuart Batty designed some years back, but it never made it to market. Shame about that..... The Sorby appears to be well made, but I have no experience with it. The Sorby gouge jig sat on a bar so it could slide back and forth rather than just pivot on a central point. Never tried one though. Only gouge jig I ever used was the Ellsworth one, and it has been years since I used a jig.

robo hippy

 

Well the only drawback to this system is the price, but when I think about how much metal I'm grinding off my tools to try to shape and sharpen, I think it will pay for itself in the long run. It only took me a few minutes to sharpen each of my bowl gouges. Using my bench grinder, I couldn't even get close to the edge that this sorby did.
@ robo hippy. The gouge jig is very easy to work with. I move it from one side to the other to sharpen each side, then move the jig to the center of the bar and sharpen the tip. Then one complete rotation and its done.

 

One secret to sharpening, there is a huge difference between sharpening and grinding. Most of the time we grind, which removes far more metal than necessary. Sharpening involves a very light touch. Might have been Bill who commented once that you should be able to sharpen if you turn off the grinder and let the heavy CBN wheel spin down....

Also, I grind at least half of the heel off of the bevel, A necessity for turning out the inside, transition, and bottom of a bowl.

robo hippy

 

I have the ability to change up the angle of the bevel, but I just sharpened with the standard angle it had on the gauge. What is a good angle to sharpen the bevel at?

 

Thanks Bill! I'll just see how it feels as I go along!

 

55 to 60 is pretty common for most bowl gouges. I think many of us are trying more acute angles now thanks to Stewart's teaching. The more acute angles can be grabbier and won't let you turn very deep bowls or straighter sided bowls. The 55 degree angle is a sort of an all around cutting angle that lets you turn fairly steep sided bowls and still cuts clean enough to reduce your sanding to a reasonable level.

 

Thanks John!

 

So looking at how I had my bowl gouges setup, they are at 60 dg in the pics.