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Platform Sharpening

Well, you should have all the CBN wheels..... I do think they are not good for shaping and heavy roughing on your tools, I think there is almost no difference between the 80 and 180 grit wheels on the burrs I use on my scrapers, or the finish edge on my gouges. The wheels in the video are 5 plus years old, at least. If I am in a hurry, to change a shape, I to to a new 80 grit. If you are getting 1 wheel, get the 180, which will do for about 90% of the cutting you will do. For the second wheel, I don't think you need an 80 grit, but they are nice to have. 600 grit is fine for finish edges, but not for heavy roughing edges. I haven't tried the 320 or 400, or what ever the mid grit range is, so don't really know. I do like the 600 and 1000 for really fine finish cuts. I am also really liking hand burnished burrs on my scrapers for shear scraping. I can turn them down and then up again for a couple of times. I did check out Mike Mahoney's clip that went with his article in the latest AAW magazine, and he prefers the swept back gouge for shear scraping. When he did the shear scrape with a scraper, it was at about 45 degree shear angle, compared to 70 or so with the gouge, which I figure could be the difference, unless 'included' angles make any difference. I have to play around with his techniques a bit to compare.
 
Thanks for the information, Reed. I had been under the mistaken assumption that the 80 grit wheel was good for heavy shaping, but that isn't something that I would need do except for rare occasions when I might decide to reshape a new tool.
 
For heavy shaping, watch Doug Thompson's video on sharpening. 60 grit wheel, high speed grinder. I use a 36 grit belt on a 1 1/2 hp belt sander. Most saw shops will have one as well.

robo hippy
 
Bill Boehme said:
Thanks for the information, Reed. I had been under the mistaken assumption that the 80 grit wheel was good for heavy shaping, but that isn't something that I would need do except for rare occasions when I might decide to reshape a new tool.
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It will do the job just takes a few minute more.

If you only shape a new gouge once or twice a year then an 80 grid CBN will do the job it just takes longer. It will also take a square scraper to a round nose. Just doesn't do it fast. There are lots of things to spend money on instead of 60 grit wheel just for shaping a tool.

A 60 grit wheel is sure becomes essential if you profile dozens of tools a week.

When I get a new gouge I usually have to profile the tops of the wings with the flute facing the wheel much like you would joint a knife blade. This flattens the tops of the wings. I then sharpen the bevel until I get a sharp edge on the defined profile.
This can be done on an 80 grit CBN wheel it just takes a few minutes longer than it would on a 60 grit Norton 3x wheel
 
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hockenbery said:
If you only shape a new gouge once or twice a year then an 80 grid CNN will do the job it just takes longer....
Click to expand...

Your iPad spell checker spends too much time watching television. 😀

I really like the Norton 3X wheels on my grinder so I feel reluctant to retire them. And, like you said, they are great for shaping. At the same time, I can't stand the cloud of fine dust that hangs in the air forever and causes me to have coughing spasms.
 
I only have one CBN wheel, 180 grit. I kept the friable wheel on the other side. The reason is I have some non HSS homemade tools that I sharpen. If I reshape, I change the friable wheel for that. For finishing cuts I will use a leather strop on the tool. I am very happy with this set up. I am not a production turner so this works for me. The CBN wheel is a vast improvement and that is used for 90% of my sharpening. I don't have any desire for the higher grit CBN wheels. I don't have a comparison, but it just doesn't seem to be cost effective to add a grinder with more grit options.
 
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