How I sharpen.

[tablesawtom]

Trapper  said he was considering the Veritas MK11 system. He also stated he hadn't warmed up to water stones inquired about. I said I use the Veritas system and  would take some pictures. Here is my reply with pictures

I first learned about a Tormek machine at Holtsfest in little Amana back in the summer 1988. It was a craft fair in a field and there were some tool suppliers there. There was a guy that traveled the show circuit selling them. I played with it but i wasn't ready for the $325 and so I bought one the next year.. The machine didn't have a place for a horizontal bar and so on. Anyway it is a great machine at the time but slow. Today I use it mostly for sharpening knives. I use the leather strap for everything. The stone diameter is 7 7/8ths today not 10 inch's anymore

   

Here is my set up today I am not sure about the CBN wheels  I think one is an 80 and the other one is a 360. The 80 is quite course and removes material very quickly. For example if you get a plane at a flea marked the blade usually needs a lot of reshaping. I grind the first or primary bevel angle at 22 1/2 degrees.  I have my bars set so I just switch bars on the finer wheel.

   

As you can see from just the chisels on the wall one can spend a lot of time sharpening. I also have a collection of Keen Kutter K series planes both flat bottom and corrugated , not there yet but it will be 14 plane irons the take care of plus I also have several other planes so I can't spent all day re-sharpening. Anyway the two open drawers are where all the jigs fixtures honing paste. diamond plate and water stones are kept and what ever is kept

   

   

I do not want to get into a discussion of what I am doing wrong but I sharpen every thing at 25 degrees. I like 25  Degrees.  22 1/2  degrees included angle is the prefect cutting angle and 25 degrees is closer to prefect than 30. The pattern shop I worked in had their rest set at 27 1/2 because they worked in both soft and hard woods. I like 25 degrees and if you think differently then discuss it in your own post, not mine. 

   

Below are some pictures of setting the rest bar for lathe gouges and the likes.  I know that if I use the a hole to set my bar for chisels and plane iron and a distance of 1 7/8ths from the holding fixture base I will get a 22 1/2 degree grind on every thing. Even if the bar is moved set the bar to the A hole and set the blade off from my other gauge and grind. CBN on a slow speed grinder grinds cool enough so one doesn't need to worry and when the sparks come over the top of the tool it is done

   

   

   

I like the start honing with a 1000 diamond stone. I can push and pull  the blade on at this stage. I use water out of my dehumidifier because there is no nothing in the water, no lime build up. I do not use a rust inhibitor. When Water evaporates it leaves a residue and eventual it will clog a diamond stone.. The coolant is checked on our grinders daily for the right amount of coolant. Part of the ISO for aerospace parts which is worse than just ISO certification. If coolant drips on the magnetic chuck it is miserable to get it off the next day after it is dried. I use a heat gun to dry the diamond. NO anything build up on the stone. I heat gun also works great for removing pressure sensitive sanding discs 

   

I use the Veritas roller system on the diamond stone and the 4000- 8000 grit Waterstone   I really like this system fast reliable and easy to use. I like the crowned roller for doing smoother blades . It crowns the blade and is all but fool proof at controlling the end results on the blade. You can take it out use it but it back in the holder and do a quick hone and go back to work.

I only pull when on the Waterstone. I do not want my edge digging in on a push cut. Once I stone the back of the iron with the finish stone I never touch that surface to a courser grit. A micro bevel is put on with the 1000, so only about 10 pull strokes on the two remaining stones and I am done, except for the leather wheel. the leather takes the edge to a whole different world in about 30 seconds

   

I like the Veritas system it is easy reliable and fool proof, although pricy. I have some filister planes that the angle of the blades are around 25 degrees off from square and I am considering getting their angle finer to help with that. When you cut a rabbit you want a flat bottom.

 Anyway I am never more than 3 steps from start to finish when sharpening and  even if I have a lot of reshaping to do it hardly ever take more than 5 minutes and usually it takes more time to get the stuff out than to touch up an edge.

I hope this helps.

Tom

[bandit571]

Sounds like a Plan...

[Tapper]

Thanks for posting these pics and explanations, Tom. Looks like a very nice setup. I've also adopted the 25* bevel angle and early results are good.

Doug

[Tony Z]

Very nice set-up, Tom! Very organized!

I use CBN wheels (at least a half dozen years) and either Spderco stones or Washeta and strop (vintage chisels)

[tablesawtom]

The most time consuming part of sharpening is getting ready to do the actual sharpening. Stumpy Nubs did a very good You Tube video on hollow grind or flat grind.  Lets say you have a 1/32 wide micro bevel on a hollow ground chisel. The side opposite of the angle is the same on the hollow ground as it is on a flat ground. Math doesn't lie so there is no difference. The only thing I prefer a flat grind on is my skew chisels on the lathe and that is because it is what I learned with.

Having said that there is much less material to remove when sharpening a hollow grind then a flat grind. Managing a micro bevel is much easier and that is why I like the Veritas system. Yes, one can free hand sharpen but my hands are not as flexible anymore. My wife says I press to hard on my cell phone and that is why I have trouble, But I can't feel the phone well enough and I press to hard. So it is with sharpening. With the way it is with the Veritas system, I can set the angle by distance three months from now. It takes about a minute to put tit in the holder and maybe 10 strokes on the 1000 to get the edge sharp again and then a few strokes on the other to grit stone and I am done. To tell you the truth it takes more time to get the stuff out of the drawer, get ready to sharpen, and put away, than to do the actual sharpening. And I have a 100% success rate.

I have tried to use the cheap or cheaper versions but I always have trouble holding or referencing something. I got tired of it , bought the bullet and have never looked back.

The only problem I know of with CBN wheels is they do not like soft steel so one needs to have two grinders.

And the  list keeps growing. And leather with some form of lapping paste takes an edge to a whole different realm, don't bypass it.

It saves money to buy it right the first time. I didn't need the blue wheels and the wheel balancing kit, they lay in the drawer or the other roller system. Or building a distance setting jig for each angle. What you build you also have to store.

I hope I helped some people. 

Tom

[Timberwolf]

The most time consuming part of sharpening is getting ready to do the actual sharpening. Stumpy Nubs did a very good You Tube video on hollow grind or flat grind.  Lets say you have a 1/32 wide micro bevel on a hollow ground chisel. The side opposite of the angle is the same on the hollow ground as it is on a flat ground. Math doesn't lie so there is no difference. The only thing I prefer a flat grind on is my skew chisels on the lathe and that is because it is what I learned with.

Having said that there is much less material to remove when sharpening a hollow grind then a flat grind. Managing a micro bevel is much easier and that is why I like the Veritas system. Yes, one can free hand sharpen but my hands are not as flexible anymore. My wife says I press to hard on my cell phone and that is why I have trouble, But I can't feel the phone well enough and I press to hard. So it is with sharpening. With the way it is with the Veritas system, I can set the angle by distance three months from now. It takes about a minute to put tit in the holder and maybe 10 strokes on the 1000 to get the edge sharp again and then a few strokes on the other to grit stone and I am done. To tell you the truth it takes more time to get the stuff out of the drawer, get ready to sharpen, and put away, than to do the actual sharpening. And I have a 100% success rate.

I have tried to use the cheap or cheaper versions but I always have trouble holding or referencing something. I got tired of it , bought the bullet and have never looked back.

The only problem I know of with CBN wheels is they do not like soft steel so one needs to have two grinders.

And the  list keeps growing. And leather with some form of lapping paste takes an edge to a whole different realm, don't bypass it.

It saves money to buy it right the first time. I didn't need the blue wheels and the wheel balancing kit, they lay in the drawer or the other roller system. Or building a distance setting jig for each angle. What you build you also have to store.

I hope I helped some people. 

Tom

.............
I may have the wrong woodnetter, but IIRC it was Derek Cohen that built a fine sharpening system very much like yours, using the Tormek Bars and jigs on a bench grinder. I think this was about 10 or 12 years ago..

[tablesawtom]

.............
I may have the wrong woodnetter, but IIRC it was Derek Cohen that built a fine sharpening system very much like yours, using the Tormek Bars and jigs on a bench grinder.  I think this was about 10 or 12 years ago..

That is very possible it is a logical next step. I have a book that was sent with the first bars hat I purchased from Amazon. It is titled Shaping and Sharpening Woodturning Tools on your Bench Grinder. It was published by Tormek. So it is nothing new. They even send metal brackets to mount them and with dimension for how far apart to make them. I wanted to get the newer bar that had an adjusting screw as well as another base because my Tormek is old enough not to have the horizontal mount.

I was using the wolverine system. But I like using the Tormek bars better. The dimensions they gave can be different depending on make of the grinder and what size wheels you have. I still use some Wolverine stuff like the  tool rest and so on, so I had to go higher. What I came up with fits my needs.

[tablesawtom]

I have two of the same books but one is hard to make out ,kind of faded. Buy the bars and the book tells you how to use it.

   

   

   

Actually Trapper was asking about the Veritas system. I just included how I get to  the point of using the Veritas

Anyway I wish every one happy sharpening.

Tom

[Timberwolf]

I have two of the same books but one is hard to make out ,kind of faded. Buy the bars and the book tells you how to use it.







Actually Trapper was asking about the Veritas system. I just included how I get to  the point of using the Veritas

Anyway I wish every one happy sharpening.

Tom

.........
Thanks Tom...
A friend that has passed away had a factory made bench grinder sharpening set-up using one long bar that spanned both wheels. I think it was an old Craftsman...Only one I have ever seen..I bought the 2000 Tormek and also the Jet knock-off.. The Tormek wheel turned at 90rpm and the jet was adjustable from 90 to 120rpm. Any faster than that and the wheel will sling water. I finally sold the Tormek but I still have the jet, and I have since bought the 8" Tormek.

[CStan]

.........
Thanks Tom...
A friend that has passed away had a factory made bench grinder sharpening set-up using one long bar that spanned both wheels. I think it was an old Craftsman...Only one I have ever seen..I bought the 2000 Tormek and also the Jet knock-off.. The Tormek wheel turned at 90rpm and the jet was adjustable from 90 to 120rpm. Any faster than that and the wheel will sling water. I finally sold the Tormek but I still have the jet, and I have since bought the 8" Tormek.

The Koch system has been around for decades, long bars included:

Koch Sharpening System - Woodcarving Illustrated