Axminster whetstone

[Baldy]

Has anyone had any experience with this one? Axminster Hobby Series AHDWSG Wetstone Grinder - Bench Grinders - Grinding & Polishing - Workshop Equipment | Axminster Tools & Machinery I know its cheap.. any advice greatly received

Thanks in advance..

 

[rayf6604]

i would say get a dry bench grinder but a slow speed one with a white 40mm aluminum oxide wheel. axminster do one. you can then buy a jig to hold your tools from ebay or axminster also do a jig for holding tools at the angle on the grinder

 

[paulm]

No experience at all Ray but isn't that the same as the Tormek basically? Probably a different stone but it is a wet stone and about £450

 

[Grump]

Here we go again.
Have you tried looking at previous threads before we all get fired up on how to hone a blade???
this is a real

 

[Buckeye]

I have no idea about that one, but you do need something to get your tools sharp. I just use a wide aluminium oxide wheel on my Axminster bench grinder and a sorby deluxe sharpening jig.

Peter

 

[Grump]

The one you show is as good as any and cheaper than a lot of others.
Yes you can buy jigs or make them if you want to use jigs.
Practical or poser depending upon your abilities.
I would always recommend learning to sharpen by hand then you don't need any fancy expensive appliances.
Why make your shed look like a kitchen?

 

[Walter]

I agree with Brian.

 

[Dalboy]

I have the clarke version of that one very rarely use the wet side. I have made a platform to sit in front of the dry wheel and that is all I use to sharpen all of my turning tools with exception of the skew and scrapers which I use one of those credit card sized diamond card.
Steve (Twister) has seen my set up and used my tools and seen how easy it is to do with out any fancy and expensive sharpening aids

 

[Woody]

I wouldn't bother if I was you all you need is an ordinary grinder with a good quality white wheel and as Brian said learn to sharpen freehand

 

[Buckeye]

I would agree with learning to sharpen freehand, but if you want to get acceptable sharpening while you are learning with advice from the forum, get yourself a sharpening jig. If I had waited until I could sharpen freehand then I would have given up on turning a long time ago, as it is I can sharpen my skews, parting tools and roughing gouge by hand, but the fingernail and bowl gouges are still not there.

You would be surprised at the number of so-called professionals who advise hand sharpening and yet they still have jigs, I know this from visiting their workshops

Peter

 

[rayf6604]

I had lessons with a RPT who's been turning professionally for over 30 years and he uses the sorby jigs even now and says why have the hassle of getting it wrong with expensive tools when you can get it right every time with the right jigs, especially finger nail gouges where it's so easy to bugger the profile. Either that or get the sorby pro edge. I wish I had that.

 

[Grump]

I make you right on all counts there too Peter and will admit to still using a home made jig very often for a quick gouge hone.
I am not condemning any of them they all do the job, but the price is extortionate for what you get with the named brands and totally unnecessary.
If you have money to burn then spend it by all means but it will still stand you in good stead to know how to hone properly without the aid of an appliance.

 

[Buckeye]

I make you right on all counts there too Peter and will admit to still using a home made jig very often for a quick gouge hone.
I am not condemning any of them they all do the job, but the price is extortionate for what you get with the named brands and totally unnecessary.
If you have money to burn then spend it by all means but it will still stand you in good stead to know how to hone properly without the aid of an appliance.

I couldn't agree more about learning to sharpen by hand, I honestly wish I could do every tool by hand, but I am just not good enough with some of them and I end up having to put them on the jig to get them back into shape.

When I first started I bought 8 tools off ebay for £16 and of course I didn't realise that they were as crap as they were and also that they weren't as sharp as they should have been, within 15 minutes of using them I had a catch and the tool bent. I stopped using them and went to Axminster to buy some proper tools. I do use the ebay tools to practice sharpening with and I don't care if I grind them down to nothing as I will never use them on the lathe, but it is difficult as a beginner to sharpen tools freehand if you have never done it before.

Peter

 

[Twister]

I don't have a jig...tempted
I watched Derek sharpen freehand and was so quick
his tools were all sharp ..including the fingernail grind
I not sure that I could be bothered to setup a jig everytime

after saying that...the only tool that I am having trouble with is my spindle gouge that has gone pointy
I will grind it flat and start again

 

[Grump]

A tip I was shown many years ago when I was just hatched.
Use a marker pen, run it across the tip of the tool, grind the mark off et voilà.
You now have a sharp tool with the minimum of material taken away.
Practice this until you can do it in one movent, you now have the perfect grind.

Simples init?

Mark tool, apply to stone, (or whatever) rub to remove all the mark without changing pitch.