mattyts
Registered
When I first started turning,I was overwhelmed with the amount of jigs and sharpening systems available,all the bevel angles and similar stuff,after a few months of turning,I had narrowed my main 2 tools to a skew and a carbide insert...only the skew needed sharpening as such,and so,spending £200+ on a sharpening setup was simply not needed for a tool with 2 straight grinds so I adapted a method that people use to sharpen chisels,plane irons and knifes, the 'scary sharp' method...this is basically using wet and dry paper in the place of wetstones and oil stones,it's cheap (10 sheets of wet and dry can be gotten for less than £3, a wetstone set is £200 upwards)
This method will be cheaper than a commercial system, dosen't require electricity and probably yields better results
All you do is take your paper and attach it to a flat surface,in my case, a small aluminum table,I stick mine on with a quick release clamp and hold it by hand at the other.
(sorry for rough pictures,it's dark in my shed)
Here's the selection of wet and dry paper I use:
It starts at 320 and ends at 2,000, I'll explain the grits below:
320 - this gets rid of the factory grind and provides a new surface for you to sharpen
400-600 this further hones the grind you put on earlier,making the tool properly sharp
-Note,any further than 600 really isn't needed,I just do it anyway
800-1200 these grits refine the bevel,making it sharper and sharper as you go up the grits
-I use alcohol as a lubricant on the paper,it's thin and dissipates quickly so it dosen't attract dust.
To sharpen the skew,it couldn't be more easier.
Clamping the paper at one end and holding it with your left hand at the back,with your right hand,hold the skew and tilt it until you can feel it become straight (where the tool bevel is touching the paper ( you can use permanent marker on the tool to figure out where you're removing metal))
Then,pull backwards (never forwards,you'll rip the paper)
Repeating the process until all the grind marks are gone from the previous grit (or in my case,the factory grind)
Then you clean the skew with a bit of tissue to remove any grit or slurry before swapping the paper for a finer piece,repeating the process again till all the grind marks are gone.
This is what you will end up with once you've reached the 2,000 grit mark:
A 'mirror' razor sharp edge in no longer than 15 minutes with £3-5 worth of equipment and no fancy jigs at all
Hope this is useful to someone!
This method will be cheaper than a commercial system, dosen't require electricity and probably yields better results
All you do is take your paper and attach it to a flat surface,in my case, a small aluminum table,I stick mine on with a quick release clamp and hold it by hand at the other.
(sorry for rough pictures,it's dark in my shed)
Here's the selection of wet and dry paper I use:
It starts at 320 and ends at 2,000, I'll explain the grits below:
320 - this gets rid of the factory grind and provides a new surface for you to sharpen
400-600 this further hones the grind you put on earlier,making the tool properly sharp
-Note,any further than 600 really isn't needed,I just do it anyway
800-1200 these grits refine the bevel,making it sharper and sharper as you go up the grits
-I use alcohol as a lubricant on the paper,it's thin and dissipates quickly so it dosen't attract dust.
To sharpen the skew,it couldn't be more easier.
Clamping the paper at one end and holding it with your left hand at the back,with your right hand,hold the skew and tilt it until you can feel it become straight (where the tool bevel is touching the paper ( you can use permanent marker on the tool to figure out where you're removing metal))
Then,pull backwards (never forwards,you'll rip the paper)
Repeating the process until all the grind marks are gone from the previous grit (or in my case,the factory grind)
Then you clean the skew with a bit of tissue to remove any grit or slurry before swapping the paper for a finer piece,repeating the process again till all the grind marks are gone.
This is what you will end up with once you've reached the 2,000 grit mark:
A 'mirror' razor sharp edge in no longer than 15 minutes with £3-5 worth of equipment and no fancy jigs at all
Hope this is useful to someone!