BESS with woodworking tools

[Ken S]

As I stated on the Tormek forum, I would do a combination of using the grinding wheel as is and more regular than usual wheel truing. Eventually you will have a perfect grinding wheel and well developed skill with the truing tool, essential to good Tormek practice. A win win situation.

Ken

[Komitadjie]

Sounds like a good plan to me, Ken! That will go on the "Do it when I start using that stone" list, then. Right now, I've been using the SB-250 with great luck, I'm kind of viewing the stock SG as a back-up stone.

[Ken S]

You will not regret having a good SG-250 grinding wheel. For decades it has been the main Tormek grinding wheel, and for most of that time, the only Tormek wheel.

The original Tormeks used a natural grinding wheel mined from a Swedish island. The SG man made aluminum oxide gradually replaced these. The SG wheels cut more quickly, but had a coarser 220 grit. I believe the original thinking with the stone grader was to give the user the chance to regrade the SG to cut like the natural stones.

Eventually the SB blackstone for harder steel and the 4000 grit SJ Japanese stone were added. I believe we will eventually see other grinding wheels from Tormek. This is strictly my opinion, based on no inside knowledge.

The SG does a very nice job on carbon steel. It is well worth your time to restore it.

Ken

[Bobbo]

Just bought a used Comet 3/4 horse 42" wood lathe. I have to admit this was not a planned purchase. A friend had it and I bought it. I have always been drawn to turning but have never done it. Bought a few books and am currently reading and the first thing they cautioned about in book one was sharp tools. I got a number of  gouges and other tools with the lathe and it is obvious to me that they are exceedingly dull. I'll be reading for awhile but it is apparent to me that I'm going to have to learn how to sharpen lathe tools. I've finally upgraded to the Ken Onion Worksharp for knives and it grinds an edge on knives but is killing me on belts because not only do i sharpen my knives now but the rest of the family and most of my neighbors . Am I going to have to invest in something like a Tormek to sharpen these things or do I have options? Please don't ask me to use stones. I tried them with knives and failed miserably. 

You guys were exceedingly helpful when I first started to sharpen knives with my modified Sharp Pad so I'm back to the well if you don't mind. First project, small table with turned legs for my three year old granddaughter.

Also, I have a PT50B and I don't see how I'm going to measure the gouges with the test fixture that comes with it. Looks like the clip system would work. Any thoughts on that?

[grepper]

The Kalamazoo 1SM 1x42 belt grinder is inexpensive and works very well for sharpening knives and lots of other stuff too.  Belts are inexpensive and last a great deal longer than smaller belts as the belt is wider and longer than the Work Sharp.  Unless you do a whole lot of sharpening you don't need to replace belts very often at all, and there is a much greater variety than the Work Sharp.  The only downside for you is that you will probably want to come up with a homemade knife rest.  That’s what I did.  It works great.  Sorry, I can’t speak to sharpening gouges as I’ve not done it.
 
While I have not done it, I know the Tormek does a great job on gouges and has special jigs just for the task.  The downside is that it, as you have probably figured out, it is very expensive.  A jig for gouges is an additional cost.  If you do a lot of sharpening, consumables such as the grinding wheel are expensive too.  That said, you get what you pay for and the Tormek will probably last a life time and is backed by a company the completely stands behind their product.
 
Tormek also has the BGM-100 that provides for using Tormek jigs such as one for gouges on a regular bench grinder. https://www.tormek.com/usa/en/accessorie...nting-set/  That would be a far less expensive option.  If you get a CBN grinding wheel for your bench grinder, heat is not much of an issue.
 
Hope that helps! 

[Bobbo]

That does help Mr. Grepper. This time I'm going to go slower though. I invested in two sharpening tools that turned out to be not right for me when sharpening knives. That's my fault because I got in a hurry and got my panties all bunched up over price. I fall back on my Sharp Pad when I run out of belts for the WorkSharp grinders. This time I've invested $300.00 in a used lathe and I'm hopeful of not spending three times that much for sharpening the tools I got with it. I'll spend what I have to in order to do it right this time. You guys are all very much appreciated and, hopefully, I'll hear from more of you. Did manage to test one of the gouges however, 565. He must have used it to open oil cans. Just showed my age.  I don't think there is such a thing as an oil can today. The Kally is in the running but I'm a little concerned about sharpening angles. In the meantime, thank you again Grepper.

[grepper]

I completely understand Mr. Bobbo.  When I first got really serious about sharpening I basically used a hole saw to cut a large diameter hole in the side of my wallet and hooked it up to the dust collector hose.   It very efficiently removed all existing discretionary funds and a bit more.   A lot of those $$$ were wasted on equipment that I no longer use.  Now that you have a much better understanding of what it all means, you can get it right this time around!

I went through the exact same process as you and many other have done.  I think in some ways that process can be chocked up to learning.  R&D so to speak.  However If I had known then what I know now and someone could have just pointed me in the right direction at the start...   That said, I probably would have done it the the same way that I did as I had all the exact same concerns that you express.  Now I know that I would have actually spent way less in the long run by spending a bit more at the start.  

But... hang in there and stay tuned.  If all goes well there should be some interesting news coming in the next couple of weeks concerning the Kally and knife sharpening.

I am very interested in what you mean when you say, "I'm a little concerned about sharpening angles."  Could you kindly elucidate?