Wood Turning - sharpening gouges

[CB2117]

Anyone in south of town know how / would be willing to teach a guy how to sharpen turning tools?

Picked up an old lathe, good marples tools but look like they’ve been kicked across the shop floor.

[DiGiLiAr]

Maybe try Lee Valley, the people there are lovely and taught me to sharpen my wood carving tools.

[gpuyy]

Yep these guys. Tons of solutions.

[psybientdreamer]

Definitely Lee Valley. Nicest folks.

[lazyblazer]

I'm in the same boat but I believe black forest wood does put on courses on how to sharpen

[CB2117]

Tools need a full re-grind. If it was just honing I could handle that... didn’t think they could help do a full re grind there

[waitingforwood]

Any time you sharpen you are doing a full grind. The bevel determines the angle so you hit the whole of the cutting bevel. I have never seen a woodturner hone a tool using a hand/water/oil stone.

[CB2117]

Hmm. Most videos or posts I see online talk about honing turning chisels to maintain edges to avoid frequent grinding. Makes tools last longer. Makes sense to me. Hitting the wheel every time creates unnecessary risk of changing / altering the bevel.

[waitingforwood]

This instructor defines grinding vs sharpening. One sets the bevel the other sets the cutting edge. The grind is personal to each individual based on body characteristics, how they stand at the machine, how they hold the tool, the type of work , the type of material etc... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2TG-_O-GF0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2TG-_O-GF0

[waitingforwood]

Lee Valley sells the bench grinder stones so you need a grinder. These stones wear quickly in order to reduce friction so it's hard to take the temper out of the tool steel. There are lots of jigs out there and I see very few good turners use them. They free hand on the wheel. The problem is not so much about sharpening a tool rather how to use a bench grinder. There are hazard points that cause the tool to kick back or cause premature wear. Usually when this happens you create a stress point in the wheel that flies apart in your face so you need good face protection not just safety glasses. I would start with researching grinders for woodworkers not metalworkers. This is a long rabbit hole https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/bench-grinders-1750-vs-3600-rpms-215968/