How To Sharpen Wood Lathe Tools Without Hiring A Pro!

Woodworking or woodturning, no matter what you come up with, the need for turning elements to create beautiful furniture is involved.

By elements, I mean the parts such as columns, pulls, spindles, and legs. So, for woodworkers, it’s quite obvious that turning is a must-know technique. A small wood lathe and some tools for turning are their best friends here.

However, it’s nowhere possible to create something good without properly shaped and sharpened wood lathe tools.

Even the store-bought tools will need occasional honing for right use. To make it even more surprising, the new tools also need honing before their first application. So, the frustration of how to sharpen wood lathe tools is going to appear.

HOW TO SHARPEN WOOD LATHE TOOLS: A FOOL-PROOF GUIDE, INSIDER’S TIPS & MORE…

Don’t be upset with that sad intro, I’m here to demonstrate an overall method on sharpening these wood lathe tools. These are my go-to ways of sharpening that is relatively easy for anyone. Freehand sharpening is my most preferable way.

It’s however, like riding a bicycle without any training wheels. You need to adapt to sharpening and turning at the same time. That’s when you can move from the grinder to lathe really quick and quite seamlessly.

Here’s my guide on sharpening using a grinder and some tips I didn’t share with anyone until now. There are a few things more we’ll discuss in the later section. Let’s dive deep.

Things You’ll Need

Of course, apart from the lathe tools, you’ll need a few things for sharpening process. The fruitful outcome partially depends on the tools you use in this process. So better have a brief knowledge about each of these required things. The pointers should be helpful.

Prep Up For The Process

Take care of safety while prepping up for the sharpening process. You need to have some good quality protective gear for that. To deal with vibration you need hand protection wears. A rubber glove is best to absorb vibration and keep your hands protected from grazes.

Also never forget about eye protection such as goggles. You don’t want small metal fragments to disturb (or damage) your precious eyes.

Also, the grinder you are using needs to be stable. So, make sure it is ideally secured to the bench or worktop without making any movement at all. This needs to be sorted before commencing any sharpening process. You can use clamps to securely hold it in workbench.

Grinding Wheel, The Main Hero!

For sharpening, of course, the main lead is a grinding wheel. It surely needs your right attention so that this sharpening process can go well. You need to prepare the wheel before actually going for work ahead.

There are several grinding wheel that often develops a reasonable build-up of metal fragments. This can have a huge negative impact on the overall performance, especially sharpening capability.

So, to make that thing never happen, you should use a diamond sharpening tool to dress the wheel. Just simply rub the tool against wheel’s outer edge. This will get rid of any extra dirt or debris from the surface and thoroughly even it out.

Right Angles Are The Way To Go

Some of you may already know that various lathe tools come with different angles of making cuts. So, you have to try different angles for sharpening them as well. This is extremely true for tools such as bowl or spindle gouges.

The process of angle sharpening also depends on user’s skill level and turning type implemented.

A very important tip here is to remember that increased tool control means shallower sharpening angle. So, when you start with a steeper angle, better tool control is possible. This way you’ll be able to avoid catches as well.

The Price Of Proper Contact

It’s not only going to be enough if you just implement right sharpening angles while missing proper contact. Once you are familiar with using right angles, make sure the contact to create that properly is also known.

Make certain that the lathe tools are placed over proper rest before any type of advancements. Keep on going like that until you notice the tool is contacting wheel. Blades should not press against the wheel of grinder. It should maintain a very slight contact instead.

Some cases involve pressing too hard or not maintaining a proper angle. This will lead to making extra vibrations or bounce blades off. And this is going to cause you losing the grip as well as tool control. So be careful about that!

What if You Don’t Have A Grinder?

It’s okay if you don’t have an electric grinder. You can still try sharpening the lathe tools by hand. In this case, you’ll need 1000 grit sanding stone.

Hold the sanding stone with one hand. Then simply place the lathe tool at a 45-degree angle with stone.

Now put little pressure to scrape tool back and forth over the stone. Keep on going this way until you are satisfied with the sharpening of your lathe tools.

Sharp Or Not, Quick Signs

It’s not going to work if you just think about sharping the lathe tools because it seems dull. It might be just fine and by over-sharpening, you are making it weaker. Are there any signs to check whether the tools are actually lacking sharpness? Yes, there are!

Try dragging the tool’s edge across your thumbnail. If you feel the edges are catching and creating curl then you’re set. You should always try to touch up the edges before using it but not overdoing it.

With more experience, you ‘ll be able to tell the difference but still, don’t take a chance and trust facts.

Wrap Up

So, that was all about how to sharpen wood lathe tools. Hopefully, a dull and less sharped tool will never upset you again. Just make sure you are in a good place about using the sharpening tools and methods.

Don’t try something out of your instinct and get the facts right. You should be able to know about everything related to using a grinder or any sharpening tool before actually trying the process.

Because it’s too common to witness newbies messing up with their lathe tool’s wellbeing and durability due to following wrong sharpening methods. Good Luck with Those Sharp Edges!