how do you properly hone a tool bit?

[stupoty]

Tom lipton of course has a video on tool sharpening and honing.

 

[C-Bag]

Tom lipton of course has a video on tool sharpening and honing.

I love that video, I learned so much. I agree, honing is tricky biz and I've have better luck investing in a bench Baldor knockoff tool grinder and Deckel knockoff tool grinder and a loupe to see better what the outcome is.

 

[stupoty]

I love that video, I learned so much. I agree, honing is tricky biz and I've have better luck investing in a bench Baldor knockoff tool grinder and Deckel knockoff tool grinder and a loupe to see better what the outcome is.

Real nice grinders at a good price are a rare site in the UK , I have two very cheep bench grinders on a stand I have made, they work but I do lust after a nice Baldor style grinder. Their was one on ebay for ages, with a buy it now of about £400 that was just a bit to expensive and far away for me to impulse purchase but occasionally I would look at it and sigh a little actualy more like



I use my nice 4 inch makita angle grinder with a cut of wheel for rough shaping of form tools like threading tools. saves a bit on the dust and grit in my small workshop area. I generly use my grinders outside which is another reason I havn't got a massive lush grinder as I would then wan't some sort of extraction / grit colection system to avoid covering everything else in abrasive powder

Stu

 

[C-Bag]

Real nice grinders at a good price are a rare site in the UK , I have two very cheep bench grinders on a stand I have made, they work but I do lust after a nice Baldor style grinder. Their was one on ebay for ages, with a buy it now of about £400 that was just a bit to expensive and far away for me to impulse purchase but occasionally I would look at it and sigh a little actualy more like



I use my nice 4 inch makita angle grinder with a cut of wheel for rough shaping of form tools like threading tools. saves a bit on the dust and grit in my small workshop area. I generly use my grinders outside which is another reason I havn't got a massive lush grinder as I would then wan't some sort of extraction / grit colection system to avoid covering everything else in abrasive powder

Stu

The one attachment I don't have for the Deckel clone is for lathe bits. But after seeing this Stefan G. vid I went and made the attachment he describes for doing radius work and for doing lathe bits in the Deckel clone.

I was jones'n for a Baldor type grinder for years watching CL locally and never saw one for less than $400. Then when I'd pretty much given up a clone (HF)showed up last summer for $130 with a diamond wheel and everything! So keep the faith. I don't know how it compares to the real thing but it certainly is way nicer than my Ryobi 8" bench grinder. My "shop" is a two car garage 20'x20' with a 17' south facing roll up door. I almost never work with it closed and like just this morning I was using the tool grinder to grind a carbide lathe bit. I put the grinder in the door way as far out as I can for the fresh air and sunlight. Nothing like working in paradise

 

[mikey]

If you guys want to precision-hone a lathe tool, get an Accu-finish from Glendo. You can put an extremely fine and accurate finish on HSS or carbide lathe tools and inserts with it, not to mention scraper blades. You cannot grind the radius that Stephan showed but for bringing it to a fine edge, yeah, the Accu-finish will do it. I happen to own one of these contraptions and I like it but I do not use it for honing most lathe tools; it is much faster to do it by hand and just as effective for most tools. I do use it to hone my HSS and carbide insert threading tools so I can control the geometry, though. I still need to make a fixture for sharpening gravers but that will go on the Accu-finish once I make it.

For grinding and shaping HSS lathe turning tools, a belt sander is far more effective than a bench grinder. It cuts faster, cooler, flatter and with better control, not to mention the ease with which you can change grits. No danger of a wheel exploding or having to be dressed, either. I used a bench grinder for a decade so I am very clear on which machine is better for this particular task, at least for me. You might want to consider it.

 

[C-Bag]

If you guys want to precision-hone a lathe tool, get an Accu-finish from Glendo. You can put an extremely fine and accurate finish on HSS or carbide lathe tools and inserts with it, not to mention scraper blades. You cannot grind the radius that Stephan showed but for bringing it to a fine edge, yeah, the Accu-finish will do it. I happen to own one of these contraptions and I like it but I do not use it for honing most lathe tools; it is much faster to do it by hand and just as effective for most tools. I do use it to hone my HSS and carbide insert threading tools so I can control the geometry, though. I still need to make a fixture for sharpening gravers but that will go on the Accu-finish once I make it.

For grinding and shaping HSS lathe turning tools, a belt sander is far more effective than a bench grinder. It cuts faster, cooler, flatter and with better control, not to mention the ease with which you can change grits. No danger of a wheel exploding or having to be dressed, either. I used a bench grinder for a decade so I am very clear on which machine is better for this particular task, at least for me. You might want to consider it.

Wow, those Accu-finish start at $900, a bit beyond my budget. While I agree with what you say about belt sanders I'd have to make some kind of rest for mine as its horizontal with no rest. It does have a 9" disk sander but the rest was garbage so I took it off. Like with honing I have a hard time keeping the angle true through the range of the stroke freehand. And with the belt and disk freehand tends to dig in on the leading edge. I get this is where superior technique comes in.

The Baldor clone with the green stone on one side and the super fine diamond wheel for finishing on the other has gotten me functional. I don't know if the Baldor tool rests are as funky to adjust as my clone. So far that's my only beef with it. Sure would have been nice to have some kind gear mechanism instead the sloppy setup it has. The silly little mitre gauge leaves much to desire too. But beggars can't be whiners I guess.

 

[mikey]

If yours is a tool grinder vs a bench grinder then they work fine; I've used one once and it was a Baldor. Since you're grinding on a flat face the grind is pretty good except for the rake angles; those were hard to do because of the lack of support on the side of the wheel. Still, they are superior to a bench grinder. In my opinion, a good belt sander is several steps above them for HSS lathe tools, though.

Someday, if you decide to get serious about HSS lathe tools, consider a 2x72 belt sander.

 

[C-Bag]

Someday, if you decide to get serious about HSS lathe tools, consider a 2x72 belt sander.

Ok Sensai Mikey please enlighten the grasshopper what the complete 2x72 HSS lathe cutter rig looks like. I and probably countless others would love to know. And please I'm not being facetious here. Too many times stock pics without pertinent details are posted leaving us noobs scratching their heads. I truly bow to your expertise as demonstrated by your extensive thread on cutters that is in the stickys here on one of the forums.

 

[mikey]

It appears that I implied that I was speaking down to you or dissing your stuff. If that is your perception then that is not what I meant. I simply meant that I've used just about every kind of commonly available grinding tool to grind lathe tools on and the most efficient tool I've found is a belt sander.

In point of fact, I don't own a 2X72 yet. I own a 2X42 but I've used it to grind hundreds of lathe tools so I actually have a basis for my opinion. I've detailed my own set up here. What is the difference? Speed and efficiency. The bigger machine will grind the tool faster, possibly cooler ... but not better.

Grinding tools is not difficult. The many guys who went from zero experience to grinding really nice tools in the span of a single thread, our model tools thread, is proof that it is not difficult. However, a belt sander makes it so much easier to do, which is why I suggested that type of grinder to you. Two weeks ago, I had the chance to grind a lathe tool on a bench grinder outfitted with CBN wheels and while it did the job better than a standard wheel, I still feel that a belt sander with a ceramic belt, a good platen and a good tool rest is a better machine for tool grinding. There is no doubt that most lathe tools across the globe are ground on bench grinders of some type. That, however, is changing as more and more of us discover the advantages of a good belt sander.

 

[C-Bag]

I was afraid I was being to flippant Mikey, You were not talking down to me, I was trying to give the virtual deep bow. I KNOW you know what you are talking about, I just would like to see like the hard pix of what the rig looks like.

Thanks for the link.