Woodsmith - 020

NOTES FROM THE SHOP

$2.50

NO. 20

•

•

WOODSMITH

2

SIIARl·~!':L~r..As if seven pages isn't enough on sharpening,

1

have

a

rew other comments I'd

like

to make. first, concern-Ing the

wheel

used to grind tile bevel on a

chisel,

Lfyou have it in your budget,

I

think lIle /I.·orloll grinding wheel, discussed in this issue are well worth the investment.

Yau

won't

believe

how much difference there i<

between

8

proper

[Norum]

wh

ee

1

and one of th_

al

l

-purpose wheels

that are standard on most grinders, Since no catalogs (that

we

know

00

carry Norton

wheels, you'U have to locate 1\ Norton di.... tributor in your area. In addition to the grinding wheels, he'll probably also have the factory

oil-filled sto

n

es (these are a

good deal

too),

In lhe articles on sharpening in this issue, we talked only about chisels,

\

Vby

not include plane irons? They're sharpened

the:

same \\la~1aren't lhel~?

Plane iron. (cutler blades) 81'e indeed sharpened exactly the same way as chisels. (Iuse a

25·

grinding angle and then hone a micro-bevel on the cutting

edge

at

a

.lightly Steeper angle.)

However,

when

a

chisel is sharpened, it's ready to use, as is.

A plane

iron, on the • other hand, must be mounted in a plane. There are a lot of other problem. as-sociated with planes in order to make them

work properly. \\'c'lI be running a com-plete article on using and adjusting

planes

in

a

future

issue,

LATEJIIOTE.lt

never

rails.

Just

when we were \\'Tapping up this issue we received a

FrugTool

Catalog. In it they li~t almost all the equipment we use: fine/coarse

India

combination stones,

a

leather stropping pad, the diamond

stones,

small sticks

or'

buffing compound (including rouge), and

a

combination lndiolsoft. Arkon$M.

If

you want to get this catalog,

send

$2 tu Frog Tool Co. Ltd .. Dept, W, 700 IV.

Jackson

Blvd.• Chicago,

IL 60606.

N&II FACES. Once again we've added a new face to the

gang

at

lVooditmillt.

JOn Snyder has joined us as our new An. Diree-tOI'. Jon has exceptional talent. with graphics, design, and phOlogn.phy (he shot all the photos for this issue). \Ve should

be

on the road to a better

IVood-smith

with Jon's help.

Ted

Kralicek

(the old Art Director) i, nowthe newofficial Design Director, He's in charge ofall the design work. and most of tile actual building that

goes

into the projecL< in IVoodsl/lith, Every once in a while, Ted let>;me in the shop to build something or sweep up, But most of the • work you see in Wood8milh is the result of Ted's talent and c:l".tltsmanship.

NEXTllA(LIlIG, May, 1982.

WOODSMITH (ISSN 0164-'1114)

Is publlsheO

blmonlhly (January. March. May. July, S8P-lembet. November) by Woodsmilh Publishing Co.•2200GrandAve.,Des MolO85.lowa50312, WOODSMITH Is a regiStered Irademar1<o! ilIe WooQsmlth Publis~ing Co,

'Copyrigh11962 by WOodsmJlItPub1ishmg Co. All Rights Reserved,

SubscflpUon$: One yea! (6 issuos] $10,l\Yo years (12 Issues)$18. Slngl. copyPflC8,S2 SO (Canade andFOfeign:add S2 per year.)

Chang<tOf Address: Pleasebe sUre10Include both your old end I1iIW address and a tn4ihng label from a recent Issue.

PoS1mas1or;Sendchange 01 address notice,

Form

3579.10 Woodsmilh PublislllngCo.. 2200 Grand Ave..Des MoInes. Jowa 50312.

Art O!f'eetor Jon Snyder ASsISl8nl Edll0t Stolro Krohmer Graphic Des'9ner Mate(a Simmons Subscopoon Manage< Sandy J, Boum Subscnpllon A$$IslanlS Christel Bork Donna Prins Admlnlstrativ. Assjslanl Cheryl Scott Coombubng Eddor AdOlphE. Peschke Edrtor Donald B_Peschke Oe$Ign DIrector Ted Knlilcel<

When we started to put together this

issue,

I fully inlended to have

a

step-by-step article on cUlling half-blind dovetail. (as a follow-up to the last issue's article on through dovetails.) But things didn't work out the way

we

planned. Here', what happened.

In addition to the article on balf-blind dovetails, we thooght it would

be

a

good

idea

to

include the

how-to on cutting

a

dovetail tongue and groove joint. To cut this joint we needed a router table,

So,

this was the perfect opportunity to design a new router table (to update the one shown

in

n'"()(l(iSttlitl, No.5).

Ted

and

I

agreed that this new t-outer table should be a bench-tep model. \Ve

tossed around ideas

on the pro. and con, of the "store-bought" models, and came up with a list of changes we'd like t.o make.

\V. decided the new router table should !)have a fairly large table, 2) have 8low profite for8comfortable work h~ighl, 3)

be

easy to damp to any workbench, and 4) be easy to store.

Ted came up with

a

design that mel all of these criteria, and I suggested we use a scrap piece of kitchen counter Iparticle

board

with RF(1nll ieo top),The new

router

table worked like a charm ... for a while. Then the top warped so badly we couldn't use itta cut the dovetail tongue and groove (the original point or this whole effort),

We switched to

plywood

and j1(lSOlli(f ror the top,

And

this time it didn't warp. In r"ct.

I

got _0 carried

""''1IY

with how well this new

route

r

table worked that

1

thought a couple of projects using the De" router table would be ideal for this issue.

So,

we built the ~"all Shelf Ipage 2(1)and

the Bread Board (page

24).

8inee

we

were

Ylorking

v.ith the router

somuch. we thougbt8largt'rproject might be in order, That's when we

started

work on the Buffet Table (page I-t), The half-circle leaves are cut with a router and a

trammel point attachment.

At this point. half the issue \\'3$ lilled and still no half-blind dovetails. Then

J

started thinking . , . in order to cut half-blind dcvetails you have

to

have

sharp

ehisels, so maybe we should include some of the methods we use to sharpen chisels.

Once again. I got carried away,

1

thOUght we could show how to sharpen chisels intWOpages. _ . we wound up with

almost seven pages, And that', before Steve called the folks at the Norton Co. to ask a rew simple questions (which turned into 3 three-page interview).

AUin all. I'm happy with the way tiling>; turned out. even though w~never did get to half-blind dcvetails,

March,1962

Number Twenty

•

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~-

--""

-"

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-3

WOODSMITH

the following restrictions:

I. Piece A must bethe same thickness

as

the auxiliary fence.

2. Pieces A and B should be about the same length

as

the panel being cut.

3.

Piece B must clear any obstructions

on the top of the rip fence (Sears rip

fence has adjusting bolts on the top of their rip fence),

Clamp the panel to be cut to piece A and slide the jig along the auxiliary fence. Clamp

as

low

as

possible on the panel, but do

not

place

th

e

clamp below piece

A

Orthe jig wiD bind on the fence.

DOllald C

.

Druce

Longueltil, Qllebee

fASY JIG fOR RAISED PANELS Here's a method of cutting raised panel» that is similar to the method you

use,

but I

think it's

a

bit quicker,

a

bit more accurate,

and

a

whole lot safer.

The first step is to attach an auxiliary fence

to

the rip fence on the table

saw

,

Then the jig ismade out ofscrap wood with Long Beach

Road,

Oceanside,

N. Y.

11

57'2.

The adapter is available forvarious sizes router motors and radial

arm saws

.

Riclwrd.

Bo.7TO"

J

od<$On

,

Afissiltrippi

STAINING TAMBOUR CANVAS

Most

articles on

roD

tOP

desks recommend

using unprimed white can" as to fasten the tambour

slats

together. The problem I've encountered

is

that white canvas shows through even the slightest opening be-tween Lbe slats, especially if they're stained.

•

ITIW

~

Ifthe table and the blade are not square with each other, one of tWO things

will

happen. The board will either pull away from the straight-edge,

or

it will bind into the su'8igbt-edge. Ifit binds,

follow

the same procedure, but start from the

hack

of

the table. Ifthere's a gap, it indicates that there's an error in the

table

-

to-blade alignment.

Adjust the position oflhe trunnion in the direction you would have had to

move

the straight-edge

to

close the gap. Recheck the alignment using the same method and repeat this procedure until the board is no longer pulling away from the slraight

-edge. Then repeal the same test starting from the opposite end of the table.

Be sure to move the straight edge flush with the saw blade each time the trunnion is moved. When there's nogap after test-ing from both ends of the table, the saw blade (and the miter gauge channel) is aligned with the table top.

I.DG. WITH'"

•

Gat ) ClAMP sc•., TOMfltt GAUG£

I

Chatln

L

.

Rober .•

lVauktaha, Wu.c(I>18in RADIAL ARM SAW TABLES

I've had 8problem with the saw kern in the surface ofmy radial

arm saw

table. The saw kerfs accumulate to the point

that

there's quite a large gap

in

the table. To avoid replacing the surface of the table every time it gets

had,

1

rout

a

slot in the table, .lighlly orf-center with the blade, to accept an insert of

14-

plywood. The inserts

are

about 2"wide, and

as

long lIS the table is deep. They fit

in

the table slightly off-center with the blade.

When the insert gets chewed up, just turn it end for end. Because the insert is slightly off center \\ith the blade, you'll get TABLE SAW SETUP

MOSto(Lhe table saws that I've used have been out of square in one way or another. 1

use

a simple test to determine whether or

not the

saw's

table (and the miter gauge channel) is square with the

saw

blade.

Pirst" place

a

straight-edge flush against the raised

saw

blade. Clamp the straight edge in place and lower the saw blade.

Using

a

piece of

scrap

w

ood,

butt the wood against the straight-edge at the front of

the table and clamp it

to

the miter gauge. Then slide the assembly toward the rear of the table,

r-To eliminate this problem, I dye the

canvas

black. Then after it is dry,

I

smooth

it out using an iron. Next

I

apply the glue

to the back of the stained tambour slats and attach them

to

the canvas in the

normal fashion,

Even as the

canvas

stretches, I'm

sure

it won't be noticeable between the

slats.

afresh surface forthesaw kerf. Byturning

th

e

insert

ove

r

, you've

got two

m

o

r

e

n

ew

s

urfa

ces,

or a total of four per insert,

An added advantage to a clean saw kerf Fronk Nagy

is

cutoff

a

cc

urac

y. By

making your

cutoff

Colum/nUl. Ohio

mark on the bottom edge of the board, the

\-

--

---

----

-1

mark can be very ensily aligned to either

I-

S_E_N_D_I_N..._OY_U_R_I_DEAS_'- __ ----; the right or the left edge of the saw kerr. We Invite you 10 sI1are your_Ing tops

and techniques wrth other readers 01 Wood·

L

.A.D. Cotvin

smith.

We wI~payamlnimum0155 loratIP,and

Satellite

B

each,

F

lorid4

5

1

0

Of more for aspecialI_nique. Allmatenal ROUTER JIG fOR THE RADIAL ARM SAW SUbmltted becomes thep<operty 01Woodsmlth

PublishingCo. Upon

p

a

yment

,

you

gove

Wood·

In several ofyour

hack

issues, you mention

smrth

lhe

light10U58themalerialIn any

manner

using the drill press forrouting operations. loras long as we wISh.

Because the highes; speed on my drill II your Ideaonvolves a drawingOf pI1oto10 press is only

4

7

00

RPM

,

I don't feel it's elCjllarnii,do yourbasi and.

n

nocassary,we'p very ideal for routing. meJ<ee ~ draWing.orbuild theprojectorjig

For those of us lucky enough to have a and phoIograph u, (Any drawings or pholOS

radial

arm sa

w

,

an adapter can be pur-

submlned cannot

be returned.)

chased

to attach the router to the radial Send yourideas 10:Woodsmflh,l1ps & Tech-arm saw. The adpter is available from: niqUes, 2200 Grand Ave., Des Mornes. lowa Home and

h

uJustry

Too/eMt.

us:

2867 50312.

__

T_i~s

&

Technigu

_

es

__

W

O

OO

S

MITII

to/UII products that we sell are, without a doubt, softer than our India products,

Of

COW"$('

there i, adifference in the

abra-sive particles:

they

are

two dif· ferent materials altogether,

Remember, we're talking about vitrified bond or bonded abrasives, 1I0t abrasive parti-cles by themselves,

\I'OOIlS)lITII: Isn't it

true

though, that silicon carbide is harder than aluminum o,ude~

Cl'LUN: The abrasive

pani-cles

themselves are

harder

But when you mix bond. and

abrasive particles. the percent

-age or bond to abrasive will give you the diffeJ'('nt hardness ofyour finished product.

\\'OODS~IIT[I:

I

see, so il

doesn't

roally have to

do

$Oldy with the hardness of the abra

-sive itself, it's a combination

of. ..

<:ll.t..J);:It's a combination of •

the abrasive. of the bond,

the

pressure, the density, the firing

tempera-tures. the time cycle . , . ,

\I001)$)111'11:A multiple of fllctol"$'!

Cl'l..Ll'i: YC~.

IIQOUS)IITl1: How do the

Cry.t%u

and

lndia

stones compare when sharpening woodwol'king

lOO!'?

cn.Ll'i:

I

n relation

to woodworking, the

C""s'o!o" 'tone could be ""00 with any

woodworking tool, It will give you. faster cut than the

lndi«

,'10Ile, it will auack the metal faster. and break it down faster. Rut the aluminum oxide Or Illdia stone

will

Aive you a finer cutting edge, It take. longer

to

put an

edge

on with an

I "din

81.One

thnn

it

does a

Cry$tololl <tone, but you

end

up with

a

much finer edge.

The

much harder natural Arkallsas stone

will

take evenlonger, but you

will

end up with

a much finer edge than you would with the

alumi

n

um

oxide or 1~/dia

Slone,

\,'OOJ):;""ITII: Now that you've brought

up

the

t-lrkn",Q(l.'f stones.

how

(10 lhey

eom-pare with the ]"dia and Crus/olon stones'! Ct.'LLI~:

Arkansas

stones are the ulti·

mate in naLural sharpening stolle prod· uct~. They \\ill give )'OUthe ultimatc edge

)'OUcan pos..;iblygel. Becau..-,eof their ex·

treme density and very line grit, they're ror more of. honing orlel1ltion than sharp- •

ening, They \\ould

be

something' lhal you would

u..""

for acquiring the linest pol;Sible edge,

WOOI)S~lITII: For moRt general wood·

LO band the abrasive particles together. The bonding material and the abrasive particles are fired at high temperatures to eure the bond. so that it

will

hold the abra

-slve

panicles together. There

are

also

resin-type bond••• hellae-type bonds, and

sodium silicate-type bonds.

WOODSltlTH: Are all

of

these different type.; of bonds used in bench stones?

n 1.t..L':No, not inour bench

stcnes.

\Ve

only use

a ceramic-type

band in our bench

stones. But there are bench stones on the

market that use the other types of bonds.

WOQUS.\IITU:

\Vnen

you

acrual

l

y make

the

stone,

l

et

'

s say

the Crysl%ll

stone,

you take the silicon carbide lhat has been crushed

to pre-determined

size and then how do you combine it \\;th the bonding material and ereate lhe actual stone?

crLU~:

\

Ve

actually take

a

mixing pot and mix the banding material and the sbra-sive particles and put them in 3 die. It'. then put under

pressure

to create a density

that

we know

we

want

for a

preknown hardness ••• if it's ared at the tiJi(ht

wm·

perature and for the right length of time.

WOOllS1JlTII: So it'; a combination of pre."Sure and heat that cr"ates the final product?

l"'I,I#I~:J)yoe~;;,ul"(J'first, then heaL 'Not

preSSUl"i!

and heat at

thta

sanlt'

tim(·.

WQOIlS1IITII: Isn't it true that Cry.tololl

stones are

hanle.r

than

/ndra s.tone:i?

(TLLIN: Not neces."lIrily. no, The ('rgs·

'\-'r "~(ll,t,'d10 yri more ;"

,-jtJnllailf)f 0" tlte CQ,.,""and 'i..He

of br'lt''' ."tO/~"S.

$0 1'('('

icent

.1""Uill I..

""<

Q[

/11< IUI'yeM "ttlltu.fatturv:rt u.f 811))1('$ TIlC .\'orl{Jn Co.

Jlft~r Ictlkflrg '('lIJ, .\'t,rloPl.

1('(' (1'( "(' (t,uazed at Ihi' "'Nttlt OJ'I ,(font/a/it,'l tl,t!,!lQ L't' 1)$. III [art, If'(,"lf' ""("11 rha

nard

$O~)lf

oj {',tr

Illt'fllot.i:c

(Iud

rqJli]Jlllflt'

tl~

a resut! af the

ill/~:r!lje'(I. T"<fi"'/ s,'c/ioll ~rlht

inter-,'ICU' itl

mth Patrick Culls»,

l

nduet

ri«!

etlg;,trrr.

G"d

",'01. wilhbtllCit stOllC8,III Ih~

$("c"II<Jsection, Philll'tltclIgc/

and

1'0"/

0/01'111.Product En-giuec)'1i.

disc'tK~

gr;/fdi,t9 111/tt'eI8. Andill Ihl' ltMf s~l;on.

11ft'list

th»

sourcesfor the items

1nr"ti(~lIeJ

t" II,/!

i1ltert'ltlL', II .Iw,,/d

be

lIotell lI<al til< Ila",CS Cry:;tolon

a'ld

India

af't

trade marks ('IIr 'fie -"IIrlII" COlllpalll1'S xilfcQl' cCl

rbide

('ltd

tlllllll itt IttIt

ocide

prtJd~/CI$.

\\'()OOS\11TII!

Could you give us some

basic information on the difference

be-tween the Crl/$toIOlt and

lndi«

stones?

\\'hal

thev're made

of,

what rhev're bonded together with.

and

what their

ad-vantages and di:;adad-vantages are and <0 forth,Just some solid background

informa-liUlt on

the

stones,

l'l1Ll.l\: Well. 1he (-'Y!I_tolt", stone is {I

product made out of coke and silkn

fired

at very high temperatures. The temperature of the furnac .. that doe. this is approx-irnat ely 4500 degrees Fahrenheit, This forms • big block \\ hieh is broken up with .Ie<lgehammers and then crushed in size to abrasive parricles. The different tYp<.'5of CrySW/OIIabrasives represent the differ-ent St<lgesof purity of the particle.

them-;;elve,.

So

.ili~a and coke are the basic material. of silicon carbide,

Aluminum oxide or Indio stones are a different type of material altogether.

Alu-minum oxide isItmixture of bauxite, coke. and iron pilings, Again. the mixture ;,. fired ill a very high·temperature fw·naee. broken duwn "ith ~Iedge hrunmer:-, and (:l'UshedW $iZCto make the different size grits of aluminum oxide,

WQOIlSlUTH: \VIla! type of bonding ma-terial is

u.."<.'d

to bond the abra;;hoe particles of the Crl/gfoltlll anell>ldia .tone$~

Cl:t.I.I);: There are various of types of bands on the market.. Most of the Norton product!;

,,<.

a ceramic or glM$·tYlle band

The Nitty.-GrinY On Stones

•

\VOODSMITH

- ---_._---,

,,

'-~.

~----

---

~~~~~~~-

-5

ClL,t

iron plate

will

1:1.<1"

lonj! time, "he

thin~

is, ~'OU

do

it

in a circular

01'

rotation

movement OJl

the

cast

iron

pbue. You're IIctulIllylapping the plate ai rh ...same time you'1'I.'lal)ping Lh. stone.

\\'C)C)1)~~11"1So! YOU should trv to work lhe whole surface oj-the imn IlI.t~.o t hal It works down C\'CI11)'. too,

Cl'I.LIN:

'·es

.

\\'()()I)$~IIT.I~When you're

lappinK

a

bench stone with

an

abrasive. th(· texture on the surface (Ie the :.lonl~Ml't'nl::- lu

be

altered.

HO\\f cl\le$ the

surface

l(>xIU1"t.' affect the

sharpening

qualities

of the

~t()nt!'!

('l'I.LIS: It afrect.:-it quue ~

bit. Y

()II

will

~hange the surface of the stone. The

stone

originally has a luppmg bed fini.h on it. done normally with a fine abrasive, The

finer the abrasive ~Inuuse, the ~moothero,'

Iiner texture surface

)'OU

8J-e Itoing to gel.

The thing

is

to

have

that surface nol IO(J rough and not tuo fine. IVhat you are b'ying to do i. to open up the pore, o[thal surfueeso

that. you

have

t

he

abrasive

parti-cles .tickinR ul' to do the sharpening.

\\ O<'J)S..\IITH: If

the surface be-ccmes

tOC}

coarse.

will

the stone

be

clltting as if it

were

a

coarser

Slone'!

('n.LI;", Yes, it "ill.

\\·(l()I)S~ltTII:

By u$iltg' R fine

$Iurr)',

will

you

be

abl~ to retain the surface texture

r3irl~tclose to the original surface

texture? ('rLLIN:

y",.

You

will

J(ct " dlfferem "ffeCl by doing it by hand as compared to doing it on a rolaling bed, But lhe differ· ence

will

not be that greal.

1V()()11S'I1TII[f,),OU.huuld I/el it

0"".-1,

:\Illooth, wlUthe ~utting action

be rodut-ed?

(I'LLL~:You'll have to lal' it befon! tOO

long beesu,", you are going to

103,1

the .u,'faCt' quickly beeau.<c il'~ too ~mMth.

II'OOUS~lITHI:V" tried to lap the ,tone u,ing aluminum oxide and siliMn carbide "''Uldpaper on a piece nf gla-'S, rather than u$ing R $]urry, It did tear up the popel'

r-Jther quickly, but (lr~th.'re any olh"r

problems with that idea'!

(·I·t.t~IX:

No. not.

3.-;

long as yuu have

~-\n

abn ...

ive thero. \~'h.t you

ru'"

tl~1ng to do

i~

lap an abrasi,

-'

c \\1th

all

abra~ive.

I'ln

ufr-Jid

you'll

find tMt the stone

will

eat into lh.

1'"1"'''..,

fMI that you'll us. UI'

more

paper than it would be worth to huy a new

SLone_

WOOOSMITH\Vhcr"as iryou wen~ to the: slurry and

a

piel'" of steel, it would Cllt

much quicker,

en,LI.': Ye$, and of course the slurry ... the .ili",n ,,,,,rbid. abrasive, , . is still then:

and

you <'all l1!u:;eit over

and ..

v~r

and over. It \\~IIbreak down 10the point

that

it

become_.;:\'ery fine and

e_\rentuall~'

it will have to be replaced.

W0005lIlTII: Once a stone

become.

glazed, what is the p.-oeedure for cleaning

it?

Cl'LLL'(, The same as taking the dishing working applicatioM, let's say fol'

plane

recommend water for the A rku

,,*,,"

irons 01' bench chisels, would a soil AI" stones?

kansa«

stone be sufficient for a fine edge?

crt.ux.

Yes.

because an

Arkall$aS$tone

Or would1I han! Ark''''&l$ stone be , . " will not absorb oil, And ifil does, il

will

t..-a

l'l:LLlS,

Por

myself,

I

wouldn't

go be-

very small

amount in the very lOPsurface yond the fine Illdia

stone .. ,

the fine of

the

stone.

aluminum oxide stone.

I

don't feel you WOOOS!lITHOne problem that we,

have

need

any

further honing of the edge,

encountered

with our bench

stones

is WOOn$)IITII, On your C"yol%" and trying to keep them nat. And after the~' Illdia bench stones, what's the difference have become dished OUL,determining Ihe between using oil and water as a lubricant? proper procedure for flattening' them, The

I believe you recommend oil, don't )'(,u1 stones which we URe the most are the Cn.LlS:YeS, Werecammendoilforallof CT/l8to/,m,

tndi«,

and Ihe

.-lrkalls••

rbe artifidal products like aluminum oxide stones. What would you recommend

as

the and sUi",n carbide, And water for natural best way for the

average

woodworker in products like th~

Arka.,sa$

stones. The the home "hop to keep the stonee

nar!

main

purpose of either oil or water is to Ct'LLL'1: AImOSI

impossible.

prevent the metal particle, from becoming wOOOS~IITJI

Almost

: impossible'!

embedded in the surface of the stone, Thb (1.'LLI)(,

There

is

a

method that ron be

causes

the stone to bet

'Orne

glazed, which is

used,

By

uainga piece

of'flnt east

iron

anrl a

when the surface of the stone i~ ruled with loose abrasive approximately 10 to

90

gMt, metal particles. Glazinj!'prevents the abra- WOOO5.\lITIIAn abrasive like silicon ear •: sive crystals from sticking through and bide slu,"ry?

doing the actual

cutung,

C;C;I..LIS:

Yes,

like

silicon carbide

or any \\'OOI)$\tITII: Are thpl"e an)' preventive good abrasive slurry. Aluminum oxide

measures that can be taken to eliminate could be used, too. Silicon carbide

prob-glazing of the stones? ably work. better because it doesn't break

(,ULI.IN:Using an oil, ofCOUThC, for ar- down a' fast,

tificial products and water for natural \\'OOns~IITII'How is the silicon carbide products, The pUl'J)OSeof the oil or water. slurry

used

on the cast iroll plate':

i. to !>ickUI' the metal particles and put C~'LI.I:-/:The method i$ to (<Ike the

sur-them in a suspension so thaI when you fat.. of the SLOneand rub it on tho silicon clean the stone afterwards, you clean the carbide abrasive and a cast iron plate by metal particles away

so

thaI they don't applying

pressure

and

doing

it in

a

circular become embedded in the stone. AU of our

mouen.

The

silicon

carbide or

Crt/stU/""

industrial stones

ru"

oil Riled at the stones probably finil!h

up

a lot easier than

faclOT)'.

the

aluminum

Qxjde

or

I

ndia stones

.

"IIIlOSMITU:

Is

tbis the same t}1le of oil \\'()()DSMITH

0,'

: the

A,.ka".,~

stones? that we Uti<! to . •. . CIJ1.L1N:The

Arka

IISUS slone would be

Ct'I.I.IN:No, it's in a I'ast" form at l'()Om e''tremely hard to do because of its line-temperdlure and its con<iswncy is similar ness and hardnes.. It could be done, but it

to Va<ehne. would take an awful lot of effort.

,\rOOI~IITtl:Ho\\' do you Ret

thlli

thick \\'OOOs..\lll'.l: Is this something )TOU

oil into the stones? Are they heated? would recommend ,;omeone do periodically

('lCLLL'oI: Yes, they

.u"

healed to

190

to keep the stolle nat rathe,. lban wailinl!

delll-eeS. until the stone is in really bad condition 8nd

1I'00llS)IITII, \Vhen we ,tart working lhen Irying W do the maintenance!

with new

stones,

they seem 10 keep abo C;IL1.I&The sooner you do it. when you sorbing all of the oill'3ther than allowing it fir.t start getling a dip in the stone, the lostay on the sUl-faeealld pick up the metal easier it

will

be

beca",", you Mven't got

filings. that muth material to remove toget baek

CI·t.LIN: All of our industyinl bench to

a

flat

surfaoo.

The ideal

wny,

of course, .tones

are

oil·mled at the factory.

How·

is

to use an abrasive sIUlT)' on a laPI.ing

ever,

there

are

some items thst are ;old plate aU1<ched to

a

rota ling bed,

The

through the consumer dh~ion which are I'eSS'iII for the rotating bed is that the blister packaged. These products a,'e not machine is doing the moving. It's not an oil·filled because the oil

will

leak through easy job to do,

the package.

So

you could ha,'c a stone thsl Woor~IITn,

1\'.

heard of ROmepeople ha. not been oil·filled at the factory, using plate glass. The experience we've

WOOOS)UTUSO Lhe stones we're using, had wilh it

i<

that lhe ab,,,,,ive

"arI.$

CUI·

may

just be trying to reach a point where ring into the gla.~sfasler than it

does

in the they

are

saturated with

oil?

stone. This rl1!ates

a

dish in the glass

so

CULLIN, Right. Unlil thaI stone is that you

are

nOlonger working "~th

a

tlat actually oil·filled, it will absorb oil. Oncc surface,

the stone is oil-6IJed, theoil will pirk up the Cl1.J.I:-/,The glass is not the ideal plate.

metal filin~, Vou are going LOruin the glass complelely,

WOOOSMITHYou said you recommend:

It

is also going to eat into the ca.t iron

w

~te

,

for yOlll' n

·

atural stones, so you do pla ut you can always machine it. The

---•

•

•

WOOOSMITH

6

•

•

have had to pay

a

minimum per item

charge that was considerably higher than the

$2O.00.S!lO.OO

price ofthe wheel. Then

Phil Wettengel called and said that the

32A-60.!,g..VBE wheel was the ideally

perfL'Ctwheel.

but

not the only

wheel

thai

would meet

our

needs.

This is

when we

were given the jreneraJ guidelines that

ap-peared as an

editor's

note in the

interview, He said he felt that with these guideline ••

almost

an)' Norton distributor could fill the order.

The Norton distributor

in

)'oU}-area can

be found

by

looking in the

Yellew Pages

of

the phone book under Abrasives.

To Our amazement. of all the mllior mail

order catalogs that we checked, only

\Voodcrart Supply stock. any grinding

wheels. \V"cn

we

tried

to

find out more

specific information on the wheels they

offer in their catalog. they said they didn't have any additional information available

on that product. They did

tell us

that

the

wheels

the)' ofTer are produced by

Bay

State Abrasives. but that's another

articlel

DRE."SISG STICKS. There was only one catalog that listed dressing sucks. Silicon carbide dressing sticks are available from:

Woodcraft Supply (catalog

No.

LL'I51.DW, S2.30),

31a

Montvale

Avo ..

\\'oburo, :ItA

01888.

TRt:L"C (STAll)WHEELS.There weretwo mail order cat.alog;;that list truing wheels,

\\'ood.,·.o. Supply (see

address above),

No. oaAll·B:-I, $9.7u.

And

Gan'('tt \Vade

(CAtalogNo.

76

)

103.01.

$.10). 161Avenue

of the Americas, New York, N. Y. 10013.

\\'e also found 3 truing wheel at a local

lumber yard, so they may be available localII'.

SIXGLI<:l'OI~T l)lJ\~IONOS.'rhe single

point diamond that's used to true and dre.. the grillding wht",1 i. nothing more than

a

steel roc) \\;th an

in(lu~lrial

diamond

em-bedded in the end. Again, lhere was only one catalog that li.ted th""". They

are

listed in tbe

Gan"U

Wade tatalog (_

address abo"e) 1\0.

().jM03.01. $

1

3.95.

$ll..ll·():,\ ('·AJlH11)t;SLl·RftY. As far 3$ \"C

can

deli!lllIine, lhl'l'e'. only une source for silicon cal'bide slUrry. It'. R valve grinding

compound used in the automotive industry for grindin!! the \'3h'c seats on engille heads. According to the manufactu.'e. Per·

m.tex. the only place to purchase it i"

through

a

1O<'a1auto patl..~stOre. They also

mentioned thRt it may not

b.

available at

every 8UtopartS store

"'",all.e

ifgnOIused

very often. Ifit's nOl available

at

the auto

parts store

you check. the~' recommend

you

,..k

th. parts 510re who their Per·

matex di.tributor is and c'tlntatl him to

loc.,.teSOmeOnein your

area

that

cames it.

The val\'e grinding compeund comes in only tl\'Osize•. l~oz. and

3

oz.

Inuur area, the

<mI.

were $J.68 for

l

'h

oz.

and $2.34 for

3

<Yl.

•

\\O<JIIS>lIT1t;Wben weusethe grinding

wheel for grinding woodworking tools,

we"" been tempted to use the side of the

grinding

wheel

rather

than

the

edge,

Are

there any problem.

wnh

u:ting the side of

a

grindinp;

wheel?

GLAI'L'I;Th~typeo[\\'heel found on mo.t bench j1;rindel'S is a type one,01'a strrugl,t

wheel This tJ'jleof wheel is not to

be

u.~l

01\

it..~

$ide. This is an unsafe pratlice 3n,I shou}() :tl('r:er

be

u$(.·d.

WQ()IlS\1tTII,So the normal grinding

wheel found

in

8woodworking shop should

lIot

be

used on its .ide?

GLA1'1"; That is correcl. You should u..,

th~ race ol'the perimeterofthe wheel only.

OUR CONCLUSIONS

Arter conducting the inter,~ews \lith

the

NOl'lon

Co.

officials,

Wetried to locate

all

of the different items lhat had been

mentionL'd. At limes, this seemed like the most difficult 1>8rtof the

article. Some

of lhe grinding whw],; weren't available at au.' local Norton disuibutOr, and many or

the tI~aning and truing devices were no·

where to

be

found in many of the major

woodwol'innJr

man

nrder catalog •.

CJ!l'o(I>l1<GWHEELs.'Weinfonned ,",orton

that we could not pUI·ch ••

e

their

32A-OO-t-S-VBE wheel at our local Norton

di~nibuto.· beca,u,,,,, he did not ha\'e it in

stock. For him l()order it forU$, we would

EOITOIl'S)(OTE;

A.ller

f(llki,,!!

to PI.

il 01

a

lau r dale. lie

I/O.'"

Ih.

/01/"''';119 91(iikli

IItS tn us.e Il'h~u pIlIThasi~(gNorto» gri,1difl{1 wheel»,

1,

F

ec "

Jl ur

a.I,iAlundum

II'htel

(lyp< ,0( abt'fJ.!li,'c)

t.

J6

or

60grit for g<llcra/ gri'ldillg, 1(/(}

g,,1for finis/li,'g

J. Eilll,'" H. I. or

J

grad, Ihardw.<88) ~. Eilll,,·.; or8 81",d,,1'(' (Sp<tl'illgOflhR

abrasirc

grni,p#)

;; \"Ir(/,i<l<l baud

"\'HE"

(holldill9 mtlhod)

AllY Norto» dis! ,·i/)"fOr.,hol<ld b<ouble

10

.•,tpplll

iI()ll (flillt

a

tl.'/rt'el

,,'itllifl

thes«

9uidl'li"t~. ((Illicit l('ill "'Ofk

,{'tIl Jrif}' atty

1('VOIi,''Ork; uti

«"pi

ie-at

;0'1.

talking about tool steel that is fairly hard.

So you'll want

a

cool cutting wheel to keep

the

burn

down,

because burn

damages that

kind of steel. On tool steel. Norton

recom-mends 32

Allmdlt'"

or 32A. 32A is8 real

cool cutting abrasive, and can be used

either wet or dry.

The 32A is an off-white wheel that's 3

form of aluminum oxide. towards the pure end of the spectrum. If you want a \'~ry.

"M)'soft action and. very cool cut you'll go

to

a aBA,

which is the purest form

oi'alumi-num oxide you

can

get. Probably the ideal

general purpose wheel for woodworking

would be a 32A.60-I-S-VBE or

something

close to thi s.

WO<)US'IfTH,\Vc've been experimenting with dre ssing sticks and dressing wheels, OJ"sUIT wheels. to clean up our grinding

wheel •. Can you

tell U'the proper

way

to

use lht.~t()ol~'!

WETTt;S(:P.I.,A dressing ~tick is gen·

erally JUStPUtup t(l the fQeeoftne wheelto

open

up the face and

clean any metal

that

might be clugging the wheel. It'll clean the wheel, but it won't true it.

1\·I)<)I):;'\lITH,

So

it takes off the glazing~

WIITT~M't)I.;Ril,-nt, "xartly

\\'OOI)$\'IT11: I~ there an)' \.\'3)' you can

keep glnzing from building up on the

\\'heel? ArC' there an)' maintenance

proee-dures which

will

keepit from get tin)! bold? Or d" you just have to hit with

a dre..

ing

stick every

so often?

\It:1TE~CEL; Ideally. you try to get the right wheel specificatio(1.< for whatever

material

you're grinding. \Vith the right

specification s,

the wheel

will

break

down

11ta certain point b,:fure it gel;- to where

vou

would

have

to

dress

it.

It

will

"self·

dre~!l;,"

more Or

less,

W()(m~MITH

So

. if you have \ wheel that i. matched fur your purpose, y~u really

• huuldn't have tOil much of a glazing

problem?

\\'~TTI:~C.I:I.;Right. it would be very

minimal, I'm net j!:Oillg to say none,

be-e.II~"

lhat would be ".1'), difficult to achi."e.

Jr

you get no glazing. the wheel ;"

probably so dog·gone soflthatit won't hold

it. shape. It won't hold the $hape ~f what

)'ou

are

grinding, and it will wear away !'oO

fast that you will not

be

utilizing all of the

abr:'\$i\'e. So )'on

"'llnl lO

make sure

[t'f.

hard enough to utili7k all of the abrasive

grains.

WQ(lI)SMITU;\Vh.t are th~ dl'essing

(star) wheel and the .iol(lu Iloint diamonil

IIstod

for?

wt:TTE~G.:I,; Generally the dressing

(.tal') wheel would actuall~' be caUed

a

truing whed. Either the truing wheel or the .ingle point dfamond "ill be both true

3nd

dl'C$S

the wheel. Most people

lind

it

ea..';er

tou,,,,,

a

single point diamulld than

a

truing wht>elto true and dress the wheill.

You

ran

mount the single peint diamond on

a

block and jU8t pa.'!S

it

back

and

forth

a<I'OSsthe

[ace

of the whoul and that I\ill d",,,. and true it right up.

1I'0(05)IITII:Are there any guidelines

for purch,..il1g wheels for woodwOI'king

too!'?

1\ F.TTl:.'o(GIfu Generally speaking. you're

EUJTOK"S ~f)'ffo!: \1'f uls.() l('Ult/~d ta find

(Jl.t flf}ottt

llu:

carl!

ul.d

)/U,i/~tc'tal,('e 0.(

grrlldi'1ty

ulheels.

For IJ,~.~informctio» '~'e

lalked

10

Phil W"«olly,'lnlld Ilirh

Glo"ill,

Pl'ad,tr"t

r:J,gilt~l)r8 [or

ilu: l\'tJri()~

(·(II'iptl)/Y·

out of It u"ing the eas t Iron plate

allu

"illc'O"

7

~ ....1'"

,n:,enet!

t.hrouRh •

h"ll' In th. block Then, to keep it from :hpp)l1~_ I dnlll~1 another hole on top for • ""',n (thr",u"'d) in,;ert and thumb sCI...·W I~(' p.ll~ 12for more onusing ftdiamond l)<lint rod to

o

re••

grinding wheel$.)

,. PIl01HOU

DIAMOND POINT HOLDlR

1)1.&01000,Mllnt tMJln~ rod- ~tr\'\('f)' mce

(or truin~ Md dr"\":'-~'ng the (aCt''I(agrtf!(1

InjC\\ ht'\.'t. HO\li'e\'t:-f.

it

j~(lifrl('lllll.J mo\,'

thi,.,

roci

1""

~trcUJ.!hl~l00lh moliclllllt.·n~...~ Ih(,

f"""

of the !!Iincllng whe~1.

I made P .implc little bloek tl>hold Ihl> roct, 'fht· t)I(H:k i~ju~t a pit-ct· of 2\·1 :oo.('rdll ttimmt"Ct (to""" to Z' \Ii'ide. I Nt a

V.-,

I'"

nlblllCL tl'l lht.. b.;llum lh fClrm d ..hcJUJI'l·r

that nil, .. 1lI:~1 the tOl'11...·'1

lhl' ..141nl'~""(~'''-' "ruing), .;\Ot·!·the ~hh'JIoi

01').ju.t rUI th(, bo, in hIJf(I"I\~"h\l,I\") to

~·p.aralt.' lhl lell)fnlm the bcuom C'l'hL"I

can

b...

11111}l

a....

l

"I,

ril. rul~ on .t

'.it,1l"

ti.M\\ •

or U1one nrt on a band saw )

CUllH HAll'urta ASS£MIlY

~ _I

):ou'f\' hIJnin),!.

I macI,,·

thlh

~ll)nt_·OOX (rum

r' ....I\\clJIlJjl

Cut

a

Illl~

(ur

th\'

bottom t-!clnj.!'t·)·"ncll

" dt"r'

th ••"

tht' ~I.)nt·. 111.,'11cut tht' 111\'t't~

for the tidl~ Ililtl

(·nd~

I hl)!her ("id,'r) than Ibe totOf\(' I:' thick.

(iroul' th e 1'11'('\:'"an,uIlcl

,lx'

t\ttJlk~til

nu...k. I'\tl'\ th('~'fit, and lht'J\ cut U

,,,t.'t

0, ftll'

tho t(',t, lIlue ev l'J,)"thinJ,: lVj.!l'thl'r (r,'rn"\'I'

(bevpled at~~ un theln'lde t'<lll'-'ltolie lhe

two

;ides

together

This i~ the arranjtl'nwnt I like lhe

be.,t.

It pro"ideo Ampl•• urfa,,,· for wide chi",,]> or plane irons. And, It clln be positioned le,·.lto "'Juar. th.· "nd of a eh;'''', or tiiled down for the diamond !'oint truing rod.

STONf lOll

Thq

box ]

u...-e

for

aU of m)'

t>lora.>::o. ~ ju...'l.

an

impro,'ised \'"r-ionofthe eedu boxe, thaI come \\;th n" .. t

,\rkan_

,tOIl(o,.The <>n1y .hange 1 mad" is th" lenllth or the bott<>m.

I made the bottom aboul I longer lhan lh. .tone to provide cI(lmpmjl "winll"_" Th""" winll" allow you to clnml)the box to YOU)' wOI'khench so it doe.n·t .lide around os that are mirror im.~.· of .ach other- $0

the holes an' in IhI' ",'m,' I_"illon on both

.id1'5

of the!!lind,·r.

Simply bolt tho onlllnal tool rests to

the<e

arm" and thl.

atOll<'

,.bould

",,1\

e mo-t of the adju.tu11: "",blem.' "'hen W

tool

",.t

L, level

(nul IIltl'h. ,t

.hould

be about I" above the ••enter I"'mt ofthe .h.n for the grinding" h••,1 From there. you

canpivot both th,· nrm nndthe tool rest to

get any angle you want, and .till keep it

close enough to the grinding wheel to be

effective .

•:I'E~ BETTt:K

Th ..

arrangement

work e-dJino: until I

1K't,JI>d

"l;.t'l!\'r(lonj!cr) .uPI> n for the diamcnd point dresser

hokkor dL'<U".·c!

bel",.)

So

.

1 owIe some

nt'\~..

lOOI

~~ko"it

h

a palr vf ,- corner

iron...

(lrbrack e l$l.

1cut one"ann" ofthe corner lron short, and boiled it to th,' upnght (mending plate) ann. Then I ,,"d.,d 11 .In" of0/.. plywooU

WOOOSMITH

Il'm~ar~:(l.litllejt\\(>It'r·:- roU~1!

fir,

on,-zo,idt.·

to ~\'t·

the ~trop

8

liub- merv "bue."

'Ph,' oth~I'side is just plain Ipath.r rClrfin.t .troppinjl. (Jeweler's rouge can u.uall)

be

found .t Lapidary sup pI)' ,lo~,;lock in the Y"'lo" Paj:e,.l

IMPROVfD TOOL RfST

..\t th,' fliC'k DC a ~wilchmy :\ro,.. )..'lindt_tf

.t.1"$"

hiriing away-.plnnin;: the JlMnd ,,~ wl,..e1 at 172.>

RP

l

l

But lhal'8 .. here ItAIIII<·rul"..""ends, If you'v·e ever tncd to adju,t th.- ,,,,,I rest on

almo>t

any gnm"'r, you'\'('

come

face to face \\;th pour d.,

"!ti'

Tool "'"t. are "uppoSl'f1to pn)\"id".

n.t

surface to hold a chi.. 1 at the anRle )'ou ne<~1forgrinding. Cranted, the to"II'I'.1 on ollr SNlnl grinder is fully aciju'IRhl." and It', I"""'ibl~ to >'Ilt it at • 2.> 8n{(l" for gnndinl!: a

ehi.-el.

But •.• wben it's set at lh"t anQ'lp, I'OU'",form! to

work

on til<-tra,hnl( a", (bottom

halO

of the wh,..,1 "here It', d,(· ficult to see what'& going on. Aloo. at :!.';

til., tool ...,.t mu.t be pivot'..! tex, far .W8)

from the gnnding wbeel to Imnd .hort

(but" chioct..

To ~oh'e this problem, I made" litlle modification. M shown in the drawinJ{,1 addl~1an upnjlhl "arm" on eRch.id,· orthe J!11ndcr These anns arc cut fr<lm8 1°,10'

mcndinll plate. and then bolted into the hole, (.. here lhe onginal tool r<'tot6w.re)

,..llh

V

.,

I" <arriage bol1». I

'l1OP 'on:.l1eoding plate>'<are available at any hard,,-are store. I 0.«'(1 th~ I',IU" 1,·nJl1.h

bec-..

u.-e

it's a little thick.r than lh .. shorter .~ •.

Also.

since some of the pre·

d

l

;II<'<I

hole~ on this plate are cenlered IIDd

some art off cente

r

,

I

C

U

ll

\\

'o l'ecti()

f

lS out

o( lh" plate ••• ~howll. to {(N two "arm."

GlUEUAfM'l "AD TO'''S(

{),II of tile

be...

t wavs to remove the \\lrt·

...Ig,

(burr) from

a

dti.",1 ;,

"ith

a

k>atll<-r .m'ppmg pad. I made m~ 0"n t.1mPJ'InG p:Ill

by

glumg ;j

xu

patehe- ef Ieoth~r tu bo,th sid,,,, uf. wooden "paddle'." tl.eatll<-r

8('rBI)8BTl'available at an~'

Tu,

11,( lk:lth"r FtOI'l',or

y

,

·u can u.se an

old

b-h

I

-....,

LEATHfRSTROPPING PAD

__

Sha~ening Aids

GADGETS THAT GET THE POINT

•

•

•

WOOOSMITH

8

•

•

3

8''(0,.., grilldillg th. /wo.I, tile "[ron!"

edge

""'$(

beuactly

perpendicular 10

the

.ide.,

Mol" the

<iliad ;11/0 II..

Hlheel

''f>rll s/uff'ly. thmt rJltck Ii'fih (l Iql(lre.

2

To

hOIl~

'i<~

lact

(fku} 8id"

I

hl)ld 1I1~

cltiscllQ(RJtly

ill

my

light halld,

Theil

applll

£II""

P"$'"''

(uh"o.1 .ll'all/lll

dowlI) with Ihtlill!I'''' of !III/Iefl/unlli,

•

the Slone) b held l(J{)$eiy in my right hand There should

be

enough pressure on the lip or the chisel !;Oif)I'OUwere to remove

your

right hand, the chisel would remain nat on the stone,

(Editor'S Note:

I'm right-handed. so

these instruction. are from that per-spective, ,

To hone the face. just move the chisel

over

t

he diamond or coarse

J ndiu

stone in a

baek-and-Iorth motion, As you're honing the face, the trick

is

to apply

aU

the pres-sure straight down, That is,

so

you don't drive the

leading

edge oflhe chisel into the

stone

and

create a beveled

(or worse,

rounded)

surface.

"a'ou n('le<1()nl~thone enough so there's a flat surface across the full width of the chisel at the very tip (the cutting edge',

POI,.ISIIISCTHE "'CE, Since both the dia-mond or

the coar se India

stone leave

a

rough texture, [ switch to

a

nne /1I4il1 stone first and then to a

son

Arkansas

stone to polish the face nlmost gla •• smooth,

IIESt'I;I'S,The photo on the lOP

shows

the results of

this

flatlening

nnd

honing

opera-tion, The L-shaped

area

ncar the tip

of

the chisel is the result of flattening a chisel

with a concave

warp

on the (ace side. Also.

you

can

see how the orig; nal grinding

marks have

been

r,otished

to

a

"",ooth

surface.

GRINDING THE CLEARANCE ANGLE In order for 0 chisel to do its job, the working end must

be

shaped to produce 8 CUllingedge, The exact a.ngle you choose depends to some extent on the silo{!(width) of the chisel, plus a little on personal pref-erence, At lhe very least, you have to

grind some sort of clearance angle on the end of. ehise] UI form a "wedge,"

CO~SIlH:R.'TIONS.'I'he angle of this wedge (the clearance angle)

i.

a b.l.nl'e shape, see Fig, I, Even if the chisel is Oat

to begin with, you'd <till have 10 go th.rough

tIlis

same operation

because

of the coarse grinding

marks

left from tho lap-ping SLone

used

to grind the face of the chisel,

So,

the first step is to flatten (honel the faee side of the chisel,

HO)(I"(: THE FACE, The whole

P''O<'<':;'

L' simple, but it's

a

lot of work, Cetting

a

Oat

surface , , ,

on

hard

steel , , ,

by

hand is

just plain hard work, It can

be

done on

a

coarse [/ldia stone. but you

\\

;11

pl'obably

wear down before

the chisel

does, I use

one

of those new-fangled diamond abrasive

stones - it makes the initial process alot

faster and easier.

All of the flauening work is done Onthe first \Ii' or so at the lip (cutting edge) of the

chisel. The stone i, posuioned MI it', at

about a 45' angle to my

body

,(We're show-ing an

l ..dia

stone in Fig, 2,but process is exactly the same with a diamond stone,'

'!'hen with the firslt wo fingehl of my lcl\ hand, I apply pressure on the end of the chisel. The rest of the chisel (hanginl( ofT

1

/

I/II~I

{

tue

faeeb,'

flall,,,.d

of

th» elusel

0<0'0$8is

warped.

III.

fullit

K,idl},

(It tilt

tip, ,

1

/,0, IIff

,wigi>!,,1gri/ld, ;1'0 'tlorks ntllsl bt rt",ot'rff

(s",oothed,_

CONC,tlVi a,aCJC

~

.

"_,

,

.

..--NQonewould deny the necessity of sharp tools -

«

dull tool just rl,,~,.n't rut it. Yet, th. technique

of sharpening

seems to

es-cape most of us,

I

suppose one reason is that "sharp" has an image of

perfection.

Alm.,1 .barp doesn't work. Absolutely sharp is what we're after ... and that's not easy to attain.

The actual process of sharpening a "hisel iM s-impl~'a matter c)fgeometry, \\'hat we want to dois gH two surfaces of the chisel to meet at It singl. point -

the

cUlting

edge, Since

this.

involve, almost

micro-scopic aceuracy,

you r.ally

can't see what

you're doing. until you're done. In..stead. you have to "feel" your way through the

sharpening process, This, o(

course.

re--quires a certain touch.

But, what is "sharp?" As mentloned above, it's. matter of getting iwe surfaees

(Ii the ehisel

to meet at

a

single point. The

two surfaces involved here are the beveled

edge

and the face (or nat) ,;ide

of

the

chisel,

It seems only natural at this point to

launch into.

discussion

of mnding

angle!<

and honing

angles

But no

mauerwhat

you do to the

beveled

edge, you

can never get

a truly sharp chisel unless the fa('(' (Oat)

"id~

of the

chisel

Is smooth first, HONING THE FACE

The

race >;ide

of

a

chisel may look

shinv anet

nat to the naked eye, b~l locks .,an b. deceiving. Moot new chisel.

are

actually warped (either convex or concave),This is the result of the manufaclu.illg

precess,

In order to get

a

good cutting edge,

the

steel must be tempered to a certain hard-ness. Sinee

tempering

involver.. healing and cooling, it not only change; the molecu-lar structure of the steel so il becomes "hard," it

.

1

;;0

ha.sall effect on the shape of the finished piece - it

(O.uall,) warp.,

If the face of the chisel i~ warped, the final cutting edge

,,'m

also take on this FACt fRAt} SlOE

OF

oosa

Sha~ening Technigu

_

es

_

9

6

To o.ecuraldy cJ"ck Ilttollglt, I I«!~11swivel protracllJr.gnndlng

Or.

/kl.U/illg ",.

Iht willih

of

tit.

chiael, OUl

angl~

til"

bf

onywMre[rom!l5'

10

30'.

bought

this

prolractor at

Soars.

~\'eral wood"'orkmg catalogs

also

carry them.)

CH£(,"I'G THE PROGRESS.Once you've got the right angle, it's just

a

matter of lelling the wheel do its job. Grindin~ should be done in

a

smooth even motion ~ro.~ ~he

face

(perimeter) of the grinding wheel. After two

Or

three

passes,

chl~k the pTOgrI!bS of the grinder marks,

and

mal<e-ure th~ chisel doesn't gel too hot. I u,ually make three or four

paues

acro-, the wheel at a time -

U,IOI!

a .low count to •to judge

the

length of time the chi""l is 10 contat1. with the wh

ee

l

,

Then

dip the end of the chisel in some water to cool it off.

You should be able to touch the end of the ehisel now without burning your

nngel"8.Thill is a ne ....rous moment at fi...1 until you get

used

to how hot th,'

chilli'"

geL', how long it takes to ge~ that hot, and how quielUy it cools down.

\\'h"ne\'cr the chisel

is

removed to eeolu

in

"at~r, or to check the progre" of t .... gnnding, keep your right index Iinj1(·rIn

the same po_Ilion on tM chisel se It

can

be addruse<i to the wheel at cxat1.ly the .. me $pot each time.

Unle"" you're changing the entire anJ{I~, you don't have to grind all the way to the

tip. I u.ually stop a little short. All you get closer and closer to the tip, the bevel get.. thinner and thinner, and it's very clI10y to over-heat.

PRODI.E~ Oaa<ionally. thinl!S don't go exactly according tc plan. Allyou,", gnncI. iog ." ay, all of a sudden th~ lip of the chisel tu"", blue. Stop. You'\'(> go~ too

far. The blue color indieates that the tern· per of the

.tee!

has

been

-drawn." "'hen steel tUrIIl!a blue color. it h"" son.ened to the point that it

will

no longer hold a ~harp edge.

This over·heating can happen very qUickly,and Ihe culprit is usually "glazinl(' on the wheel. SLOpand dress the wheel to remove all

<igns

of glazing. Then continue (O'ind~ until the blue steel is remo\'ed.

,.. ,ho" n in ~ bottom photO, the ~ ,uJt of tho. eO'ort

and

care should he a hollo,,· ground b<-\'ei, ";th e\'en gnndlng

mart...

acrou

i\3 width - a beautiful sight.

5

l.lld.thf

chI'''' across lire

whullt'i1h

"'11lejllir"mb.

"~I)rgIlly

right

md.x

.(111ger03a 8t"P agai".t th~ 1001

rest.

Ajlt:r

" Or~ pass ...

dip it

in

"",'er

to

cool

il.

-onthe market that allo" you to grind on •

flat, rotating stone thaI produ<etl a flat be\·el.

Also,

you

can

get • flat bevel by u.ingone of those small bell sander stands.

Caution: Although It'. tempting to grind

a

Oat bevel on the "side" of • grinding

wheel,

it's notII

good

idea

unless

the wheel

and

the grinder are .p<~illeally designed for

this

type of grinding.

~ second choice -

hollow

-grinding-is ~ natoral ~ult of ennding done on

the

face (perimeter) 0[ • round grinding wbeel, As the bevel is ground. It take. on LM

ohape

0[ the curve of the wheel and be-comes concave or hollow·ground, Fig. 4.

Okay. let's say you've got an electric grinder, the grinding wheel

is

dressed and trued (see page 12), and you're ready to hollow·grind a new bevel on your most expensive chisel.

ROLLOII'-1:RIXDIl'CTo hollow-grind a.

bevel on an elecuic grinder. a<ljust the tool rest ." close ..< you can to th.. angle )'ou want.

This

in itaelf can be • real ha.<sleon mo.t grincler>. To help !leI

and

keep the angle 1 want, 1 u-e th.· grinding stand arrangement shown on pal!\' 7. (Isuppose if you're really

good

you can free-hand it, but I'm not Ihal goed.)

1 grip the chisel near the cutting edge with my right hand, ,,"ing my right index linger as a kind of stop against the toOlrest of the grinder. Then I push the chisel seress the full width of the wheel

with

my left thumb, Fig. 5

CHECXDC Tilt: ""CI.t .•

Ea.e

the chisel into the wheel, but mal<eonl, one pas" to begin

",tiL

nit'"

flap

il 0'er to """ if you

have the grindang (c1earand') anlde you

want.

If),ou want to keep the ... meanglewt'~ already on the chisel, the grinding marks

should be centered bet ween the tip

and

the heel. If you want to increal'(' Lheangle, the grinding markr! .hould "" mol'(!towan! the lip (cutting edge); and 10 decrea."" the

angle, the marks .hould be more toward

the heel of the bevel.

This prooedure j!i\'e8 kind of a -ball

park- angle. For mort' accuracy. I take a few more

pa_<.._

o\'er the wheel and check the angle wilh a protractor. Fig. 6. (I

WOODSMITH

4

II'Jrrll

gn"di'<I1""

tJae[at~(pmma")

of

u gnllding Wheel,

II"

~elfd tdgt

1<',11 bf

hollow-gT()IJ.nd

(ro"cove),

but Ihe

/iI,o/

lII'glr iR

",.."."'N!d

[''0111

lip 10

htft.

HOUOW'.

ClIOli+<.

1M!

•

I

between removing enough steel so the

eut-•

bnlt edge will act.ually slice through the

wood,

but not 80 much >0 the tip of th~

ehisel

I. too thin (weald to hold up under tho .hock of pounding It into the wO(><I.

Although you

can

ge~

very

nu-

picky ab()u~what precise angle te grind,

I

gen· erally .hoot for something around

2S

to

00

"

-dependinlP;on what the ehisel i. being

WIed

for, and how

"ide

it i•.

Th< width of

the ehisel play ••

pu't '"

detenruning tM clearance an,le

betause

•

th~ wider the chisel, the greater the amount of total

.urface area

that mu-t be forced thnlU~h the wood. (Since a chag~1L'

reaU),

8

wedge.

you

can see

how much

more surface area comes in contact "1th the

wood

as you go from a narrow to IIwide chi!l('l.)

For 'bench chisels or paring chl..-I. that IU'.I." than %"wide. I usually grand830

an~l.to gi\'e them a litt.le mn", "m.'.t" on lh.· beveled edge. As the "idth of the chll'ellncn>a._ up to I", IIo"ert .... gnnd·

in~

anld.. to 25' to

'b!'

.

On

chlS('l, o'er ). "ide th .. angle can be reduced to t..little

I.l'zt

';Qt 'll1"C THE 1::\1). So. now you're

ready to grind the clearance angl.. Rut b<iforeyou PUI the chisel toOthe grinding wheel, Atop.The "front" eutting<'llge must

be

exactly perpendicular to the .ides ofthe

•

chisel

1rhed< tm. with a

small

try "'lUIIn'.

and

I

CO"""t any variation byeasingthe cut llng edge .traight into

the

gnndln~" heel, ~'i~ 3. Don't overdo iL

Just

a .light bu of p__

BUn',,;11take o1Talot of steel,

Once

the~n<l

I. sqU3l'\' you

can

proceed "ith grindang th~ clearance .nlde.

!fOllOW GRINDING

Al thi. iX.int, the end of the ohi•• 1i."<Iuor~ and th~ faee ~ide is flat, but now you have another decillion l.O make. The fini.hed

<hape of thIS bevel can be eilher nat ground (thaI is, a flat surface frorn Ihe lip

10lhe heel of the bevel). or hollo" ·ground

«lightly ('()nc3\'e from tip to heell.

~Iost lie" chisel. come from lhe man·

ufacturer ";th a flat grouncIlx>vel. There

are

(.,.th~r expen....ive) grinding machin<.