Screw it.

[Sonny Edmonds]

I need a bowl gouge, damn it.
So I ordered the Ellsworth bowl gouge from Woodturners.
Done. Fini.
Sit on my butt till it gets here making pretend I'm working with real tools.
Practice, Practice, Practice.
Cut blanks, cut blanks, cut blanks.
Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum.
Paint the hall and living room.

CHIT!
I HATE to paint. And then all I want to do is spray paint. PITA!
When it's done it's done.
Screw it! :)
But Betty and I will be glad it's over. Fini on the house! Bring in the carpet layers.
Leave my a$$ alone in the shop. I have remodeling burnout. 2 years in the making.
One last push and it's kick back time for a while.
And a passion for a new way to find the soul of the wood.
I told Ya's I got it baaadddd!

:D

Sonny Edmonds
"Precision Firewood Specialist"
http://home.earthlink.net/~sonnypie/
God Bless America !

[volleyheads]

Sonny,

If it is possible, I would suggest to buy the bowl gouge of the size you want that is cheapest and then put the grind on it that you desire. The grind will usually be a conical type of grind, but it only takes a few minutes to shape it more to what you wish, especially using a jig to help get you there. The advantage you will get from the gouge already coming with the Ellsworth Signature grind is that you will know what you are aiming for.

Best Regards,

Bill

"If it is worth doing, it's worth overdoing"

[Lou_williams]

But, without a jig to help you it will be an inch long before you learn how to free hand it.

Tormek.


Now I thought I could do without. Three jigs later and still not a good profile on any of my gouges and I gave up...

Tormek.


Sharpening turning tools is different

Tormek.

BTW does anyone hear an ecko.

[Marilyn]

Lou,

Does this mean you are recommending the Tormek way of life? :)

(I mentioned something about getting one to John and he harumphed and muttered that the bench grinder we have (circa 1940 from his dad) was plenty good) But if one just magically "appears"...sorta like his 20" drill press, the big Milwaukee drill and the bosch jigsaw, I am sure it would get used...)

[Sonny Edmonds]

Yeah Lou,
There is an echo.
Listen. Hear it?
Sounds like an 800 dollar echo to me. LOL
How about you come down sometime and convince me with a demo? :)

:D

Sonny Edmonds
"Precision Firewood Specialist"
http://home.earthlink.net/~sonnypie/
God Bless America !

[Lou_williams]

Sonny,

I will be glad to. But, you can get a faster on at that woodshow comming your way soon.

Sonny,

I don't recomend expensive tools just because they are sexy. I looked at that tool for years. I thought that I could do what it does without spending that much money. I bought a new slow bench grinder, new wheel, a couple of different jigs, and a fingernail jig from Lee Valley. I also own the Maketa hoizontal water stone machine. I have been sharpening tools for years. I know a good edge and can get a polished edge with my water stones on a plane iron.

After many many tries and lots of catches and not getting the right profile even with the special jigs and lots of shop built effort, I spent the 600 for the Tormek.

Now, the final thing that push me over the edge was our forum Frugal king Limey. When he moved from the UK the only powertool he brought with him was his Tormek. Had to have the motor redone to work here.

What I can tell you is in two hours I had a polished edge on every tool I own. Faster easier better edges than I could get unless i spent much more time on just one edge.

I know both you and others can get good sharp tools without a Tormek, for normal tools. And after a few years of practice you might be able to free hand a gouge. But you will have spent more on buying tools than you will have paid for the Tormek.

If someone had been this straight we me two years ago I would still have the Tormek, but I would still also have about 250 that I spent trying to do the same thing.

[Limey]

Lou,
I'm really pleased that my contribution led you to the Tormek and that ithas met or exceeded your expectations. As you know by the posts I rarely go with the "latest and greatest" and hesitate to recommend stuff unless I'm sure that it will suit more than my idiosyncratic ways. It still bugs me to see the price charged for some of the attachments ......I know I'm paying for the idea... but as yet I haven't seen the same fervour generated by any other sharpening system and I don't believe it's a case of purchasers shouting loud to justify the bucks they have spent.
Mine is the unavailsble (in US) 8" model and it hasn't hiccupped in 12 years ...6 years at least of regular use.
Just a tip and I don't mean to say something that is obvious but using the "devil stone" to change the effective grit is something I avoid doing if I can as it wears the stone away at a rapid rate. I use it just to clear the pores when I see the darkening due to metal clogging the surface. I find that using the leather stropping wheel and grinding paste will polish the edge equally well regardless of whether I dressed the stone to a finer slurry or not.
Once again it does hearten me to know that it has brought a change of perspective to your sharpening and for me it does take a lot of the tension away knowing that I can put a razor edge on anything..consistently and almost blindfolded.
I can spend and devote my worry to the job in hand.!

Cheers limey

[dicklaxt1]

This looks like it is going from a "Monkey See" to a "Monkey Do"


I see where I am destined to be a Tormek owner but I will wait until I get my feet wet in this new turning club and its annual retreat coming up next month...some body there may have one and be mad at it.The plans are to have 48 lathes going that weekend so there will have to be some sharpening going on.

Gladys is going ooooh and aaaaaah over some of those Pics that Bill posted so I don't expect any static from the War Department.

dick

[volleyheads]

My only problem with my tormek is when changing geometries of the grind it is pretty slow, especially for the bowl gouge. So my solution has been to use the tormek to dress a tool, but for major changes, I use a slow speed/high sopeed bench grinder with a homemade vesion (read copy from tips on one of his videos) (great videos by the way) of the Ellsworth jig. Seems to be the best solution for me. Another nice grinding jig system for the bench grinder aimed at turning tools is the Wolverine from Oneway.

Best Regards,

Bill

"If it is worth doing, it's worth overdoing"

[Lou_williams]

It was the wolverine that I gave up on. I don't find the regrind that long on the Tormek. I had to regrind all my lathe tools when I got it. That is only 6 but, I had all of them polished to a raser edge, and all my bench chisels, my plane irons, my marking knife, A carving knife and every good blade from my kitchen all in under two hours.

The lathe tools needed a lot of work to get them to the right profile. But it was much faster than any other system I have tried.