welly
New Member
Posts: 1
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Post by welly on Jan 17, 2019 23:17:26 GMT
Hi all,
I bought a ProEdge fairly recently to use for sharpening my wood turning tools. So far, so good. It’s a great piece of equipment! I’m dabbling in wood carving and have a small selection of carving tools and am wondering if anyone has any advice on using the ProEdge for sharpening my carving tools? What belt would be most suitable and what angle might I need to use? Any tips or advice would be much appreciated! I’ve got a mixture of Ashley Iles and Pfeil carving tools.
thanks!
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Post by Pete on Jan 23, 2019 17:15:32 GMT
Hi Welly
I am not really qualified to answer, but seeing as nobody else has...
Belt the highest grit that does the job you need, i.e. if your tools are sharp and clean edged then go with a 240, if they are in need of a bit more metal taken off but still clean edged then a 120, if the edge is chipped and you need to reshape it then start with the 60. if they are in great shape maybe the 600 or higher is worth a try? Same as in sanding wood don't skip a grade or you will never polish out the scratches.
For the angle, first find out what they are supposed to be, if they are close and it is an angle built into the ProEdge then it's worth going with those makes it easy to reset and maintain. I think most are 15 to 20 degrees. Alternatively use the black marker pen trick, i.e. coat the bevel in ink, guess the bevel and touch the belt moving it by hand if you get a clean line of ink removed top to bottom then you got it right, if not adjust and try again. Once you have it write it on the handle with a sharpie to make the next sharpening quicker.
I only have one carving tool, the omnipresent spoon gouge, but since wooden spoons are about half the cost of the timber to make them from I have only ever done one, which makes it the most expensive tool in the kitchen!!
Hopefully someone with more experience will jump in and give you a better answer, I just hate to see questions unanswered and the forum unused.
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gus
New Member
Posts: 16
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Post by gus on Jan 27, 2019 2:38:37 GMT
I carve and join (not often turn) but found many of my carving tools too short shanked to sharpen with the pro edge, as bought.
I altered a jig, made another and still need to do some freehand but my carving tools have never been sharper and shaped better.
I go right to A6 then use a leather disk with green as a strop.
When I get back to Australia I'll post some photos of my jigs/guides etc.
Also the Sorby spoon gouge guide goes well, after a bit of figuring.
Cya
Gus
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gus
New Member
Posts: 16
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Post by gus on Jan 27, 2019 2:38:39 GMT
I carve and join (not often turn) but found many of my carving tools too short shanked to sharpen with the pro edge, as bought.
I altered a jig, made another and still need to do some freehand but my carving tools have never been sharper and shaped better.
I go right to A6 then use a leather disk with green as a strop.
When I get back to Australia I'll post some photos of my jigs/guides etc.
Also the Sorby spoon gouge guide goes well, after a bit of figuring.
Cya
Gus
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Post by peter346 on Feb 7, 2019 23:59:30 GMT
Hi Gus, Welly and all
I've just signed up to the forum and look forward to browsing the posts.
Gus, I too am a carver living in Australia (Sydney). I've just bought a ProEdge Delux (was on special at Carbatec!) and am now looking at ways to make it more woodcarving tool friendly. I quickly noticed the same issues you commented on. Also looking forward to seeing your setup of jigs/guides etc.
welly, I would suggest an edge angle of 20 degrees for softer woods (bass/lime wood), 25 degrees for harder woods (oak) and up to 30 degrees for very hard woods (some Australian timbers), and also when making larger cuts during roughing out using a mallet. If you carve a mixture of softer and harder woods, go for the 25 degree angle.
Cheers
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Post by slimjimbones on Jan 9, 2020 22:11:11 GMT
I too am having a few problems with using the PE for my carving tools. I would love to see some photos on how to make maybe some jigs that would make the sharpener more carving tool friendly. I will say I bought almost all of the accessories including both knife jigs. When I went to sharpen kitchen knives the PE performed very well for my first time. Also I bought the honing wheel and the buffing wheel. The buffing wheel I am very impressed with. It has really done wonders for all my carving tools. If anyone should know what tool I should buy to form the honing wheel for my carving gouges I would really appreciate it. Thanks
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Post by Clive Brooks on Jan 10, 2020 9:24:44 GMT
Thank you to 'peter346' for the good advice regarding cutting angles and as always the useful information contributed by Peter.
I hope 'gus' will be able to post some images of his specific jigs/guides as I am sure they will be very useful to other members
'slinjimbones'...The honing wheel is manufactured from a hard rubber compound with the abrasive material impregnated into it. One of the easiest ways to remove the shoulders on the outer edges and shape it to suit the flute your specific gouges is to use a carborundum stick, sometimes known as a 'devil stone' which is a small stick made from a silicon carbide usual used for dressing carborundum bench grinder wheels.
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Post by slimjimbones on Jan 10, 2020 23:40:49 GMT
Thanks Clive I believe that I have one.
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Post by Paul Kerrey on Dec 6, 2020 2:46:16 GMT
I brought the Pro Edge the other day and was wondering how I would sharpen curved carving gouges. I posted an ad to sell the Fingernail Profile kit that came with my Pro edge reasoning that as a carver I would have no use for a turning tool jig.
Then I thought maybe the Fingernail jig would actually work with my curved carving gouges, and it does works very well.
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Post by billstan01 on Jan 17, 2021 21:19:29 GMT
I brought the Pro Edge the other day and was wondering how I would sharpen curved carving gouges. I posted an ad to sell the Fingernail Profile kit that came with my Pro edge reasoning that as a carver I would have no use for a turning tool jig. Then I thought maybe the Fingernail jig would actually work with my curved carving gouges, and it does works very well. Hi Paul, I have a pro edge, which I use for my wood turning tools, and am just getting into carving. JUst wondered if you could give some more details on the type of tools that you use the fingernail profile kit for and what settings you use. Cheers, Bill |
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Post by Paul----Vancouver B.C. on Jan 18, 2021 18:04:27 GMT
Hi Bill,
I started carving about 5 years ago, I live in Vancouver, British Columbia. I had always admired the 1st Nations, Pacific West Coast style masks but could never afford to buy a nice one. So decided to have a go myself.
Not knowing anything about carving I dived into it head first quickly finding out that sharp tools are the most important thing. Started off using basswood then switched to Western Red cedar which along with Yellow Cedar is the
wood most commonly used by 1st Nation mask carvers. I started off sharpening using DMT diamond plates but found it such a slow process I switched to a Worksharp 3000 which was a huge improvement I then added a Veil (made
in Quebec) 1"x42" belt grinder and used a dremel with a felt wheel for honing, all this stuff is taking up space on the bench so a few months ago I realised ,if I sold all my sharpening gear I could afford the Robert Sorby Pro Edge.
I found the Sorby Pro Edge to be a huge improvement to my somewhat limited sharpening skills, Western Red Cedar is very soft and the fibres crush very easy so sharpness and consistant angles are a must.
I got the Short Tool platform jig which I use most of the time and I use the finger nail profile jig that came with the Pro Edge for curved gouges. I use the Blue belt for reprofiling tools if needed then the red belts and then
I have three trizact belts which are great. I also got the pig tail for a buffing wheel. I did some online research into Buffing wheels and hard Felt profiled buffing wheels and found the best and cheapest place to get these is from
a Jewelry tool/repair supplier and as luck would have it there are two shops in Vancouver.
I hope this is of some use to you, I am not an expert (at all) and I still struggle with the Western Red Cedar, but the mask I am near completing was started after I got the Pro Edge and it has made life so much easier. Also I have
more room on the bench now.
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