Blueing My Tools


AdamAronson

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Hi all,

 

Newbie turner here who just received a One Way Wolverine and various jigs this week. Set everything up according to plans with my Delta grinder (1725-3450RPM). My low grit wheel is a stock Delta 80 grit aluminum oxide. The high grit is a Norton 150 grit also aluminum oxide. Tools are an assortment of HSS tools from Sorby, Bodger and PSI.

 

It seems I'm having a real touch time not blueing any of the tools. Even using a light touch. Am I spending too much time on the wheel? I'm not using 3450RPM setting - always the low setting. Of course the problem is exaggerated when I am regrinding. For instance, regrinding a bowl gouge from 45 to 60 or using the Vari Grind to turn a standard grind into an Irish grind lead to my blueing the tips and wings.

 

While we're at it... Any recommendations on basics or sharpening videos (YouTube or DVD)?

 

Thanks!

 

Adam

 

 

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Yes you are spending too much time on the grinder. If you are changing the profile this is difficult to not do, but once your profile is changed you should be doing no more then one or two passes on a stone before using. You are just sharpening at that point so it doesn't need to be a lot.

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Your just bring you edge back like apple stated you only need one-two passes. Maybe look into geting a low temp wheel for sharpening. My set up at home is a 8 inch grinder for shaping a second low speed grinder with cool wheels for sharpening, and a third grinder with mdf wheels for honing the blade to a razor edge ( that's mostly for my carving tools)

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Is it actually blue/black or just a straw color? Also what are the designations of the wheels, how friable are they?

ignoring the questions above I can say the following:

Hss has a critical temperature of roughly 2200 degrees fahrenheit. Getting a tool that hot is pretty hard to do if you're holding it anywhere near the cutting edge. Basically it's pretty hard to screw up the temper of hss. Other tools steels on the other hand are a different story.

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  • 5 weeks later...

+1 on Dan's comment about getting hss too hot to ruin the steel.  Pretty easy to do on old carbon steel tools but today's steels are pretty tough to get that hot.  You're more likely to ruin the cutting edge by mis-grinding than by overheating the steel. 

 

However, with that said, I use white friable wheels on a slow speed grinder and keep a cup of water handy.  Mainly because I can control the grind so much better and I can touch the edge after a dip in the water.

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