Shopsmith Forums

shydragon wrote:Yes, I went a head and signed up for the three day event. It was only $167.00. I thought that was pretty cheap. And I definately need the classes.

The good thing, it is only a month away. Should be a lot of fun. Are we required to bring anything, or is everything provided?

Hi shydragon,
Bring a notebook and pen. Take notes. Rick does not provide these, although he does have a hand out for you to keep.

I will be atttending all three classes in Des Moines in Washington in May. I have been to the traveling clases before, but much to my shame, wasn't able to get my brand new Model 505 Shopsmith set up for several months after purchase. I now have begun working on various projects and discovered that I am sorely in need of some help with lathe work. I can't seem to master sharpening the tools, which of course hampers my ability to turn anything well, even with the sharpening jig from Shopsmith. Perhaps I can bring mine down and Rick can demonstrate proper sharpening techniques on my tools. At least I'll sharp tools to start out.

Hi Gary,

No need to bring your sharpening set up to the academy. Rick demonstrates how to sharpen the woodturning chisels in the morning. He sharpens the chisels that he provides for all the students to use during the rest of the day.

You can bring your own chisels, but there won't be time for you to sharpen them during the class. If you bring your own, your chisels will need to be sharpened correctly before you arrive and use them. You are better off using the chisels that Rick provides for use during the class.

Be sure to take notes as Rick tells you what angles to set the Shopsmith sharpening jig, etc. I don't recall if he let anyone actually do the sharpening themselves, but he does demonstrate how to do it.

He also shows how to cut bowl blanks on the bandsaw which is very helpful. He knows a lot of tricks when it comes to using the circle cutting jig on the SS bandsaw.

He gives everyone a chance to do some hands-on turning so don't be shy and turn this opportunity down. I have been to the classes before and have seen students just sit in the back and not try there hand at it. Kind of a waste of time and money if you don't give it a try and learn from Rick's experience.

Have fun at the class and be sure to ask a lot of questions.

gsimbu wrote:I will be atttending all three classes in Des Moines in Washington in May. I have been to the traveling clases before, but much to my shame, wasn't able to get my brand new Model 505 Shopsmith set up for several months after purchase. I now have begun working on various projects and discovered that I am sorely in need of some help with lathe work. I can't seem to master sharpening the tools, which of course hampers my ability to turn anything well, even with the sharpening jig from Shopsmith. Perhaps I can bring mine down and Rick can demonstrate proper sharpening techniques on my tools. At least I'll sharp tools to start out.

I think it is a good idea. He sharpens his tools only because he needs to demonstrate how to do so. His tools get shorter with every demo. He even commented on that, when I took his classes last year. I do not see the harm of you asking that he demonstrate the sharpening techniques with your tools: Of course, that might mean that you will be sharing your tools during the "hands on" turning that the class participates in.

Tim

Exactly what I was thinking. Rick can shorten my tools instead of his. Then when I take my "professionally sharpened, and slightly used tools home I can gauge the results of my turning and sharpening efforts against properly shaped and sharpened tools. I took notes last year and tried to achieve the angles and profiles that Rick demonstrated, but appareantly it has been too long since the demo and I just need a referesher.

Aaah, maybe there is a need for a "long" DVD that concentrates on "how to sharpen chisels for use on the Shopsmith".

Are you listening, Rick and Nick?

Dusty said,
Aaah, maybe there is a need for a "long" DVD that concentrates on "how to sharpen chisels for use on the Shopsmith".

Are you listening, Rick and Nick?

I fully agree with the long DVD on sharpening idea. Jim:p

Before coming to the class, I would send Rick a message asking if he can sharpen your tools during the class instead of his.

I think the reason he demonstrates sharpening using his chisels is because they became dull from the previous turning class and this is about the only time he has to get the sharp again.

Also, because some student's chisels are sharpened so badly that it will take a lot more time to get them sharpened correctly than he has time for during that portion of the class.

Again, I would send a message asking him before you pack up all your tools and end up being disappointed when he can't sharpen them for you.

I think if he started sharpening students chisels, word will get out and everyone will start bringing their's to have done, and the class is more about turning than sharpening. It wouldn't be fair for other students to wait to start the actual woodturning while he sharpens everyones chisels that they brought to class.

At the last TA in Tucson, I brought all of my chisels to class. Rick was asked to take a look at my chisels and to tell me if he thought I needed to alter any of my methods. Were my chisels ground to the correct angles and were they as sharp as they needed to be?

They weren't and he helped me to correct that; however, this was not done during the class session. It took him only a few minutes to identify what I was doing wrong (how I could improve).

I am in agreement with Dusty & Jim on the need for a sharpening DVD with the same picture quality, closeups and audio as the Rick Davis DVD. I just reviewed the sawdust session #4 that Nick did on the SS sharpening jig and it being one of the earlier sessions, the picture quality wasn't the greatest. Putting together one with both the disc sander setup as well as the strip sander could make for a good DVD. I use both the SS jig with the disc sander and a stand up grinder setup if I need to resharpen while turning a project and not wanting to make a tool change. Good sharp chisels make the turning experience so much better.