Shopsmith Forums

I have put together a homemade version of the strip sander chisel sharpening attachment 555812, to use until funds allow purchase of the real McCoy, over $125 here in Canada.

It uses 1” by 1” aluminum tubing for the arm and parts of a plastic miter gauge to set the angle. The plate that fastens directly to the strip sander is ¼” thick by 2.5” wide aluminum. I luckily had a short piece of 1” inside dimension tubing already welded to another piece to make the cup support slider out of. There is a piece of steel strapping under the lock knob to prevent marring the aluminum arm. In use, I ignored the degree markings on the miter and just eyeballed the setting to get the chisel bevel flat against the platen. It seems to work great in spite of using the straight 1” platen on the strip sander instead of an angled one as seen in the catalog. I am keener than ever to get the SS version now that I see its potential.

I notice that the Wolverine type sharpeners mount to a grinder with the abrasive turning towards the chisel tip. Is it concern that the chisel might catch the splice in the abrasive belt that results in this Shopsmith statement about the 555812 : “Note: Due to rotational direction, your Shopsmith Strip Sander must be mounted to the Quill End of your MARK V during operation”?

Some photos are attached. If more details are needed, just ask.
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prmindartmouth wrote:, to use until funds allow purchase of the real McCoy, over $125 here in Canada.

At this point I don't see why you would buy the "real" attachment.
Yours looks to do everthing needed, and in some cases improves on the original.

Nice job. I'm not sure you really need to buy the attachment either.

The degree markings are of no importance, you set the guide to match the bevel on the chisel. This is easier to do if you color the bevel with a black magic marker first.

Both manuals (strip sander and sharpening attachment) warn against having the belt traveling towards the cutting edge of the chisel. I thought Nick had said in his saw dust session that this wasn't critical unless you were using the leather strop. However this isn't the case, he actually said this during a live demonstration at the owners weekend.

Most of my lathe tools have been sharpened this way with no ill effects. No matter which direction the belt moves, you need a light touch and let the abrasive do the work.

This is my absolute favorite method for sharpening lathe tools and while I can see advantages in the Wolverine there are too many negatives in my opinion. What makes things even more interesting, Sorby is now selling a sander based sharpening system that is supposed to be a consumer version of the industrial sharpener they use in the factory.

Troy

Hit post before I was done.

I would recommend buying the platen for the sharpening guide. I'm not sure if this available separately.

Since you are obviously quite capable(having done that which you have demonstrated), methinks you can figger a way to 'calibrate it'.

Good Job!

horologist, I assume the purpose of the bent platen is to let the arm work closer to horizontal. Is that correct? Is there some other advantage to the bent platen?

prmindartmouth wrote:horologist, I assume the purpose of the bent platen is to let the arm work closer to horizontal. Is that correct? Is there some other advantage to the bent platen?

Yes, otherwise you may have trouble with the handle interfering with the sander when sharpening tools with a shallower angle.

Troy

I have the Wolverine set. The main reason for paying the money is the ability to (after some practice) sharpen "fingernail" grinds. I set mine up for whatever chisel I'm using and retouch ever so lightly every couple of minutes. I learned that from an amazing professional turner I met at a woodworking show. If you do it your chisels will always be razor sharp.

Paul M

Regarding jpg40504s comment about calibration of the degree markings, if you look at the photo attached, you will notice the index marker off the miter gauge is installed. I set it opposite the 90 degree mark after adjusting the attachment's angle to 45 degrees to the strip sander's platen. The marker could not be put opposite the 45 degree mark easily.

So, if I wanted, say, 25 degrees as the bevel on a chisel, I would rotate till 70 degrees is opposite the index marker, ie 25=45 minus 20 which is 90 minus 20 on the device. Clear as mud, I suspect.

Peter,
That is a beautiful piece of sharpening equipment you made. As others have said I do not see a need for you to buy one yours looks great.
I do not do any turning but I do a lot of carving and one thing that bothers me when reading threads on sharpening lathe chisels. How do you remove the burr left from grinding. Shipwright stated that he touches up his chisel every few minutes with the strip sander.
When carving my knives and chisels are sharpened I use several grit stones to remove the burr from the previous grit and then use a strop to polish them to a mirror finish. They never see a grinder again unless they get nicked and I stop every few minutes to strop them to remove the fine burr on the cutting edge.
Would this method work on lathe chisels and what do you do to remove the burr left from grinding?