 |
| photo copyright Karin Corbin 2012 |
The cost is low and the materials are easy to come by. The material the wheel is made from is mat board. Yes, it is the mat board you find at art supply stores and framing shops. You adhere layers of it together with a PVA glue such as Elmers. Be sure you cut accurate circles so you don't have to spend a lot of time shaping it into a true circular surface after you mount it to a motor. I did the final shaping of my wheel with a coarse grit sanding block while the motor was spinning the wheel. The sanding to a true circle creates a lot of fine dust so I used a vacuum cleaner nozzle right next to my sanding area to collect the dust. Don't forget to wear a dust mask! After the wheel is trued you can put honing compound on it.
I used 8 layers of double thick mat board in this wheel. I put weights on the stack of mat board disk while the glue set to prevent voids in the layers. Getting voids is a defect that will spoil the effectiveness of the wheel.
I have glued my new stropping wheel onto a plywood disk screwed to a faceplate so I could spin it with my lathe. It is very important to look at the photo above to see how the wheel should be turning in relationship to the tools you are sharpening. I am standing on the backside of my lathe while I am sharpening my carving tools to get the correct spin direction.
What a difference using this wheel is making in my work. I can't get my carving tools this sharp with hand stropping on leather. The tools now glide through the cuts with little effort or pressure leaving a nicely polished surface. I hear that lovely ssssstt noise as the tools cut. The noise that only happens when you have razor sharp cutting edges with polished bevels.
8 comments:
Thank you Karin, you always post so many useful tips, as a newbee to tools, I really appreciate that.
A cool and handy tool! Keeping the carving tools sharp I find more difficult than the actual carving. I know, practise, practise...but now whith this as an aid...
Great idea thanks! I made one out of leather years ago, I'm going to make one like this now---
I love this idea! Who would ever guess something so simple would work so well?
SAme here Josje, the key is keeping 'm sharp. And that i find very hard at times too. This is a very handy tip to hone. Easy to make yourself. I use a compressed cotton wheel with red polish to hone my broad "normal" chisels but found it not so satisfactory with the very tiny veiners and gouges. Thanks to a tip Karin posted here too (again many thanks!) I now use a contra shaped block of mdf and some liquid polish. I used the gouge itself to give it exactly the right shaped groove. Add a little honing compound and pull it backwards through the groove. Never been easier, and perfect to have by your side while carving. Sorry, no intend to pull down this great tip but thats really an essential necessity living in very small quarters. I would die for a workshop like yours...you lucky girl!
Debora, I will be downsizing to a much smaller workshop in a few months. It is difficult to think about but my budget demands it as I need to retire and that means a very tight budget to live on. If I end up in an apartment I have no doubt the bed will be shoved into a corner and the all other furnishings will be work benches. I won't worry about entertaining at home other than keeping myself entertained.
So now everyday I am thinking about what to keep and what to sell. Lots of projects to finish up as well.
Elga,
Many blogs are focused on finished projects but don't put in all the information about tools and jigs. My blog tends to be the opposite approach, more about what to use to do the jobs rather than focused on the finished projects.
Ooh Dear, I'm sorry to hear. That will be a great change, money-wise, but I can relate right now, believe me :( And the same goes for the tight corners; I'm permanently overflowing my tiny workshop, into the house and keeping permanent base at half of the kitchen table too. Ignoring the comments of my family members.
Best of luck on choosing your favorites to keep, which won't be easy cos you probably love every one of them as much as the other
Post a Comment