I saw a video a while back for a chisel sharpening system that uses 3M Cubitron sandpaper mounted in a drill press.
This Woodworking Jig Will Change Tool Sharpening Forever! (youtube.com)
Being that I hate to sharpen chisels, I decided to try it. But they wanted $17 a pop for 2 acrylic discs and two arbors. Uh, no thanks. I have some drops of 12L14 I bought a while back for making a rotary broach (which still isn't made, go figure), and one piece was enough for 2 mandrels.
The stuff cuts much easier than plain cold rolled, which is important for me with my small lathe. Believe it or not, this is the finish I got straight off the lathe with no filing or sandpaper. As you can see on the larger end, I did get some serious chatter before I figured out to crank up the speed. But I'm happy with how it turned out. BTW, that taper was cut freehand, because I'm too lazy to set the compound.
Then I rough cut some 2024 Ali plate for the disc. Mounted it on the mandrel and turned the outside edge. Man, did it sing! Loud enough that I considered finding some earplugs, but it cut fast enough that I didn't bother.
Next step is to make the jig to use in the drill press, which holds the chisel at the correct angle for consistent results. I'll be making that out of PVC instead of wood, as I really like working with it, and still have plenty of scraps on hand.
This Woodworking Jig Will Change Tool Sharpening Forever! (youtube.com)
Being that I hate to sharpen chisels, I decided to try it. But they wanted $17 a pop for 2 acrylic discs and two arbors. Uh, no thanks. I have some drops of 12L14 I bought a while back for making a rotary broach (which still isn't made, go figure), and one piece was enough for 2 mandrels.
The stuff cuts much easier than plain cold rolled, which is important for me with my small lathe. Believe it or not, this is the finish I got straight off the lathe with no filing or sandpaper. As you can see on the larger end, I did get some serious chatter before I figured out to crank up the speed. But I'm happy with how it turned out. BTW, that taper was cut freehand, because I'm too lazy to set the compound.
Then I rough cut some 2024 Ali plate for the disc. Mounted it on the mandrel and turned the outside edge. Man, did it sing! Loud enough that I considered finding some earplugs, but it cut fast enough that I didn't bother.
Next step is to make the jig to use in the drill press, which holds the chisel at the correct angle for consistent results. I'll be making that out of PVC instead of wood, as I really like working with it, and still have plenty of scraps on hand.
Full of ideas, but slow to produce parts