sharpening system?

[Bigmon]

I have a pretty decent assortment of round and v gouges, but no idea how to CORRECTLY sharpen these, or much of an idea on straight chisels.  This has always been a problem, especially the round and V shaped.
So, before I start buying stuff by trial and error, please advise on what I should purchase and be done with it.
Thanks

[Mr. Bubbles]

The Tormek system (either the #3 or the # 7) is a good onefor power sharpening, but the diamond power hones are even better.  That's what engravers use a lot.  A leather strop with polishing compound on it is really a must for touching up a polished edge.  You don't have to buy one though.  Just glue some relatively thin leather (rough side out) to a board and rub the stuff in to it.    I have the Makita power sharpener at home, and it's ok, but not as good as the Tormek.

If you don't want to go the power route, then a few stones (coarse, medium, fine) and jigs to keep the angle true will get you going.  A Nogura stone will help you true up and clean out the pores in them when they start getting clogged with metal.

[G_T]

You'll probably get as many suggestions on sharpening as there are people doing sharpening!

I'll offer related advice - once it is sharp, it is easier to keep it sharp than it is to resharpen it. Before or after each session and at the first hint of loss of a keen edge, strop the edge a few quick passes. Get or make a good strop and get some good  stropping compound. The greenish stuff based on chrome oxide is good. Yellowstone is good. There are others that are good. Pigskin is good for strops. Horse butt leather is good for strops. Probably any sufficiently hard leather is good for strops, as long as it is not too thick. Poplar is probably good for strops. I use a pigskin strop by John Dunkle most of the time.

When you strop, make dead sure not to raise the angle of the bevel. You are keeping it polished and smooth to the very edge, NOT trying to focus on just the edge itself. Otherwise you will have to resharpen more frequently and your stropping is becoming self-defeating.

If the edge can't pretty effortlessly shave a layer of curly cross grain like tissue paper, IMHO it needs to be either stropped or sharpened. You don't want to have to use much force to cut.

Many gouges come with factory edges that are usable, and many are not. All of them could use at least a bit of stropping before use.

Please DO NOT consider me an expert. I'm just used to using nice tools.

Gerald

[QuanLoi]

What I use and what works for me is a Work Sharp wood tool sharpener.  It uses a couple of rotating discs with a series of abrading paper attached.  Two discs equal four different grades of abrasion.  I strop my blades on an old leather belt.

[rich pierce]

I sharpen the outside edges of V gouges with about a 25 degree bevel parallel to the edge.  After you do both sides this way the bottom exterior of the v is dull and protruding.  Nor under magnification I sharpen the bottom slightly rounded at the same angle, holding the chisel in a vise and moving the stones or diamond hones. 

To polish the inside of the v I use a piece of softwood cut and filed to fit the inside of the v and lather it up with compound.

[TommyG]

I'll second the Worksharp system for a power sharpener.  However, most of my sharpening is done on a DMT 8" diamond stone-extra fine  and of course a few strops.  I'll use the Worksharp more for reshaping or when I make tools.  There are a lot of great tutorials online for sharpening V tools & gouges.  I find that sharpening the small 16/1 parting tool to be the most challenging.  But like anything else, there is a learning curve.  If I were just starting out, I would get a set of the more inexpensive tools or find some used ones and learn to sharpen on them before messing up a few Pfiels at $50 each. 

[dogcatcher]

I use sandpaper as per the "Scary Sharp System".   But my 2 cents, find a woodcarver and ask for a tutorial.  Even the best of the best systems are not going to help if your technique is not good.  I though I could sharpen until I used some real woodcarvers chisels that had been properly sharpened.  Once he showed me the errors of my technique, my carving improved. 

[Bigmon]

Thanks to you all, I am looking in to these.

[WKevinD]

Do a search for "Mary May" she has some great sharpening video tutorials online and head to Dixons in July and hang out at the ALR tent plenty of tips there.

Kevin

[PPatch]

I sharpen all my tools by hand using DMT diamond stones, coarse - fine, with a hard arkansas stone added at the end. I use homemade strops which are old leather belts (Good Will store), rough side up, glued to a length of plywood. Once you teach yourself to sharpen by hand you won't need any rely on gadgets or power tools, or be always replacing the discs. In that sense you are the sharpening system! The angle on any tool is not super critical, if you get it in the ballpark it will cut, if you're outside the ballpark it is easy, and fast, to reshape the tool beginning with your rough diamond stone. Chisels, gouges, V tools, require slightly different approaches in technique, but they are all fairly close angle wise which is about 25 degrees.

Once you've gone through the shaping stage, and taken the tools to sharp, maintaining them is simply done on your strop. Eventually you'll have to grind them again but that is a long way off.

The Mary May sharpening videos Burnt mentioned are a good place to begin learning. For flat chisel sharpening Paul Sellers has that covered, searh YouTube.

dave

[T*O*F]

The only real use I ever found for the Crocker-style graver fixture was for sharpening small chisels and V gouges.  You can set your angles, they are repeatable, and you can use it with stones or some of the new sandpapers.