Shopnotes No. 107 Question

[etc92guy]

Can someone fill me in on the Drill Press Sharpening Station in this issue? I've seen versions of this before, but they seem to need a 12 or 16 speed drill press to get the rpm's down between 100-200. I know the Shopsmith won't go that low without a speed reducer and my 5-speed drill press won't do it.

What are the rpm requirements?

Also, any opinions on this type of sharpening setup vs. sandpaper adhered to glass vs. a Tormek or stand alone wet wheel?

Thanks for your opinions.

[riot_nrrd]

Hey Craig,

No experience on the sharpening techniques, but as far as the speed - just make the pulleys different sizes. If you make the drive pulley smaller than the other, you'll end up with a slower speed. Compare the circumferences to determine the change in speed.

Here's a website that will do the calcualtions for you:

http://www.csgnetwork.com/pulleybeltcalc.html

Riot Nrrd

[Ed in Tampa]

I saw that sharpening station myself and was going to mention it this morning but you beat me to it. :D

I think it is a grand idea. I was thinking of two modifications.

One instead of using an 8 disk I was thinking of designing it with 12 inch disks so I could use the Shopsmith sanding disks.

Two using a small drive pulley and a larger spindle pulley to pull the speed down so I could use the Shopsmith to power it.

I had even thought of using a 5/8 shaft on the driven shaft so I could mount a shopsmith sanding disk on it. That way you wouldn't have to make a drive pin arrangement or the sanding disks.

In fact if the input shaft was sized up to 5/8 from 1/2" (no big change) you could probably design it to run off a SPT coupler.

I think the idea is very adaptable to Shopsmith and if done carefully should result in a most excellent sharpening station.

Anyone else seen the article?

That copy of Shopnotes seems to be loaded with ideas that appeal to me.

By the way it looks like a 2" input pulley and 10" or larger output pulley will bring the sharpening disk speed down to around 150 RPM. A 2" inch input and 10" output requires a 40" belt and the shaft center to center difference of 9.75 inches. That would allow a SS 12 inch disk to be used as the sanding platform. The resulting low end speed would be 140 RPM. So the idea is very workable.

[greitz]

Someone mentioned, on a thread concerning sharpening lathe chisels, that he/she attached sandpaper to the back side of a 12" SS sanding disk. If you did that, and used the disk with a speed reducer in drill press mode, you could attach whatever tool holder jig you wanted to use to the SS table.

Maybe the SS TenonMaster jig could be modified into an appropriate tool holder?

Gary

[Ed in Tampa]

Someone mentioned, on a thread concerning sharpening lathe chisels, that he/she attached sandpaper to the back side of a 12" SS sanding disk. If you did that, and used the disk with a speed reducer in drill press mode, you could attach whatever tool holder jig you wanted to use to the SS table.

Maybe the SS TenonMaster jig could be modified into an appropriate tool holder?

Gary


Gary
To me the beauty of the Shopnotes sharpening station is not so much the actual sanding disk but rather the cabinet and tool support. It closely resembles the Tormak/Makita system which if excuted correctly should allow you to sharpen your tools to a fine edge. That is not to say a similar stand couldn't be used to support the tools rest to use the back side of the SS sanding disk in Drill press mode. It would just be another design. Perhaps someone will sketch up a design for us SS'ers.

One thing with the Shopnotes design is the platens that hold the sanding disks are easily made and easily swapped out. Someone using the system could easily have a bunch of them with a different grit of paper on each. Then to sharpen something you could really fly through various grits.

If you used the back side of the SS disk you would have to remove the paper to have more than one SS disk setup each time you wanted to change grits.

[greitz]

Ed- Yep, I forgot about the need for different grits of paper. It would be quite an investment in SS sanding disks, not to mention the room to store them all!

Gary

[etc92guy]

Looks like I'm going in to Wauwatosa to the Rockler store on Wed. They should have a copy by now.

The reason I asked about this was I have a plan from a 1997(?) Wood magazine article that uses a drill press as a wet sharpening station. However, it's a direct drive setup and my 5-speed drill press spins too fast.

Of course, now that I'm writing this I'm wondering if I couldn't morph the two designs together. Hmmmmmmm......the fun never stops. ;)

Thanks for your comments, guys. They are appreciated.