I recently posted (12 October) about my new Alan Lacer skew chisels. I have had more opportunity to use them now and like them more and more. I think the smaller one may be more generally useful for most turners. I’ve been sharpening the edges with a diamond hone and thought today that I should jig the grinder to suit these tools. You could do a lot of honing before grinding is necessary though.
The grinding method advocated by Alan Lacer is the one I have always used for my curved edge chisels – set the grinder platform to the correct angle and simply swivel the tool while it is flat on the platform. You can see this on his website or on Youtube. This gives you an even bevel provided you keep an eye on the swivel limits so you don’t over-grind the points.
I was therefore interested to note that the grind used by the manufacturer is different. Although they are sold as Lacer signature chisels, the different grind gives them a different bevel and affects their use. I think they must be ground by twisting the blade instead of swiveling it, lifting the long point off the wheel to grind the short point, giving a more rounded bevel and making the short point very obtuse. It took quite a lot of work to bring the grind back to what it ought to be, and I think it could confuse a beginner.
Update – I have now changed the signature grind on these tools completely.
I made the setting jig for my grinder. Jigs are very important for quick and accurate repeatability. Unfortunately I cannot use the metal platform that came with the grinder as it is not sufficiently adjustable. I am now using the Tormek platform rest. I have made a block to set the extension of the arm, and an angle setting jig to position the platform.