How to sharpen wood turning tools

I don’t have anything specific but there is a ton of stuff on Youtube. Sharpening some of these turning tools is more of a art, especially for bowl gouges as there are several “styles”. For those, I would highly recommend the Wolverine jig. Not cheap but consistent.

Also, you may want to add a spindle gouge to your collection.

You should not have posted Curtis Buchanan’s youtube page. He will get distracted with the videos of chair making. He make it look simple and easy. A sign of a master craftsman.

Understand the difference between faceplate turning and spindle turning. Put your spindle turning tools someplace else when doing faceplate turning. I’ve just started learning turning from Ernie Conover via his week long class and think his books are very good. You’ll see the vari-grind that Peter mentioned in it as well as some alternatives. With the vari-grind / wolverine, you’ll setup to get the angle at the nose and then sweep around. Bowl gouges go to work directly from the grinder, but spindle gouges need further refinement and polishing.

People don’t always pass on safety and many of the videos on youtube are not good examples, so since I’m a new turner too, I’ll pass it on: No gloves. No long sleeves. No jewelry, including rings. Hair up, if its long. If you sand, use a small square of paper, never cloth paper, and never sand like shining shoes. If you use a cloth to apply finish, just use a small square less than a couple inches, but be aware that if there is a projection from the work, like a splinter, it can catch a thread, pull the thread out, wrap you with it, and bind you in. That’s why the safety advice is to stay away from cloth and, if you do choose to use it, e.g.., for finish, keep it small and hold it by just your fingertips. Paper towel would be better. You can catch cloth on chucks and centers too. Set up your work area so that you do not need to reach over and across the lathe for tools, lights, etc. Stay out of the “line of fire.” Never take your hand off a chuck key other than to put it away…never leave it in the chuck, not even for a second. These admonitions are stricter than many use, but you might as well hear them once before you choose. Sorry to go off topic.

Getting back on topic, I’d say find a class that goes over sharpening and attend, even if its just for a day. It’s worth it. If you are doing furniture work, that’s usually spindle work and you’ll want a spindle gouge, around 1/2″ and ground with a fingernail.

At this point in the video.

You can also google wood turning sharpening jig and look at the images.
https://www.google.com/search?q=woodturning+tool+sharpening+jig&espv=2&biw=1317&bih=867&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi21arag4PRAhXCOiYKHS3zAksQ_AUIBygC

You can also as mentioned above sharpen them by hand. I do this with the diamond plates. I do know that people mention that turning tools do not need to be as sharp as carving tools. I am not sure if that his true. I also just got a lathe running and have no idea what I am doing yet.