Question: Cheaper power hones available?

[Fetzi_DLL]

Hello everyone,

three years ago i wanted to start engraving as a hobby. I imported a lindsay engraver and bought a cheaper microscope, since most of the money went into that lindsay engraver which works beatuiful. This was a mistake, regarding good planning of my money, since there was not that much left. Eventually my cheap chinese ~ 150€ engraving sharpener went broken and since then i haven't done any engraving, also due to a lack of time.

Now i want to get back into the hobby. I have the 180, 600 and 1200 grit GRS Disks, also the Apex System.

Now i need a power hone. But to be honest, 1300€ here in germany are quite too expensive for me.
Importing won't work, since its about the same amount with customs and import taxes and shipping. Hence if i need to ship it back if there ever is a warranty case.

I know there is the Tom White hone, which will have the same addiditonal costs when importing it to europe.

There is a Power Hone from Andu engraving for a smaller amount of money, has anybody every tried that one?
Is there any other cheaper option to use my Apex and GRS Disks with?

I do not have the space for a desk drill to use the GRS Disks with, as this is also commonly done.

I really would love to engrave again, but dont have 1300€ to spend just to sharpen a graver once every few days/weeks.

 

[T.G.III]

Sounds as though you have eliminated most of the options.

I have a power hone that was purchased in the beginning of this endeavor, currently it is only being used for the shaping of the graver blanks, after the initial shape and sharpening all of my graver maintenance is carried out with the Lindsay templates and bench stones.

Had the Lindsay system been available to me in the beginning I'd have not purchased the power hone and discs.

If you're handy

How to Build Your Own "Plug & Play" Power Hone for Under $350

Build Your Own 1/6HP Direct Drive Power Hone for $330.74 (single direction cw or ccw) - $346.69 for reversible variable speed - continuous duty top of the line industrial rated dc motor - SCR drive with full torque throughout speed range (0-1050 rpm max at factory speed control trimpot settings...

engraverscafe.com

Also there are video's on U-tube

 

[silverchip]

I dont' know if he ships to Germany but Vlad Konokov makes one that works with both Lindsay and GRS fixtures. They are reasonably priced ,variable speed and can be bidirectional. Look him up on instagram.

 

[Fetzi_DLL]

T.G.III thanks for you answer, but i prefer to go for a non-DIY-approach. I've tested okay-ish problemsolvings in the past and they were wobbly and i am not that talented regarding non microelectronics. ^^

@silverchip, his power hone looks nice, i've sent him a message, whether he delivers to european countries. Thanks alot

 

[Mike576]

Just a thought, you could use a drill press. You can make or buy arbors that hold the sharpening disks. I bought the ones Steve Lindsay makes and got aluminum backer disks from Amazon for like 20$ works just as good as any power hone. I had a TW hone and decided to sell it since I already have a very nice digital variable speed drill press. I keep it on a bench a few feet away so I can stretch my legs and don’t get too stiff! Dual function in a small shop is good.
Doesn’t even have to be a nice drill press though since any should have enough torque and speed.

 

[monk]

i made one very cheaply using an old, but functional, dc tape transport motor. using an. ac to dc power supply. works nicely and the power supply allows for a total speed range from 1 or 2 rpm all the way to full speed.
this can easily be done with most any dc motor. most scrap yards have many layin around. tread mill motors are a good choice. most of the ones coming into my local yard have fully functional motors which also have the on-board speed controller built in. on a good day, i can get them for free. on a not-so-good day, maybe as high as fifty cents.

 

[EngraverHand]

Why not just getting the Lindsay templates and stones.. yea it´s boring to sharpen them up by hand, but onece you have the shape they last a long time and only needs touch ups when they get dull or tip breaks.. I did that for years before I got a power hone. I never do the touch up or the heels with a power hone anyway.. I only use it when do the main sharpening. it´s not very expensive either..

 

[Crazey Horse RVN]

You may find this hard to believe, but engravers have been sharpening their gravers without the luxury of today's modern electric spinning wheel hones for a few centuries by simply using stones. Hey, it works!

Today we have Steve Lindsey's sharpening systems at a very reasonable price and they work great!
You don't need those expensive, over priced sharpening hones to produce excellent gravers.

 

[Crowman80]

Hello everyone,

three years ago i wanted to start engraving as a hobby. I imported a lindsay engraver and bought a cheaper microscope, since most of the money went into that lindsay engraver which works beatuiful. This was a mistake, regarding good planning of my money, since there was not that much left. Eventually my cheap chinese ~ 150€ engraving sharpener went broken and since then i haven't done any engraving, also due to a lack of time.

Now i want to get back into the hobby. I have the 180, 600 and 1200 grit GRS Disks, also the Apex System.

Now i need a power hone. But to be honest, 1300€ here in germany are quite too expensive for me.
Importing won't work, since its about the same amount with customs and import taxes and shipping. Hence if i need to ship it back if there ever is a warranty case.

I know there is the Tom White hone, which will have the same addiditonal costs when importing it to europe.

There is a Power Hone from Andu engraving for a smaller amount of money, has anybody every tried that one?
Is there any other cheaper option to use my Apex and GRS Disks with?

I do not have the space for a desk drill to use the GRS Disks with, as this is also commonly done.

I really would love to engrave again, but dont have 1300€ to spend just to sharpen a graver once every few days/weeks.

I purchased one of these, & Iam sure there will be those out there that dismiss it. However it is brilliant!!!! Came with 3 diamond stones in various grits and sharpens well with apex system and Lynda at templates. I then final polish with 5000 grit wet stone. I highly recommend it.

 

[Fetzi_DLL]

@Mike576 I might again think about that kind of solution, i'll keep it as a backup solution if nothing else would feel sufficient.

@monk i might also think again about this, maybel i'll find somebody being able to build this for me. I have no lathe or other metalworking equipment that is needed. Or nothing that would get it done precisely.

@EngraverHand I now have the Apex, my old stupid self thought that i theoretically had limitless possibilities when using the apex instead of just using from a professional predefined templates. But here i am now and the last piece missing for the Apex would be that power hone.

@Crazy Horse RVN Oh i know and i absolutely respect them for their talent and skill. But if sureley know that i don't have that yet, neither have i learned all the other important stuff that makes a good engraver. So i'm trying to simplify and shorten that path of learning as much as possible. At least for graver sharpening.

@Crowman80 If you are talking about the Andu System, thank you very much for your review!

I've written Vlad a message for his power hone but yet to recieve an answer. I'll wait and maybe there are other possibilities in the meantime.

 

[rweigel]

Hi, I‘m also from Germany, faced with the same problem concerning new GRS tools or machines. I first designed Lindsay style templates which fitted my 2mm HSS blanks and the height of my Degussit (=german sintered ruby) bench stones. They are a little lower than the original half inch. Worked well, was tedious for obtaining the graver’s shape.

Some year ago I built this minihone around 50mm diamond cutting discs and 50mm copper discs prepared with different diamond pastes. I first polished with 0.5um diamond compound on a brass disc but recently swapped it for a a harder bronze disc. It worked well enough with the original tool post of the DualAngle support, only the heels where seldom really parallel with the calculated angles. I had to eliminate some tolerance between the original tool post and the DualAngle fixture, an imperial size polished steel rod from a printer and a round magnet solved this problem. The other source were the stamped and therefore slightly domed discs. First I tried trueing them on a lathe, but that was a lot of effort. Now I do no longer employ stamped discs, but saw them out of flat 1,5 mm Copper or bronze sheet. Now it works with much better precision.

When I ground my first tungsten carbide gravers 3 years ago, I was surprised how well the home made discs attack the TC. It works not much slower than with HSS.

I do the heels with slow rotation on the polishing disc, that works very well. The hone is powered by a small DC Motor with 7000 rpm at 12V and a lot of torque. It‘s used for BMW diesel parking brake vacuum pumps. I bought a lot of the for some Euro/piece from Pollin. I could sent you one. The speed is controlled by the electronic box, which has some feedback to the actual speed and sends more current to the motor if more torque is required. I could adjust from some revolutions per second to 7000 rpm, which is never needed.

The two rings on the tool post are mechanical limits for grinding round heels. Sometimes I suspect I‘m a better gadget maker than engraver…

Another tip I got from a german engraver for 150mm diamond discs is to use a 24V angle-geared DC motor, which is sold as spare part for the wire feed of MAG welding machines. But a less than 100€ drill press with arbors will work as well.

Best of luck, contact me if more information is needed.

Cheers

Ralf

 

[Fetzi_DLL]

Hi, I‘m also from Germany, faced with the same problem concerning new GRS tools or machines. I first designed Lindsay style templates which fitted my 2mm HSS blanks and the height of my Degussit (=german sintered ruby) bench stones. They are a little lower than the original half inch. Worked well, was tedious for obtaining the graver’s shape.

Some year ago I built this minihone around 50mm diamond cutting discs and 50mm copper discs prepared with different diamond pastes. I first polished with 0.5um diamond compound on a brass disc but recently swapped it for a a harder bronze disc. It worked well enough with the original tool post of the DualAngle support, only the heels where seldom really parallel with the calculated angles. I had to eliminate some tolerance between the original tool post and the DualAngle fixture, an imperial size polished steel rod from a printer and a round magnet solved this problem. The other source were the stamped and therefore slightly domed discs. First I tried trueing them on a lathe, but that was a lot of effort. Now I do no longer employ stamped discs, but saw them out of flat 1,5 mm Copper or bronze sheet. Now it works with much better precision.

When I ground my first tungsten carbide gravers 3 years ago, I was surprised how well the home made discs attack the TC. It works not much slower than with HSS.

I do the heels with slow rotation on the polishing disc, that works very well. The hone is powered by a small DC Motor with 7000 rpm at 12V and a lot of torque. It‘s used for BMW diesel parking brake vacuum pumps. I bought a lot of the for some Euro/piece from Pollin. I could sent you one. The speed is controlled by the electronic box, which has some feedback to the actual speed and sends more current to the motor if more torque is required. I could adjust from some revolutions per second to 7000 rpm, which is never needed.

The two rings on the tool post are mechanical limits for grinding round heels. Sometimes I suspect I‘m a better gadget maker than engraver…

Another tip I got from a german engraver for 150mm diamond discs is to use a 24V angle-geared DC motor, which is sold as spare part for the wire feed of MAG welding machines. But a less than 100€ drill press with arbors will work as well.

Best of luck, contact me if more information is needed.

Cheers

Ralf

Wow Ralf, thanks for that reply. Looks like you are definetly a good toolmaker.

I really like the idea with the mechanical limits.

Thanks for the motor offer, but i guess i am probably not able to build that one myself. I already had an attempt at building a Power Hone myself, but the disc is alsways wobbling so i was looking for something that works.

I might ask you directly: Can i pay you to build such or a similar device again? We can talk via DMs ofc.

 

[Sinterklaas]

Disc wobble is not a problem. The graver will ride on top so when the disc wobbles up and down the graver will go with it.
I also build a powerhone myself and it also has a little wobble. With the GRS angle fixture it doesn't matter. The fixture will move up and down the metal pole/rod. And the graver will not change angles. With lindsay templates it will be a different story.

 

[Goldjockey]

Just a thought, but if I were looking for a ready made less expensive solution, I’d look into a small motorized pottery wheel with plenty of torque. Variable speed and reversibility would be a plus, but bottom line stability, and torque would be key. A quick search turned up these candidates: https://www.vevor.com/s/pottery-wheel-machine

 

[monk]

if using a dc motor simply reversing the leads will reverse the rotation. the motor i use has plenty of torque at all the speeds..

 

[dogcatcher]

I built my power hone. Here us my basic guide.

About $15 for a 12v 24v gear motor

An adjustable multi voltage charger another $15.

A 6" aluminum plate 1/4" thick with a hole in the middle. I found mine at the local machineshop.

A 1/2 bolt 2" long. Drilled to fit the motor shaft, and a side set screw to lock it down. Less than a $1

Miscellaneous junk to put it together. $10.

Total less than $35.

I did add an electrical junction box to make mine pretty and make look professional. It was about $20, I chose a used box at the salvage yard.

It's multi speed from almost zero to 45 rpm and reversible. Flip a switch to reverse, turn a dial to speed up or slow down.

 

[gcmeleak]

I have repurposed a lapentry stone polishing /cutting machine.

 

[DanteC]

I have repurposed a lapentry stone polishing /cutting machine.

I was thinking about doing the same thing. Can I ask if you made any modifications or how you are using it. Thanks

 

[monk]

I purchased one of these, & Iam sure there will be those out there that dismiss it. However it is brilliant!!!! Came with 3 diamond stones in various grits and sharpens well with apex system and Lynda at templates. I then final polish with 5000 grit wet stone. I highly recommend it.

what is, "lynda at templates" ??

 

[mtlctr]

Hello everyone,

three years ago i wanted to start engraving as a hobby. I imported a lindsay engraver and bought a cheaper microscope, since most of the money went into that lindsay engraver which works beatuiful. This was a mistake, regarding good planning of my money, since there was not that much left. Eventually my cheap chinese ~ 150€ engraving sharpener went broken and since then i haven't done any engraving, also due to a lack of time.

Now i want to get back into the hobby. I have the 180, 600 and 1200 grit GRS Disks, also the Apex System.

Now i need a power hone. But to be honest, 1300€ here in germany are quite too expensive for me.
Importing won't work, since its about the same amount with customs and import taxes and shipping. Hence if i need to ship it back if there ever is a warranty case.

I know there is the Tom White hone, which will have the same addiditonal costs when importing it to europe.

There is a Power Hone from Andu engraving for a smaller amount of money, has anybody every tried that one?
Is there any other cheaper option to use my Apex and GRS Disks with?

I do not have the space for a desk drill to use the GRS Disks with, as this is also commonly done.

I really would love to engrave again, but dont have 1300€ to spend just to sharpen a graver once every few days/weeks.

Learn to sharpen by hand it will increase your skill set. Don’t need no stinkin’ machine.