Powdered Metal HSS

[mofnet]

I recently purchased my first lathe and turning tools along with the Tormek system.  After quite a bit of research, I bought Crown Pro-PM tools which are made of powdered metal and claim to hold an edge 3 times longer than traditional M2 HSS.  After trying to sharpen the skew chisel, I'm wondering if these tools are stronger than the Tormek stone!  I literally spent over two hours just trying to grind the black marker off both bevels.  The stone was dressed for 220 grit and I tried various amounts of pressure.  Am I doing anything wrong?  Is there any way to speed up the sharpening process?  I should also mention that I did successfully sharpen a cheap chisel in a short amount of time.

Thanks in advance.

Jeff

[Jeff Farris]

Despite the Owner's Handnbook recommendation to contrary, when sharpening skew chisels, always use the vertical mount (wheel turning into the edge) instead of the horizontal mount.  It will greatly reduce grinding time.  Whenever grinding is taking too long (regardless of orientation) use the coarse side of the stone grader aggressively to clean the grindstone surface.