sharpening jig

[hughie]

This one came about just recently, I didnt think having a bunch of set jigs lying was going to be a good. So this is what I came up with it does three angles at present for the 20mm dia grinder. The locking pin screws through form the back. It was cut out on the band saw out of 1/8th Aluminium, simple and very effective.
I believe Vicmarc has just brought out something similar, it must be very new as I couldnt find it on the web

 

[hughie]

I found the Vicmarc jig I mentioned that has just come on the market. As its not on their website I asked a friend who is a supplier of Vicmarc Products if he could get an image of the new jig to see how mine stacks up against it.

 

[David Wrate]

Nice work. Curious how you determined the angles. Did you have a known reference?

 

[hughie]

Nice work. Curious how you determined the angles. Did you have a known reference?

I used existing sharpened gouges to set the grinder table up. Then set the jig up and tested the setting finally against the gouge. A little long winded perhaps but it seemed the easiest method at the time. I have since added another jig to the collection to cover scraper angles and flat work chisels. Colour coded and slotted to allow some fine tuning down the track

 

[David Wrate]

As a new turner, I've looked at the Raptor gauges but I have a hard time justifying something that seems like it would get in frequent use. But I'm too new to really know what's what.

 

[hughie]

As a new turner, I've looked at the Raptor gauges but I have a hard time justifying something that seems like it would get in frequent use. But I'm too new to really know what's what.

Well I didnt want a collection of them hanging off nail somewhere or getting in the way. My shop is very small 200sqft max and its very full. So I go for multi use tools wherever I can and this was simple to make. It doesnt have to be metal plywood would work just as fine. I havent drawn it up just winged as I went along, but I could if somebody was interested.

 

[David Wrate]

Gosh a drawing would be fantastic and very much appreciated!

 

[Dave Landers]

I made my own platform gauges from scrap wood. Not like hughie's, but fyi here's how I set up the angles. Could do something similar for an adjustable gauge.

 

[David Wrate]

I made my own platform gauges from scrap wood. Not like hughie's, but fyi here's how I set up the angles. Could do something similar for an adjustable gauge.

Thanks for the link to your site. Very helpful to see how you made the gauges.

 

[Tim Starliper]

I son't recall where I got it, I can see if it is marked. I use the Wolverine system and have the Varigrind 2 for gouges. There was a template you could download, print full size and glue to a piece of thin plywood. You have to cut out the template, drill some holes in a couple of places (well identified - including the sizes), and you have a setup jig for gouge sharpening. This jig sets how far the tool needs to extend from the varigrind, what angle to set the varigrind to, and how far out you need to pull the support to set the varigrind on. The proper swing of the tool to sharpen it is all on you - but with everything set where it needs to be that is not a big deal. Nice thing about it is that it works no matter how many times you have sharpened a gouge (and hence made it shorter), or how much wear there is on your grinding wheel (assuming you are not using a CBN wheel - which I love), you get good results every time. The instructions for using it are printed right on the page. I will see if I can find the source and share it here.

 

[Brian Gustin]

One thing I like about the wolverine + Varigrind is that it is so flexible.. I came up with a way so that I never have to move the wolverine arm at all. For different gouges and grinds, all I need to do is change the projection of the tool from the varigrind, and the arm angle (and for one gouge, a spacer block) , and I can grind my spindle gouges, detail gouges, swept back bowl gouges, and "close but not quite" 40/40 grind, plus my 5/8 gouge grind (It comes closest to a 40/40 , but it isn't, it isn't exactly traditional grind, nor is it swept back) and I can get all the angles by just varying projection and jig arm angles (line up arm with a notch) for consistent repeatable grinds without ever moving the wolverine arm. (everything else I grind freehand on wolverine platform, waiting to see if RoboRest ever comes available again) Because of that I don't even need to bother with those angle setting gauges...

 

[robo hippy]

My first prototype of my robo rest platform was a steel hinge. It was a 4 by 4 inch square. I gut out some of the middle for the grinding wheel, and peened over the ends of the bolt/hinge pin so it wouldn't fall out. The idea is to have the center of the hinge pin be even with the center height of the wheel, and also even with the edge of the wheel. That would give you consistent angles, and be easy to repeat.

robo hippy