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Flatten my grinding/sharpening platform

Pete Giulietti

Pete Giulietti

Joined
Apr 25, 2023
Messages
11
Likes
7
Location
Austin, TX
Hi everyone,

Apologies if this has been covered, I did a search but didn’t find anything that pertains to this. I have the Pro-Grind sharpening system but I didn’t like the platform so I replaced it with a Oneway Wolverine platform (perfect fit). The surface of the platform has a little bit of a hump in the middle of it. While I can get my skews and roughing gouges sharp it would be a lot easier if I could flatten the platform. Can I just take a file to the platform? I was thinking that I could use a file for the bulk of it and then a few different grits of Emory cloth and a sanding block to get it smooth again. My fear is ruining the platform or spending a lot of time on a platform that will seriously resist a file. Any thoughts?

Pete
 
I did watch some one put a piece in a vice, with 2 bolts on one side, and a third in the middle, and then apply pressure to flatten some thing out. You could also open the jaws wide and tap, not smash, a few times. If you have a belt sander, that can make short work out of it as well. 80 grit on your table saw or jointer can work. I did take mine and cut out for a 1 1/2 inch wide CBN wheel, and have it locked at 25 degrees for shaping the primary bevel on my plane irons. I do need to take it to the belt sander. I got most of that hump out, but one wing always seems to catch a tiny bit....

robo hippy
 
Thanks for posting Pete. Mine is also not flat. Of course, I’ve procrastinated doing anything about for over a year. Sort of resigned it to “oh well” category, but now I’m motivated to true it up.

On a somewhat related note, anyone here have experience with Stu Batty’s platform?
 
Michael Anderson said:
Thanks for posting Pete. Mine is also not flat. Of course, I’ve procrastinated doing anything about for over a year. Sort of resigned it to “oh well” category, but now I’m motivated to true it up.

On a somewhat related note, anyone here have experience with Stu Batty’s platform?
Click to expand...
Michael, I have two of them — the six inch (?) circular one and a five inch rectangular one. I use them and the SB #1 angle gauge. Super easy and fast to use.
 
I never even thought about using my belt sander (face palm). I’m going to give that a try today. I’ll report back on how it went.
 
hockenbery said:
Call ONEWAY. It should be flat.
Click to expand...

Neither of my Wolverine platforms was flat. Alan Lacer talks about flattening Wolverine platforms in his videos and demonstrations, and claims he has never seen a Wolverine platform that's flat right out of the box. The welding process apparently warps the platform slightly.

My Varigrind jig also had to be filed flat on its front face because of a sloppy weld. The Wolverine system is great, but the quality control leaves a lot to be desired.
 
Would you be willing to pay half again more as much for the Wolverine system is priced now, or do a little work on your own that is hardly affecting the result? They definitely have the skills and machinery to make polished high tolerance parts, but at what cost to a system that is just a sharpening aide and not a precision machine part? You can always go for some of the cheap Chinese knock offs if you aren't happy with the North American company that invented it.
 
Richard Coers said:
Would you be willing to pay half again more as much for the Wolverine system is priced now, or do a little work on your own that is hardly affecting the result? They definitely have the skills and machinery to make polished high tolerance parts, but at what cost to a system that is just a sharpening aide and not a precision machine part? You can always go for some of the cheap Chinese knock offs if you aren't happy with the North American company that invented it.
Click to expand...

I like the Oneway system, but — at least in the case of the Varigrind — I don't think one should have to grind away excessive material from a poor weld before using a product as designed.
 
Hugh said:
I have been using mine for many years. Not sure if it is flat or not. Now, I am going to have to go look.
Never bothered me in the past.
Click to expand...

Yeah, me too.

I never even knew there was a first and second generation Wolverine....what's the difference. Are we calling the second generation, the introduction of the vary-grind II....or is it the introduction of the bearing that replaced the spring steel for holding the gouges to the original Vari-grind?

I've got two platforms, one I cut down prior to there being a smaller version available. I believe I bought them both around 1992....very close to the time I bought my Australian Woodfast lathe. I went out and checked them for flatness this evening, and one is perfectly flat. The other might have a thousandth or two off from perfectly flat. I never even thought to check on them before, and never had a problem with them. I don't think I'll bother with trying to fix the one that's off by one or two thousandths.

Since I no longer use the Wolverine for hand shaping gouges, the only tools that rest flat to the platforms are scrapers......and, I'm really not too concerned with the discrepancy in perfect flatness there, since the one seems to be perfectly flat for a couple inches closest to the grinding wheel.

-o-
 
I find the Wolverine platform a little small in area for some of my heavier and bigger tools. I attached another platform over it to increase the platform area and added a slot for the wheel. In doing so, it leveled the original surface as well.
 
I ended up using a file and some Emory cloth. It didn’t take long and using a little paste wax gave me a flat, smooth surface for the tools to glide along. It’s not perfectly flat but it’s close enough to eliminate the unnerving rocking that was happening.
 
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