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Good Experience - Right Angle Grinding Platform

Tom LeTourneau

Tom LeTourneau

Joined
May 3, 2022
Messages
14
Likes
9
Location
York County, ME
Just thought I’d let those interested in upgrading sharpening/grinding gear know… I purchased a Talon platform from Right Angle a few weeks ago. Gil Lea, the owner, offers various platform options and helped me adjust the Talon to sit nicely in my OneWay system. Can’t recommend him and his product highly enough. You can Google “Right Angle” to peruse product variations. I had been searching for a RoboRest alternative (no longer made) and looked at a Stuart Batty platform. The SB seemed to require too much retrofitting with my OneWay. Best to all! [Tom]
 
Very intersting. I've been looking at adding another platform to my system, as I have one, but it isn't great for things like re-sharpening NRS or 40/40 grinds.

Curious, is there a calibration process for these? It looks like the angles are printed on the ramp there. How do you set it so those angles are indeed correct for a given particular setup? I had to raise the base of my grinder off my bench a bit to accommodate my sharpening system (which would probably accommodate the rail version of this platform)...just wondering if the specific height I raised mine by, can be accounted for here...
 
You can raise and lower the platform to accommodate any tool thickness. There are inexpensive platform add-ons to deal with skew bevels. Two variations of two types of platforms exist. One type of platform lets you fix ANY angle and mark it one of the six provided areas for repeatability. The other type has notch-like holes to set the angle. Each successive hole varies from the closest by a a few degrees. You really should view the video on the Right Angle website. Gil Lea does a MUCH better job demonstrating than I do writing.

BTW - I think Stuart Batty’s three set angle gauges are GREAT. Have been going with those to repeat, rather than felt-tipping the bevels.
 
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Tom Albrecht said:
I would be curious to know how steady it is in use. I had a Robo rest an d wasn't satisfied with how unstable it was.
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Seems rock solid. Even Reed himself commented in another forum here, that he thought the metal was of a much heavier gauge than his RoboRest. The Talon fits in the OneWay just as solid as the original platform. The platform SB sells that fits into the OneWay has a disclaimer admitting that their other (non-insert) variation is considerably sturdier. Kinda cooled me off on it. The Right Angle, however, has so far been “Rock of Gibraltar.”
 
The Right Angle tool rest is a good concept, but not quite how I would have done it. I have been looking at the Duax angle table for drill presses from Woodpeckers. More good concepts. It does have 1 degree increments which I think is too many for most wood shops. There was a little play with the pin in my grinder rest, and I never noticed it until some one commented about it.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA41qzwTrUw


robo hippy
 
Jon Rista- The numbers are for reference only, they are not angles. I used a marker to find the current angle and corresponding hole in the platform since I was happy with the way my scrapers performed. Once I had the correct angle, I used a paint pen to write the number on the tool and that offers me instant repeatability.
 
Tom LeTourneau said:
You can raise and lower the platform to accommodate any tool thickness. There are inexpensive platform add-ons to deal with skew bevels. Two variations of two types of platforms exist. One type of platform lets you fix ANY angle and mark it one of the six provided areas for repeatability. The other type has notch-like holes to set the angle. Each successive hole varies from the closest by a a few degrees. You really should view the video on the Right Angle website. Gil Lea does a MUCH better job demonstrating than I do writing.

BTW - I think Stuart Batty’s three set angle gauges are GREAT. Have been going with those to repeat, rather than felt-tipping the bevels.
Click to expand...

I actually did watch the video. They showed how the two types of platforms work, but didn't seem to mention anything about calibrating the height.

I also just picked up one of Batty's angle gauges. They are helpful, but, I am constantly pulling that thing out now to readjust my one platform. :P Solved one problem, created another. :D
 
Jon Rista said:
I actually did watch the video. They showed how the two types of platforms work, but didn't seem to mention anything about calibrating the height.

I also just picked up one of Batty's angle gauges. They are helpful, but, I am constantly pulling that thing out now to readjust my one platform. :P Solved one problem, created another. :D
Click to expand...
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slf2IFk03BQ


Does this help? Seems the platform height is not an issue as long as the gauge touches at both points of a given angle.
 
I have never used the Batty system. We came out with ours at about the same time. There have been many variations of angle setting jigs for the Wolverine system. As near as I can tell, they get you "close", but are not EXACTLY perfectly repeatable. That is what my old robo rest and the Right Angle jig do, you get exact angle settings, every single time.

robo hippy
 
Tom LeTourneau said:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slf2IFk03BQ


Does this help? Seems the platform height is not an issue as long as the gauge touches at both points of a given angle.
Click to expand...

Hmm. I was looking at their platform that had pre-set angles. I was thinking, if they were pre-set, you would need to have the platform at an exact height relative to the wheel, since the wheel is curved. Too high or low, and you wouldn't actually get the angle set.

For the other one, which was more expensive, where you can set your own angles for each of the provided bolts, I guess might not need to be set at an exact height since you are setting the angles yourself. But with the pre-set angle one, I think you would need to make sure its at an appropriate height relative to the wheel, right? And, I guess, also a correctly set distance from the wheel as well?
 
I think we have two lines of discussion in this thread… 1. The Right Angle platform, and 2. The Stuart Batty angle gauges. The Right Angle platform has an adjustable height mechanism, set at the user’s discretion to fit his/her grinding wheels. I set mine once. It works for all my tools so far. You can also set the platform distance to the wheels. I also set mine once at about an eighth of an inch (or so) to the wheels. I find no need to change these initial settings. FWIW… I only had to fiddle with adjusting the spacing of the platform at the sides of the wheel… to even it out. Right Angle provides a simple way for their Talon model for this purpose. Set once, that’s it.

The Stuart Batty angle gauges are used with ANY sharpening platform system. Their purpose is to set an angle of the platform, higher or lower, when the platform is next to the grinding surface. Each angle on the gauge can be achieved by ensuring that two points touch the wheel. I don’t think the height of the platform (within reason) makes much difference for precision. I use these gauges with my Right Angle platform simply to give me confidence that I am using the correct notch on my Talon for any given angle.

Both products have videos, ones which I honestly think explain things far better than my rambling. I can only vouch for them from my own experience to date. I apologize if I have lead anyone astray.
 
Well first if all specific angles aren't necessary. Repeatability of the grind and easy luck set up are what is important. I don't own the right angle which i think meetscall of the above. I switched from the robo rest to the woodturnerswonders rest but I modified mine to have presets at all of of the angles that it didnt come with. If the right angle rest had come out before I bought this one I would own one of those. Here is a photo of my modification. At $100 this rest is less expensive but of course you would have to modify it if you need more angles. I drilled holes every 5 degrees that were not already there. I use a 1/8 " Allen to fit in the holes to lock it in place. It's held to the jig with a rare earth magnet so it's always handy.
 

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I ended up just buying another one way platform, one for scrapers and another for the roughing gouge. Put a stop collar on the shaft so it's always the right distance from the cbn wheel and I don't change the angle of the platforms.
 
I would say the difference between the Stuart Batty system and mine and the Right Angle are that Stuart's system requires a jig every time you want to set the angle, and it may still need "adjustment" to get it perfect. With my old system and the Right Angle, you can repeat EXACTLY every time without having to use a jig. Working on another variation now....

robo hippy
 
Still trying to decide which Right Angle to buy, the talon or program. Any suggestions? I like the many angles on the talon and the cheaper price, but the program can be dialed in to exaclty what you want. I counted how many grinds I would need on a platform and came up with four, so the program would do what I need.
 
I always opt for more options, just in case, even if I don't need or use them. Just in case. For me, the question is freestanding as in screwed to the bench, or Oneway compatible....

robo hippy
 
Vincent Vogel said:
Still trying to decide which Right Angle to buy, the talon or program. Any suggestions? I like the many angles on the talon and the cheaper price, but the program can be dialed in to exaclty what you want. I counted how many grinds I would need on a platform and came up with four, so the program would do what I need.
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I went with the Talon because it was cheaper and I like the flexibility. I use the Oneway system and bought that mount for my grinder. Happy customer.
 
I was looking at the talon again myself, and it says that the step is 2 degrees per increment. I'm curious if that means, that getting an exact 45 degree angle is not possible? Would you be stuck at 44 and 46 degrees? If that is the case, that might be a good reason to get the program. Other possible angles I thought of were 55, 60, 70, and maybe 30, but I know some of the grinds I've been looking at lately had some oddballs, like 63 for the bottom angle on an NRS grind.
 
Jon Rista said:
I was looking at the talon again myself, and it says that the step is 2 degrees per increment. I'm curious if that means, that getting an exact 45 degree angle is not possible? Would you be stuck at 44 and 46 degrees?
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Unless of course they start at 1 degree (but then you'd never hit 60,70,30,90 degree points...) OTOH, most of wood turning tool sharpening, precise angles are not that critical - one person's 40 degree bevel might be someone else's 41 degrees , or a third person's 38 degrees....
 
Close counts. I do not think it is possible to get exactly perfect angles. Just the thickness of the tool can change the angle, you get slightly different angles on a 1/4 inch thick tool than you do on a 5/8 inch thick tool. Just get them close and figure out what works best for you. I made mine in 5 degree increments. Probably more than needed for most, and I don't think 1 degree increments would work for most....

robo hippy
 
After I got a bevel angle for skews and scrapers I was happy with, I made a template for my grinder that touches the CBN wheel in 2 places and I adjust the rest. I looked at the Batty gauge but it seemed more chance of error repeating the same angle due to the small distance between the touch points.

Since it’s 0.125” aluminum stock, I can tweak the angle by grinding off the toe or heel as time goes on. It made adjusting the coarse and fine wheel rests easy and repeatable.

Next time I sharpen gouges, I’ll make a gouge gauge.
 

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I already have platform angle setters for all angles I use. Any one know of a solid bench mount style without the angle set options and doesnt cost an arm and a leg?
 
I had one of the Veritas angle jig set ups, and didn't like it. If you just looked at it wrong, it moved.... That is why I invented my own. My first robo rest was made from a 4 by 4 steel hinge. It was pretty ugly, but it worked. I would not expect it to be too difficult to make your own. If you look at my free standing model, it would be a stay in place thing.

robo hippy
 
i have had a couple of different grinder platforms and for me the Robo rest is the one that works best, someone should start making them again, sturdy design and same angle every time, repeatability, which is more important than getting an exact angle
 
I do understand the great value and advantage of accurate repeatability.
I do not understand how to find and identify a specific angle to assign to each notch.
 
With the right angle platform, you eyeball it to match what ever angle you are wanting, and then you tape or write that number on your tool. It does give you exact repeatability. I do like having approximate angle numbers on them, just easier for me.

robo hippy
 
I haven’t experimented with my Talon yet. A thin metal washer placed on the platform peg (before you drop it in a numbered hole) would slightly change an angle a degree or less. For example, if hole #16 was good for 20°, adding a thin washer to the peg might give you 21°, rather than pegging into hole 17… which might be 22°. I’ve got to try this, I guess.
 
If you loosen up the 4 bolts that hold the bracket/platform assembly, you’ll notice that there is an adjustment feature built in. Factory default has the bolt in the middle of the adjustment arc. This could help in your attempt to get the exact degree of adjustment.
 

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