Hah, hah, I guessed right for sure! I didn't give good detail in my original post. It is the original Varigrind with the adjustable leg. What makes me think it might be the bigger size is that it has the brass knob and plastic pad to hold the gouge in, rather than the spring steel shown in the picture of the smaller holder. I'll be extra careful with the smaller gouges, and let you know if I do, indeed, need a new tool! (Though perhaps someone might remember when they started offering 2 sizes)
You have the "not as old" original varigrind. (I have the original varigrind with the spring steel thing).
You should be able to put in up to 5/8" diameter (shank diameter) bowl and spindle gouges. (Don't use the jig for a spindle roughing gouge).
I know sharpening is a bit like politics and religion (two topics never to be discussed at the dinner table), but I'd like to weigh in a bit. I'm no expert, but some folks in our club (NM Woodturners, website at nmwoodturners.org) have developed a couple of jigs to get repeatability in the grind when using the varigrind jig. These jigs can easily be cut out on a bandsaw on masonite, fiberboard, or thin plywood. They help you set the spacing from the pocket in the arm to the wheel. I recommend setting up something so you have the following repeatable distances:
(1) Stick out distance of the tool from the front of the Varigrind (our club experts recommend two different stick outs, 1.75 for spindle and 2.0 for bowl) I made a stick out gage with scraps and glue; a hand drill and spade or Forstner bit and tape would also work.
(2) Leg angle setting of the Varigrind (our club experts recommend two different angles, one for bowl, one for spindle)--I sharpied two marks on my Varigrind.
(3) Distance from pocket where leg sits, to front of wheel. This is where the masonite or plywood board with a carefully cut width is greatly helpful.
When you do that, all your regrinds will replicate the angles of the initial grind. In my opinion, whether your spindle gouge is 35 deg, 37 deg, etc. is not as important as being able to regrind that same angle. Ditto the bowl gouge--whether it's 55 deg., 53 deg., etc. Just be sure that when you resharpen, you resharpen to the same angle. (I think that the presenters for our club's fixture set up to generate a 60 degree grind on the bowl gouge and 40 or 45 on the spindle, but I don't have my protractor and tools with me).
IIRC, the smaller one has that piece of spring steel that holds the gouge down. I wonder if sometimes the other style (the plastic in your picture) might not get enough bearing surface, or perhaps move the gouge a bit off horizontal. I'll just keep a close eye on it when grinding 1/4" spindle gouges.
Anyway mine will handle gouges up to 3/4" U.S. size (5/8" UK size). I have used it to sharpen 1/4" and 3/8" spindle gouges up to two 3/4" gouges (Thompson and Henry Taylor Kryo). I can't imagine a 1 1/8" diameter gouge.
