Wolverine flat tool jig

[Dave McGeehan]

Has anyone tried and have any comments regarding the Wolverine flat tool sharpening jig? Flat Tool Honing Jig I'm mostly interested in using it to grind the initial bevel on my plane irons. I use a LV Mark II on my waterstones for the microbevel. I was going to buy the LV grinding setup Veritas® Basic Grinding Set - Lee Valley Tools but I was also looking at the Wolverine grinding jig to use on my turning gouges and figuered if I bought the Wolverine grinding jig, I might as well buy their flat tool jig as long as there aren't many negative comments from the users.

Thanks,
Dave McGeehan

[Andrew Swartz]

No negative comments here. I purchased the flat tool jig about a year ago. It is easy to use, well made, and does its job well. Using the wolverine jig on an 8" adjustable speed bench grinder produces a consistent hollow grind very quickly. In all honesty, the jig is less fool proof than the jet/tormek systems (which I have used as well), but I felt like the grinding process on the jet/tormek took way too long. The trick is to be very careful of blade temperature. When regrinding a bevel, my routine is to set up the jig, make two light passes, dip the blade in water, make two more light passes, and repeat for about 5 minutes.

The very best aspect of the wolverine jig is that it allows me to regrind a blade very quickly (around 5 minutes). Then it is a matter of a couple of a couple minutes at the water stones and I'm back to work. I'd love to cut out the jig altogether and grind freehand, but I'm not that confident on the grinder yet, especially with my wider plane irons.

[Dave McGeehan]

Thanks for the info, Andrew. Since I have no need for the Wolverine's honing feature plus the fact that the Wolvering flat tool jig is about $18 more than the Veritas grinding setup, and I also like the way the Veritas tool rest wraps around the grinding wheel, I'm thinking of combining the Veritas with the Wolverine grinding setup. This way I have the best of both worlds for my turning tools and my plane irons. I found this tip written by Phil Smith on how to combine the two of them on a Sawmill post from a few months ago.

Veritas and Wolverine jigs...working together - Sawmill Creek

Dave

[Andrew Swartz]

No problem. I just thought I'd throw in my experience with the wolverine jig.

The honing guide aspect of the wolverine system didn't really play a part in my decision. I sharpen free hand on stones, and prefer not to use guides (I'm chicken on a grinder though).

I've never used the veritas base, so I can't compare the two. But just from visually comparing the two, they seem to be doing different things. The wolverine jig is truly a single function jig -- you stick your plane iron in a bracket looking thing, clamp it down, then slide it over a bar to do the sharpening (ok, not the best description in the world). It holds the blade at a fixed angle to give you a consistent bevel. The veritas item you linked to looks like a pretty straight forward sharpening base -- similar to the one that comes with the basic wolverine set up -- different than the wolverine flat iron sharpening jig. As far as bases go, I think the wolverine base (I'm not talking about the flat blade jig anymore, the base) is made from thick, solid steel that is great at absorbing heat generated during grinding. The veritas base is, I believe, made from aluminum, and wouldn't (at least in my estimation) be as good at absorbing heat.

Either way, though, you probably won't be disappointed. Both products are made by quality companies that make quality products. I've never purchased a veritas product that I wasn't happy with. Heck, you might consider ordering both, evaluating them in person, and return the one you like least. I don't think Rob Lee or Oneway would have a problem with that.

[Andrew Swartz]

I just looked at your link to the veritas guide. I forgot that it does come with a clamp down mechanism, so it is closer to the wolverine jig than I originally thought. Looking at it, however, I was confused as to how you go about advancing the blade into the wheel to do the grinding. Do you have to loosen and tighten the bracket several times? If there is a way of advancing the blade into the wheel (I'm probably missing it), then they really are doing the same thing.

[Dave McGeehan]

I assume you must readjust the Veritas by loosening and retightening the blade hold-down bracket if you don't get it right on the first try. Are they allen screws on the Wolverine that hold the blade in position?

[Andrew Swartz]

The screws on the wolverine are allen screws. I keep the correct allen wrench handy with a rare earth magnet stuck to the grinder cover.

The position adjusting issue would be my concern with the veritas model (but again, this is based just on what I can see from the lee valley listing). With the wolverine, all you have to worry about is getting the blade square to the wheel. The blade never has to be readjusted after that. The blade swings onto the wheel and gravity does most of the work until the bevel is complete. With the veritas, it looks like the blade meets the wheel from the side. To prevent gouging the blade into the wheel, it looks like you'd have to continually loosen the bracket and advance the blade by hand. To me, that sounds like a hassel, and introduces the possibility of error with respect to keeping the blade square to the wheel, or getting too aggressive with grinding.

[Dave McGeehan]

On the Wolverine I'm assuming there is a stop built into the arm and that once you bottom out on the stop you've achieved the angle you had set it for?

[Andrew Swartz]

I'm not describing the difference very well. I'm not referring to a stop. What I'm referring to is how the blade is advanced into the wheel as metal is removed. The wolverine swings onto the wheel in an arc, so as metal is removed, it just continues along that arc into the wheel. Once the blade is set, you never remove it again until you are finished grinding. The veritas appears to require the user to manually advance the steel into the wheel by loosening, readjusting, and retightening the tool in the bracket because it remains a fixed distance from the wheel. I hope that makes sense.

[Al Navas]

The Flat Tool jig is just about the best thing to get the edges ready for either Scary Sharp or whatever technique you might use to get the iron edge ready. It takes no more than about a minute to do it on a truly rough hand plane iron.

It works. I recommend it. THEN go to the stones, or whatever else you normally do. It takes a while to get the large hand plane irons square, but a good square will help out tremendously.

I find other methods of preparing the blade edge just way too time-consuming. I am not into sharpening as an activity; rather, I AM interested in preparing an edge for the final sharpening and honing so that I use a tool such as a hand plane or chisel, I like the Flat Tool jig!

In this photo you can see the Flat Tool jig right under the old sharpening station I just replaced - it takes about one minute to get it ready on the Wolverine system (the new station is right behind this old clunker):

Old sharpening station - a simple, modified typing stand:




New sharpening station, ready for door and drawer knobs:




.