How would you make these sharpening aids?

[Joshua Dinerstein]

I have recently embarked on a journey trying to polish up my sharpening skills and techniques for my wood turning tools. I have been getting some mixed results. When it is "on" I have fantastic fun and when it is off I get so frustrated I cold scream and just end up ruining good wood.

So I started purchasing sharpening systems. I posted a thread a little while ago, found here: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=133095

I decided to go with the Wolverine to start with. I had been toying with the thought of selling it on the bay as it is the complete set and trying something totally different then decided to give it a while instead. I got it all setup.

I have to say I don't have the skills of many here. Holy crap. While not hard per se trying to get the tolerances alignment and position so close to perfect took me hours. Trying to determine where to drill the pilot holes for screws to maintain alignment etc... In the end I believe I have it very carefully aligned and quite good now. Perhaps it wasn't needed to go to that extreme but it seemed important. (Other than the school of hard knocks I am not certain where to go about getting the tips, tricks and knowledge that would have made that easier.)

The first tool I tried to sharpen was my large skew. I got the platform setup and carefully arranged for angle and sharpened it. WOW! That is really all I can say, just WOW! In one quick bit of a grinding I established a smooth even cutting edge and bevel on both sides the likes of which I had never been able to achieve. For this part it is definitely a clear winner!

Then I wanted to do a scraper and that would mean changing that arrangement. It has quick release handles for pretty much everything and so can be done but I am thinking I don't want too.

After getting this setup and seeing it all first hand something that Reed Gray wrote in the other thread started to make tons of sense. He said:

I have several wedge shaped plates to go on the table to change angles, so there is no fiddling around to guess the correct angle, and roll the gouges free hand. Really simple, and much faster than any jig.

To try and summarize as I understand it now: to get a 35 degree angle with my wolverine at this point I have to move my rest and so going back to 45 is tedious trial and error and from my current experience almost impossible to truly do right. So I have to do more grinding each and every time to overcome the slight angle change. With the blocks Reed mentions there would be no need to move the rest but just switch out the blocks and bingo you have a 35 degree rest. Take the block off and you have the 45 unchanged.

Sounds like it would work great to me!

I ran some web searches and found these images on another persons website. They are variations on a theme but seem to be what Reed was talking.

My question at this point really is how to make them. I have been gathering decent tools and while I know the basics of using each I am just not certain how to proceed to effectively cut the two aligning angles out of a single block to make something like what is in the pictures below.

I PM'ed Reed directly and then thought perhaps others would be interested in this same discussion and wanted to take it here to a broader audience for potential responses and for future public reference.

Thanks!
Joshua

[Dennis Ford]

Not sure what tools you have to work with, but I would cut those blocks with a band-saw and dress up the faces with a hand plane. The angle might wind up 1/2 degree different than planned but it would work fine.

[Joshua Dinerstein]

Not sure what tools you have to work with, but I would cut those blocks with a band-saw and dress up the faces with a hand plane. The angle might wind up 1/2 degree different than planned but it would work fine.

I have a Rikon 14" deluxe band saw. I also have a Rigid table saw. I think the band saw is probably the best bet. The surface will be rougher but I should be able to sand it flat or ...

Thanks,
Joshua

[Gary Conklin]

These are from Herman de Vries site. I would bet they where cut on a table saw with a tilted blade. But would suggest shooting Herm an email, he is a super nice guy and sure to get back to you. His site is an awesome catalog of turnings and tips too!
http://www.hdv.net/

[Joshua Dinerstein]

These are from Herman de Vries site. I would bet they where cut on a table saw with a tilted blade. But would suggest shooting Herm an email, he is a super nice guy and sure to get back to you. His site is an awesome catalog of turnings and tips too!
http://www.hdv.net/

They are indeed. I didn't post the URL as I was trying to follow the rules here. I am not sure if it was allowed or not. I found the photos and short-write up helpful. But you know it never occurred to me until I read your post to ask him directly. No clue why?!!? Funny how we get into mind-sets. I am used to asking on the creek and so here I came.

Thanks for helping to jog me back into motion on this. I will ask Herman directly and add anything that he has to say to whatever I might get from here.

Thanks,
Joshua

[Russell Sansom]

Joshua,
I would make a couple suggestions.
1) You can fabricate ramps fairly simply from, say, 3/4" plywood or poplar. Using railroad board you can make full-scale models that can then be used as templates.

2) Along the same lines, I've seen massive miter shooting boards that were built up from 1" wedges glued face-to-face-to-face.

For quick and easy precision, I'd chose one of these methods over a solid wedge.
For the pure joy of it, I'd carefully lay out a big block of white cedar, take off the waste part with a rip saw, and joint the face. My #8 jointer gets a big smile on its face when it sees me planning a project like this.

[Eric Kosanovich]

Joshua,

Just my opinion, but i would use a table saw to cut the blocks out then flip the block over and use a dado (i think it's called) to cut the groove. And Thank you Vary much for this post i have been free hand sharpening on a 4" grinder so i feel you'r pain.

I have to say I don't have the skills of many here. Holy crap.

Don't insult your self your work is fine. This type of wood working has alot to do with taste and personal opinion.

Eric

[Reed Gray]

I have never liked making full depth cuts on a table saw, even if I make them 1/2 depth cuts, then full depth. It just feels dangerous. Doing it on the bandsaw is safer to me. Clean up is minimal. Use your disc sander to get the blade marks out, then wax it or put some finish on it so the tool will roll smoothly. You don't want any speed bumps. A belt sander will take care of it in short order also. This isn't rocket science, and doesn't have to be perfect.

robo hippy

[Al Rogers]

Hi

After looking at the jigs you would have to make, I think it would be simpler to use the Wolverine.

There are three adjustments on the wolverine jig.

1) the distance the bottom of the leg is from the grinding surface.

2) the distance the tool tip extends out from the jig

3) the angle setting of the leg


Two of these variables can be made into a constant or unchanging setting. I use #2 and #3

#2 the distance the tool tip extends out of the jig - I set mine at a constant 2 inches. Easily measured by a block of wood glued/screwed 2 in from the edge of the table.

#3 the angle setting of the leg - I've set the angle of the jig leg at a set point - 6 slots from the top ( by trial and error - lots of errors)

By adjusting 1) the distance the bottom of the leg is from the grinding surface, I can get the angles I want.

The dimensions I show in the attached pic will give me a 60 degree angle on my gouge. The angle measured from the bottom of the flute to the tool's ground face.

The distance the jig rest extends out from the work face is measured and recorded or as I have done - marked right on the jig rest's extension. The extension distances for other angles (IE 45 deg) are also referenced by marks on the jig rest's extension

This method will give you a repeatable way to set the wolverine to grind your common or frequently used gouge angles and easy to change (and recover to) if you want to try a new edge angle

If you make the wooden angle guides, the cutting angle on the gouge will be hard to change if you decide to experiment with different cutting angles.

You could also set the the jig rest's extension at a constant or unchanging distance and change the angle of the wolverine jig's leg to pre-marked positions. This will give you the same results as the first method - the one I prefer

If you have any questions post them here as I rarely check my PM messages and who knows maybe someone else has the same question.

[Reed Gray]

Al,
The idea here is that once you make the jigs, you can eliminate steps 1, 2, and 3, and this covers all of your tools.

robo hippy