New Sharpening Jig

[Mike Rathe]

I have been in the market for a jig and I have just been waiting to get the Wolverine, but I came across the sharpening center from NOVA, check this out and let me know what you guys think teknatool.com/products/Other/Sharpening_Centre/Sharpening_centre.htm I cant find any reviews on it, but it sure does look cool. If any of you have had experiences with it let me know what you think!
Thanks

[tom martin]

I watched the video Mike and it looks like it is well made, compact very versatile , and relatively inexpensive. I wish I would have waited!

[Alan Trout]

Mike, they have just stated shipping. Bill Blasic on another site just got his and was going to do a review on it soon as he got a chance. I will see when he gets it done I will try to copy and paste his comments. He did say it was much more substantial than the photos show and the quality looks real good.

Alan

[Paul Douglass]

I just sold an extra lathe I had so I could order one. I've been using home made jigs. But the looks much more convient. Never wanted to spend as much as the Woverine set up.

[Dewey Torres]

I just outfitted myself with the Wolverine so it will be quite some time before I think about trying another. I am sure someone here will buy it and provide comments.

[Kirk Miller]

I really like the looks of that. I may become more motivated to clear a spot on my work bench for a grinder now. That thing looks slick
Kirk

[Don Carter]

Mike:
Over on a Nova forum, Bill Blasic has received it but has not reviewed it yet. Another experienced contributor has received one and his initial review is not too good. He has not posted his complete review yet, but his early opinion is certainly not a "buy".
You might want to hold off just a bit until these reviews are fully developed.

All the best.

Don

[Reed Gray]

Well, I must say that it has a lot of features I have imagined for a sharpening station, that other systems don't have. I may have to get one.
robo hippy

[Steve Mawson]

Funny this would come up now. I have been looking at this unit for a couple weeks. I have Nova chucks which made me check their web site. I watched the video and it looked pretty good to me. Checked with Woodcraft but they do not carry it yet although the service guy said they might in the future.

[Paul Douglass]

Well, I ordered on and I will like it no matter what! What didn't the guy like about it? I ordered one based on how will I like their other tools and their service. Maybe I should have waited because it is bound to improve, but liike I said I have been using homemade for several years, I'm sure my home made would get a bad review opr two also.

[Derek Hansen]

I ordered one - haven't gotten it yet.

Based on the video, I think the concept of it is better than the wolverine - plus it takes up less room since you aren't referencing off the end of the handle.

[Alan Trout]

Like I said I would try to post the review from Bill Blasic. Here is what he says. It sounds like that it has potential and may need a little tweaking to be just right.


" Bill Blasic (http://www.myfamily.com/isapi.dll?c=m&htx=v&siteid=LG-hAI&memberid=000001&_lin=2) - Mar 1, 2009 My initial foray with this system was the same as what Fred said and I was in touch with Teknatool immediately. Number one their instructions are in the process of being rewritten and this hopefully will insure that those who follow will not run into the problems that I came across. The instructions were apparently written for a 6" grinder and setting it up to those instructions led to multiple problems such as making it impossible to sharpen a skew. With the proper heights set for an 8" grinder things fell more into place. The main problem I still have is that the sharpening base top plate will move, I cannot get it tight enough and I relayed that to them and they mentioned a fix so we will see. As I mentioned in my initial response I did not like the fact that you had to remove the top plate to use the finger jig. I still feel that way and they have an option for bench mount base coming out in June (I told them that I thought that it should have been included). All that aside after getting the right height setup I was able to sharpen the skew and do a good job on the spindle roughing gouge.
The Finger Grind Jig turned out to be a nice surprise for me. Again the directions were not the best (absent would better describe it better). Once told how it works it works fine. If your used to using the Wolverine jig you naturally think that the arm is what you need to adjust to get the right distance for the grinder, Not. The arm is stationary and the part that I thought would be stationary at the end of the arm is what moves, it slides up and down the arm and is called the Finger Arm Slider (part # 11). I preceded to sharpen 6 of my Thompson Bowl Gouges 3/4 V, 5/8 V, 1/2 V, 3/8 V, 3/8 Spindle, and a 3/8 Detail all with better control than my Vari-Grind. I then tried the Finger Jig on the Wolverine system and I have a much easier time keeping the tool on the stone than with the Vari-Grind jig, this was a pleasant surprise. The fact that you can put a gouge into it up to 1" is a bonus also and it does hold the tool securely. I would keep the system for no other reason than this jig.
Also in June there is to be a diamond dressing jig coming out that should work well if the plate tightening can be fixed. That to me is one of the most important things that has to be done to get sharp tools, the wheels must be dressed properly.
I am going to keep this system and I can easily fix the plate issue but I will wait to see what Teknatool does. I will also have this grinder set up so that I can move the stand to either side of the grinder for the diamond dressing operation.
After using the Wolverine system for years it is tough to think outside the box that you get used to. Is this system perfect, no, is it workable, yes with the proper directions for setup a novice should be able to sharpen their tools with out a problem. Remember that this setup is at the moment $89 compared to $168 for the Wolverine to do the same things and myself I like the Finger Jig better than the Vari-Grind (I have an idea that I'm going to try on the Vari-Grind that I'll share if it works).
Fred if you are using an 8" grinder the top plate needs to be positioned 5/8 above the center of the grinding wheel. I also found that just screws were not enough to hold the system solidly. I added washers and the system was much more solid and you should leave room with the screws to move the system towards the grinder as the wheel is used up as the 1mm dimension is very important in its use.
If there are any questions I'll try to answer them."I hope this information is helpful.

Alan

[Paul Douglass]

Thanks for posting that. Looks like there are a few bugs to work out, but that is usually so. At about 1/2 the price of the Woverine, not bad.

[Mike Rathe]

Thanks for all the responses, I think I am still gonna wait a bit to see if they can get the kinks worked out of this one, but it seems to be the way to go for so much cheaper than the Wolverine!

[Joshua Dinerstein]

Wow. Thanks for the posts guys. That is a very interesting sharpening system. What can I say. I want to give it a try! :)

But I like others will wait a bit and see if they can work out some of the kinks.

Thanks,
Joshua

[Dave Schell]

Mine came in the mail last Friday. The website said it was $89.00 but my credit card got billed $105. It was shipped from WVA to NC - shipping was really $16.00?

Haven't had a chance to grind with it yet - still setting it up on a plywood base, etc. But I can confirm alot of what has already been said.
I followed the instructions and installed the top plate 3/8" over the midpoint of my 8" grinder. On my Woodcraft gringer, this took a padding board about 7/8" thick placed underneath the jig. Now I'm wondering if it really needs to be 5/8" over the midpoint.

Also, on the sliding arm for the finger grind tool, it kinda makes sense that the arm locks down and you slide ball/socket piece along the arm. But my issue is that the nuts that hold the lock down piece underneath the base are just loose so you have to get a wrench under there everything to tighten it (versus having the nuts welded to the base or the base just threaded. That part is going to be a real pain.

Also, you do have to remove the top plate everytime to use the finger grind jig. Not sure how much of a pain that will be - it does come off fairly easy though. I'll post more once I have a chance to grind some on it.

[Dave Schell]

OK - I got to play with this a bit more tonight and I really want to send it back. It just does not have the same feel as the wolverine. As the reviews stated before, you can not lock down the top plate tight enough using the small wingnuts to really get it to hold on the set angle. The slightest pressure on it and it moves. That's unacceptable. Additionally, I could not lock down the finger jig arm tight enough to not get it to feel really solid. Again, that is scary to me. Hope Teknatool has a generous return policy.

[Joshua Dinerstein]

The slightest pressure on it and it moves. That's unacceptable. Additionally, I could not lock down the finger jig arm tight enough to not get it to feel really solid.
Wow. That would be bad. I was set to order one as I think it will help some of what I am doing when I sharpen. But I have no need to get a piece of junk.

Any idea why it is shifting and slipping like that? Is it the paint on the thing or is it something else that you have noticed? I wonder if the careful application of a washer or two could solve some of the problems.

I have it when things don't live up to expectations...

Joshua

[vaughn bradley]

How did you get in touch with these people?
vbradley25@comcast.net

thanks,
brad