finally bought the grinder but the jig doesnt line up

[curtis rosche]

i bought the vari speed 6 inch grinder from lowes. i started to set up the wolverine grinding jig for the grinder, but there is a problem. the base of the grinder doesnt fit beside the jig, the center line of the v-arm is off by about 3/4 of an inch, i thought that it would be fine to just angle the arm a little bit, and it helped, but it made a noticable difference in the grind on the left side than the right. is this some thing that can be fixed or something that will just have to be carefully worked around? other than that the grinder works great . right out of the box it was balanced and trued. perfect . thanks for showin me the grinder

[Dewey Torres]

i bought the vari speed 6 inch grinder from lowes. i started to set up the wolverine grinding jig for the grinder, but there is a problem. the base of the grinder doesnt fit beside the jig, the center line of the v-arm is off by about 3/4 of an inch, i thought that it would be fine to just angle the arm a little bit, and it helped, but it made a noticable difference in the grind on the left side than the right. is this some thing that can be fixed or something that will just have to be carefully worked around? other than that the grinder works great . right out of the box it was balanced and trued. perfect . thanks for showin me the grinder

The Wolverine works better with an 8 Inch grinder. I upgraded from a 6 inch when I started turning.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Curtis - your wolverine jig should be lined up with the center line of each wheel. The center of the grinding wheel is supposed to be a certain distance above the wolverine jig. I had to raise my grinder about 3/4" to make everything fit. Make sure you follow the directions for setting up the sharpening system and everything should work out right!

[Dean Thomas]

Better with an 8", yes, but it does work just fine with a 6" system. As Steve said, it's imperative that you set it up correctly, with the "tubes" square and centered on the wheels. I had to raise my own 6" grinder about 1-1/4". It all depends on the individual grinder and the amount of metal in the carriage.

BE SURE TO REMOVE ANY RUBBER FEET!!! Bolt that machine down tight.

Most folks end up building a box for the machine, either on a bench or on a grinder stand. The box (with a lip on the floor of the box!) keeps your stuff close at hand. Like the Vari-Grind attachment(s), and your dressing tool; maybe the coarse wheel for the mower and the right wrench. A friend of mine keeps a piece of maple there so he can push on the side of the wheels to slow the machine to a stop. Says it keeps his cat from hurting itself. :eek:

I can't help but wonder if the cat ever really did try to play with the grinder...

[David Christopher]

Curtis, take a pic so we can see what youre talking about

[curtis rosche]

i can get the pic tommorow, to late tonight. the wheel is exactly the right height, its just that there is the grinder base in the way of the jig.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Curtis I had the same problem when I bought my first grinder. The base itself is still in the road even though I had gotten the height perfect. I finally just broke down and bought the woodcraft grinder. The jig has to be dead square with the wheel or your grind is going to be off. Been there done that.

[curtis rosche]

so, you are saying, return the grinder and get a different one, and ignore the 8 3/8th holes i drilled?

[doug young]

I had the same problem with a craftsman 6" grinder. There was no way to solve it. I wrestled with it for quite a while then sold the grinder on craigslist and bought the woodcraft one. If it is what i think it is the base is just to wide. I thought about trying to cut of part of the base but then i would have lost my mounting hole. The base of the woodcraft 8"slow speed is 7 1/2 inches.

[Paul Atkins]

How about mounting the grinder on the wall 90 degrees out? Put a shelf below it and there will not be anything in the way.

[Gordon Seto]

Double check the space required for the long sliding arm of the Wolverine.

[Jeff Nicol]

i bought the vari speed 6 inch grinder from lowes. i started to set up the wolverine grinding jig for the grinder, but there is a problem. the base of the grinder doesnt fit beside the jig, the center line of the v-arm is off by about 3/4 of an inch, i thought that it would be fine to just angle the arm a little bit, and it helped, but it made a noticable difference in the grind on the left side than the right. is this some thing that can be fixed or something that will just have to be carefully worked around? other than that the grinder works great . right out of the box it was balanced and trued. perfect . thanks for showin me the grinder
Curtis, Mount the jig to the bench first. Then figure out another piece of wood that is big enough to accomodate the footprint of the grinder. Cut a notch out where the edge of the jig is so you can get it centered. Not sure is you get my meaning but it should work. you could also take some thicker wood and bridge the jig completly and then mount the grinder in line with the jig.

Is it the skil grinder you bought? It looks pretty narrow.

Good luck

Jeff

[curtis rosche]

i got the delta grinder. 6 inch variable speed. the wall thing wont work, there are shelves in the way.

[Allen Neighbors]

Plan One: I should think that there should be some way to use a cutoff tool, and cut the outside edges off the grinder base, enough to allow the Jig to be mounted directly under the wheel. You could then drill new holes (angled, if necessary) to mount the grinder to the table. OR...
Plan two: Raise the Grinder to a point that would put it above the Wolverine arm. Then manufacture a block that would glue into the V slot, that is exactly the same height as you raised the grinder.
Almost anything would work as long as the point of grind is located above center on the front of the wheel.
Hope this gives you some ideas, anyway... best of luck to you.

[Robby Jones]

Al I am having the same problem (grinder&wolverine) maybe we can get mine fixed and help Curtis too.
Robby

[Allen Neighbors]

OK, call me when you're ready to look at it together. Is yours the same as Curtis'?

[Dick Sowa]

Maybe I am missing something in the discussion, but I don't see why you'd have to mount the jig "next to" the foot of the grinder at all. The idea would be to elevate the grinder so the jig would fit directly under wheel.

Here's a picture from Rockler's web site. It shows the grinder base well above the line of the jig's arms. Placing another piece of plywood, on the top of the pedestal, sized to fit the foot of the grinder, would be all you would need to do.


http://images.rockler.com/rockler/images/24707-01-500.jpg

[Gordon Seto]

The base on some model is different and wider.
http://images.lowes.com/product/069554/069554572272.jpg

[James K Peterson]

I have the same grinder and I've thought about the mounting issue and I was thinking we can do what Jeff Nicol said. The instructions say the base has to be flush the front of the wheels, centered with the width of the wheel, and 6-1/4" minimum under the wheel. It shows a 6-1/2" dimension, but doesn't reference what it is. When I thought about it, it seems that the bases, just have to be flush to the front, centered and under the wheel. The arm controls the bevel angle, so lower down should not hinder it (because you would just need to bring the arm out farther to keep the same bevel angle, if you lower the base down).

So a base that looks like one of these should work fine? Or am I way off?

[curtis rosche]

here is a picture of the grinder i got, the 6 inch varispeed delta grinder. it has the wider base. and it is exactly 6 inches from the center of the wheel to the bottom of the base, so putting it under the base would make it at least 7 inches below.

[curtis rosche]

the hole for mounting is centered under the wheel, which made it fun to mount.

[Don Orr]

Curtis,

Look carefully at the diagrams James Peterson posted and read the text carefully. The 7" height should not be a problem. The bolt thru the grinder base might be in the way of where the jig base should be tho. There should be a work around for this problem. I have seen it come up before but don't remember how it got figured out.

[curtis rosche]

i guess, that should work. i can just drill a hole through the jig, maybe

[Ryan Baker]

The Wolverine instructions call for 6-1/4 to 6-1/2 inches below the wheel centerline. It may not matter for the standard handle jig, but it does matter for the other jigs and the tool rest platform.

That Delta 6"VS grinder has the same base as the 8", but the 8" has the wheels set out wider past the feet.

You could arrange the jig holders below the grinder, as suggested, but you would have to figure out how to deal with the height problem. Again, that may not be hard for the standard jig (which I never use), but it is a much bigger problem for the others.

I'd call this one a losing battle, and not worth the effort. Pick up an 8" slow-speed Woodcraft grinder when it goes on sale and sell this one (you'll almost break even).

[Cyril Griesbach]

Amen, Ryan, that's what he was told on his original post.

[curtis rosche]

i talked that one over with my stepdad and selling it and geting another was a no go

[Dave Schell]

Curtis, I agree with the others that you should look for a solution that keeps the centerline of the wheels no more than 6.5" above the base of the jig. I think at this point the best option is to hack off the wings of that grinder base and find a new way to secure it to a wood base. Thanks for sharing this dilemna - it will hopefully spare others from the same aggrevation. This grinder model is really just not suited for the wolverine jig.

[James K Peterson]

So it sounds like you'll need to use what I was showing. Just countersink the bolt (the red line on the pics, carriage bolt would be ideal) head into the underside of the base so that you have clearance for the jig base. It looks like the left picture is a better solution since you'll have easier access to the jig base's locking handle. The lower (greater than 6-1/4" minimum under the wheel) should not be much of an issue unless you have a very long handled tool, because lowering the base will cause you to extend the arm out futher to achive the same bevel angle.

You can make this work for you grinder (and mine. I have the same one).

[curtis rosche]

my tool, is the half inch thompson v gouge, and i have the longest oneway handle on it, which i beleive is 22 inches,

[James K Peterson]

my tool, is the half inch thompson v gouge, and i have the longest oneway handle on it, which i beleive is 22 inches,

The v-arm on the jig is 27" long so it will be close.

If you read how you adjust the jig for the tool, you'll see that you set the tool in the arm rest and pull it in or out to get the bevel against the wheel. If you lower the base you would extend the arm further out.
Try it out if you can, just hand hold the jig/arm under the grinder (sit the grinder on some base/2x4) and see if you an get the bevel to rest on the wheel.

I don't think you have any other alternative that is easier. You have Jeff's idea (what I've shown), mounting the grinder on the wall to give clearance (and you'll need to adjust/remove the guards), or cut off the base of the grinder and drill new mounting holes in the grinder base (which looks to be a bit tough becase of the shape).

As soon as I save up enough for my jig I'll let you know how well it works.;)

[Ed Thomas]

My grinders used to be on a 20x40 rolling bench between the lathe & wall (I turn with my back to the wall). There wasn't enough room for the both of us so I came up with this wall-hugging system which also allows for a full sweep on a gouge with a long handle. The arbor is at eye level and with the french cleat mount I can move it to a convenient location (lathe c-c is 108").

Could you not rotate the grinder forward? The guards can be repositioned on the motor housing.



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[Allen Neighbors]

Curtis,
Robby put his grinder (which is just like yours) on a 1.5" thick piece of wood which raised his grinder up enough to put the wolverine legs under it. Then all you have to do is drill a different hole in the base to screw the grinder down.
If you anchor through the wolverine leg, you won't be able to adjust the arm.

[Ryan Baker]

If you have to go the route of raising the grinder above the Wolverine platform, you might be able to help compensate by rotating the wheel housings downward (or tilting the grinder forward) to give you better access to the wheel from lower down.

Which jigs do you need to use? The regular V arm shouldn't pose a problem. The vari-grind may have enough adjustment already (depending on the tool and grind), but it could be modified with a longer arm to raise it up. The regular tool-rest platform poses more problem (probably will interfere with the wheel guard), but that could be modified as well if you have access to a welder. The wheel dresser is probably a no-go, but there are better solutions for that.

[Chris Barnett]

Curtis
I think Peterson has a close solution to your problem. When you mount the grinder, bolt up through the top board into the grinder, not down throught the jig; you might need to use maybe #12 or larger if available, flat head machine screws. Also when you lay out the plan, consider maybe adding another extension jig to the opposite grinder side so you can switch to a finer grade wheel for honing. The extension tubes are simply 3/4 inch square tubes (bought my extra at Lowes) and you can have the v-shape plattes for the end of the tube welded by a friend; and the Wolverine comes with two extension clamps so you are all set. Then use the tool support on the grinder for close grinding support. Think it through...but don't give up!