Finally... Grinder Stand and Wolverine Jig setup

[Jim Underwood]

I finally broke down at the Woodworking Show in Atlanta this past January, and bought myself a Wolverine and the Truegrind jig...

I'd gotten tired of telling myself I could make this sharpening jig, or that sharpening jig, and never actually doing it. I've had parts cut out for Jean Michel's sharpening system for I don't know how long, and I've just not put 'em together. So to get by for the past 4 years, I've sharpened my gouges on the old wood v-block set up for the Ellsworth style jig... and sharpened everything else by hand.

I've been quite busy lately, and I've not been able to get to the Wolverine jig til now... So, utilizing scrap/cross grained 3/4 plywood and some drawer boxes destined for the dumpster, plus a new frameless blind dado cabinet construction method I've gotten setup at work, I whipped out this drawer stack and detachable top for the grinder and wolverine jig... I can remove the top, and transport it for demonstration purposes.

Just finished this today:

[Jim Underwood]

I tried this thing out before leaving the shop, and it's great to finally have a platform to sharpend my roughing gouge and scrapers! Whoo hoo!

Now I just gotta get a better wheel for the left side, and a coupla those raptor jig/gauge thingies, and I'll be a sharpening king!:)

[Steve Schlumpf]

Wow - that's quite the setup! Looks like it will work out great for you!

[David E Keller]

Congrats on the sharpening set-up. I can't imagine you'll ever regret it. Looks like you gained a nice bit of storage underneath... bonus!

[John Keeton]

Jim, I love my setup. Don't know if this will help, but I marked the shaft of the V holder at various points for the setups on my detail gouge and bowl gouge for when I use the Vari-grind jig. That way, I can reset it quickly. Used a screwdriver and struck a scratch on the side of the square tubing.

[Baxter Smith]

Looks great! Mine has made a huge difference. The cabinet looks great and has lots of storage. Probably completely filled already!

[Jim Underwood]

John,
Thanks for the tip. One of the guys in the club does it that way too. It works to a point. The problem is that as your wheel wears down the angle changes...

So I intend to use Kirk Deheer's design for the jigs to set the angle until I can afford the Raptor jigs you can buy at Craft Supplies (http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/New_Products___Raptor_Set_Up_Tool___raptor). You can see a YouTube vid of a guy using Kirk's jig to set the angles here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRqcth2rBaE

He gives the issue of DeHeer's AAW journal article too. If you're a member of AAW you can now view these articles online. Otherwise you can contact Kirk and ask him for a PDF of the article.

[Joe Little]

Jim
To solve the sizing problem as the grinding wheel gets smaller I bought $3 piece of metal rod (36 in) and cut it to size with a hacksaw. I put one end in the V of Wolverine and the other against grinding wheel resting on the lower shroud of the grinder. I bring the wolverine up until it just touches the wheel, set it and remove the rod. This way as the grinding wheel gets smaller the distance remains constant. Now I have yet to wear down my wheel but I think it will work fine.

Joe

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking setup Jim. Really nice.

[Jim Underwood]

Thanks for the compliments guys.

The last two evenings I've been playing around with Kirk DeHeer's grinding templates. (I cut some out on our CNC router, so I know they are accurate!) However, I'm not getting the expected results...:confused: I'm about to admit to John Keeton that his method is better... At least at this juncture. :o And Joe's idea is looking better all the time.

So I have to use the 50° jig (less 1/4") to get come even close to a 40° angle. The 40° jig makes closer to a 27° angle! :eek: I'm wondering if Kirk was assuming the use of an 8 inch grinder?

I suppose a call or email to Kirk is in order. If I get a response, I'll let you know what happened. Perhaps I'll just order those Raptor templates. But first I'd better check on my bank account...;)

[Thom Sturgill]

Jim, I'm sure any measurements given in an article would be dependant on the setting of the angle of the varigrind leg. The raptor gauges specify that angle setting and explain how to measure it. Protrusion of the tip is also critical, but it looks like you've got that taken care of.

The only advantage I see that the raptor gauges have over the other methods is that they will also set the angle of the table properly. Disadvantage is of course the price tag, but that did not stop me from buying a set at a symposium.

[Jim Underwood]

Well Kirk specified 6 inches from the top of the leg tubing to the centerline of the grinding wheel, a 27° angle on the vari-grind leg, and a 2 inch extension.

Now I may be little off on one or more of those, but not that far off.... So I'm a bit puzzled as to why the angle is so far off.:confused:

[Charlie Myers]

Jim,

Might be a bit late to weigh in now, but it seems to me that Kirk's article & "gouge setup jig" (sets the distance from the V arm to the grinding wheel) assumes that the center of the grinding wheel is 6" above the bottom of the V arm. If your grinder is mounted higher or lower than that above your V arm, then you're going to get a different bevel angle and accompanying wing angles.

I'm new to turning & sharpening as well, but to me that's just basic geometry. I could be wrong though. I don't know how much of a difference 1/4" or 1/2" would make...might not even be material.

Charlie

[Gordon Thompson]

those raptor jigs are interesting. i've not seen them before.

are those interchangable between a 6in or 8in grinder?

[bob svoboda]

Looks great, Jim. Also stimulated some good discussion. Thanks for sharing.

[Jim Underwood]

I shoulda followed up with this.

I finally broke down and got the Raptor jigs. I also removed a coupla spacers under the grinder to get the height correct (6" to 6-1/4" if memory serves). I had it jacked up too high. :o

Now the Raptors give me the specified angle every time.

And yes, I have a 6" grinder, so the Wolverine jig does work with it- you just have to raise the grinder some, but not TOO much...

[Dave Ogren]

I have read about a lot of guys that have made their own raptor gages after they get the desired grind that they are happy with. One persons angle might not what the other is happy with, and the money saving factor also enters the equation.

Good Luck,

Dave

[Jim Underwood]

My problem wasn't that I couldn't make the jig, it was that I just kept putting it off... I have WAY too many projects. It was just quicker and easier to get going again by buying the Raptors.

Now that I've got my bowl gouges handled, my grinder set up, and a whole wall full of bowl roughouts....

I'd best get to turning bowls, eh?:D