Sharpening 85 degree swept back Ellsworth gouge

[Michael Ginsberg]

First of all...thank you all for your input. I have deceided to grind the tool with my Varigrind with a two inch reveal to a less agressive angle of 75 degrees. That will give me more metal on the wheel and not be as risky while removing the bulk of the metal on the wings. I will go back and bring the v-arm in a bit to create a secondary mini-bevel of 85 degrees. I know the tool will just hit the wheel, but with a light touch and removing a slight bit of metal for the secondary bevel should work.
I will be wearing body armour...
We Will See.......

[Don Geiger]

Michael:
Please read my reply to your earlier post about grinding a steep angle on your gouges. It is not safe to do this with a bench grinder using a jig when producing angles greater than 70 degrees. A mishap could result in severe injury!

When grinding angles greatger than 70 degrees, the tip of the gouge gets so low on the wheel it forces it downward. If this happens the gouge and jig will be ripped from your hands and the wheel may fly apart. I suggest either do it on the platform rest by hand or in a jig on a Tormek as described and pictured in my earlier reply.

Don Geiger



First of all...thank you all for your input. I have deceided to grind the tool with my Varigrind with a two inch reveal to a less agressive angle of 75 degrees. That will give me more metal on the wheel and not be as risky while removing the bulk of the metal on the wings. I will go back and bring the v-arm in a bit to create a secondary mini-bevel of 85 degrees. I know the tool will just hit the wheel, but with a light touch and removing a slight bit of metal for the secondary bevel should work.
I will be wearing body armour...
We Will See.......

[Michael Ginsberg]

Thanks Don. I contacted David Ellsworth last night. He explained that he does it on the wheel with his jig. He said using a light touch would do the trick. I did try it the other day as you warned against. It did just as you said. It dug in and went down and scared the crap out of me. I assumed I just applied too much pressure.

[Don Geiger]

Michael:

I will be assisting Ellsworth once again with his class at Arrowmont, in June (this makes about 7 times). I am planning on taking the Tormek set up I have so he and the other students can see a safer way to produce the 85 degree swept back grind with a double bevel.

Be careful!!!

[Michael Ginsberg]

Don,
I could just stick to my 85 traditional gouge and use more sandpaper....