Detail Gouge Grind? Vari-Grind II?

[alex grams]

I am having a difficult time getting this grind with my wolverine jig:

http://www.thompsonlathetools.com/images/tools/Type-ShallowDetailGouges.jpg

I pretty much went through every angle/orientation I could with the vari-grind 2, but the closest I could get was the apex/vertex angle was correct, but when I turned the jig with the gouge it lost contact on the back of the bevel and was just grinding on the cutting edge.

Is this a grind i need to do with no jig? Or am I using the wrong setup?

Thanks in advance.

[John Keeton]

Alex, I use the original Vari-Grind, and it may be different. But, I have no trouble with my detail gouge. I sweep back my wings a little more, and use a little more acute angle. I also grind away nearly all the heel leaving only about 1/8" of working bevel on the tool.

[Bill Hensley]

I suspect my grind is very similar to John's. I slide the bar in about 2" closer to the wheel so the tool angle is ~40 degrees. The tool holder comes very close to the wheel as I grind the sides. I really have to pay attention as I do the sides. Once I get the sides the way I want I then remove the bulk of the bevel. Hope that helps.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Alex I agree with the others. I did not have any luck with the vari-grind 2. I sold it and use the regular vari-grind and it works a lot better.

[John M. Smith]

John , could you post a closeup shot of how you bring yours. You know the old saying, A pictures worth a thousand words. Thanks.

[Bill Noce]

Alex,
All of Doug Thompson gouges are done with the Vari-Grind Jig if you go to Thompson Lathe tools Web Site he has a Sharpening page showing how the Vari-Grind is set up. www.thompsonlathetools.com (http://www.thompsonlathetools.com)

[John Keeton]

John and Alex, here is my 3/8" Thompson detail gouge -

Side view -

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Top view -

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Bottom view - notice the "rolled" grind to knock off the heel. I do this by hand very quickly just rolling the bottom edge of the heel on the wheel.

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This is the angle of the working bevel - about 42*. The gouge isn't snug up to the angle gauge in the pic, but it was set from the gouge. I will sometimes decrease this angle 2-4* on certain tasks.

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And, finally, this is the setting on my Vari-Grind. I use a 2" deep hole drilled in my bench to set the depth of the gouge.

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[Peter Lamb]

What John said and showed

[John M. Smith]

Thanks for the pictures John. They were most helpful. I'm still trying to get the hang of all the adjustments on the varigrind.

[Roger Chandler]

I grind my detail gouge by hand and do not use the vari-grind jig like for the other gouges............my angle is a little more acute than John's. I also grind away the heel...............and put wings on the side. When you get into fine work like finials, then a very small diameter requires a side bevel to be very sharp.

[Jamie Donaldson]

I did some testing with the Vari-grind II and found that it limits some of the ability to duplicate grinding profiles that can done with the original Vari-grind jig. As far as I'm concerned, it may be safer by keeping the tool centered on the wheel, but I have no use for the II other than as a fail-safe teaching tool for beginner grinders.