Stuart Batty grind

[Jerry Lear]

I saw Stuart give a demonstration at the AAW in Pittsburgh & was very impressed w/the way he used the bowl gauge. I was able to briefly speak to Stuart & he was telling me about his 40-40 grind that he uses. I would like to try that grind to see if it performs better then the one I am using, which is a Michelson. I am not naïve enough to believe that a grind will allow you to turn like Stuart but I would like to try.
I have two questions, is there anyone using this grind & if so, what are your comments?
Secondly, does anyone know the best way or technique to create this grind on a CBN wheel?
Thanks in advance for your help,
Jerry

[Doug Ladendorf]

I saw him at the symposium too and yeah, awesome turner. I suppose hours and hours as a production turner can do that. I've thought about trying his grind too so tuning in to see what those with experience say. I'd recommend to anyone his series of videos on Vimeo (under SB Tools).

Doug

[David Delo]

Jerry,

PM me your email address and I will send you a .pdf document that Mike Mahoney did on the Fine Woodworking site. I couldn't post a link to it here because I'm not a subscriber to FW. Not sure exactly how I came to having it but it's a very good step by step instruction guide for the 40/40 grind. If you follow the instructions to a "T", you'll obtain great results.

[Don Bunce]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbggxj2kgyc

[hu lowery]

I saw Stuart give a demonstration at the AAW in Pittsburgh & was very impressed w/the way he used the bowl gauge. I was able to briefly speak to Stuart & he was telling me about his 40-40 grind that he uses. I would like to try that grind to see if it performs better then the one I am using, which is a Michelson. I am not naïve enough to believe that a grind will allow you to turn like Stuart but I would like to try.
I have two questions, is there anyone using this grind & if so, what are your comments?
Secondly, does anyone know the best way or technique to create this grind on a CBN wheel?
Thanks in advance for your help,
Jerry



Just a reminder, the flute is the tail that wags the dog. Need to know what flute Stuart is using and start with a similar flute to hope to get a similar grind. I haven't checked the video yet so maybe this is explained there.

Hu

[Reed Gray]

The grind that Stuart uses is a 40/40 grind, which means 40 degree bevel angle, with 40 degrees of sweep to the wings, which means you pivot/swing/sweep your gouge handle about 40 degrees off of the face of the wheel. I think you can get fairly close to the grind with a jig, but to do it properly, you have to free hand it on a platform, or just free hand it. The jigs don't allow you to get the proper roll as you sweep, so you don't get quite the same wing. I had a work shop with Stuart and his Dad Allen some years back and learned to do it. I find that particular grind to be too pointy for me, and prefer a 45/45 grind. It is my main gouge other than the BOB (bottom of bowl) gouges. It is excellent for going down the outside of a bowl, and good for going down the wall of a bowl, but lousy for going through the transition and across the bottom of a bowl unless you are more of a platter turner. I have it on several different flute designs, and don't really know which one Stuart prefers. Oh, the bevel angle is based on the bevel angle of a beaver's tooth. I haven't had a lot of experience with the Michaelson grind. As near as I can tell, it is the Irish/Ellsworth/swept back grind, and the primary bevel is ground down so that there is 1/16 or so of it left, and the rest is rounded off and out of the way. Swept back grinds have 60 or more degrees of sweep to them. I have seen some that go 2 or 3 inches down the side and are used for shear scrapes. I did grind one of my swept back gouges down so there was almost no primary bevel (the one you rub when cutting). It does seem less catch prone if you are having the wings pointing up into the wood as it spins, rather than at a shear angle. It is specialized for his hats, and does work on bowls. I didn't play with it much though, mostly because I don't use swept back gouges that much. I do my heavy bowl roughing with scrapers, and shear scraping with scrapers. Finish cuts with gouges are my 45/45 or BOB tools.

robo hippy