Varigrind Adjustment Options

[Don Stephan]

Has anyone seen explanations of how different common shapes/grinds (Irish/Elsworth, traditional, 40-40, et cetera) can be produced using a Varigrind jig? Trying different combinations of gouge nose projection, swing arm angle, and distance from the wheel could consume qujickly two or three tool blanks.

[Neil Strong]

Glenn Lucas has charts for how to get his grinds with the different makes of jigs...

https://www.glennlucaswoodturning.com/product/jig-sharpening-chart-for-bowl-turning-signature-tools/

All of his grinds are 'Irish' grinds....;)

You won't get a 40/40 grind with that jig and certainly not as supplied. Most do that grind freehand on a platform.

[Edward Weber]

Has anyone seen explanations of how different common shapes/grinds (Irish/Elsworth, traditional, 40-40, et cetera) can be produced using a Varigrind jig? Trying different combinations of gouge nose projection, swing arm angle, and distance from the wheel could consume qujickly two or three tool blanks.

you can always use a 1/2" dowel as a dummy gouge until you find the grind you're looking for.

[Neil Strong]

you can always use a 1/2" dowel as a dummy gouge until you find the grind you're looking for.

Good 'tip'....!

Woodcut (makers of the Tru-Grind BG jig) make a profiler...

https://www.carbatec.co.nz/product/37701-trugrind-profiler-for-repeat-grinds-?categoryId=447

Probably old stock as they are a bit hard to come by now.

There is a market for a more comprehensive set of such profiles. They only need to be in mild steel or aluminium, so should be cheap to manufacture and could be used in any similar jig.

Swapping them around in forums (fora) like this would also be a great way to share preferred grind profiles.

Woodcut have a section on 'Sharpening your old grind or someone else’s grind' on pg11 of their manual...

https://www.woodcut-tools.com/uploads/6/3/2/5/63254223/woodcut_trugrind.pdf

Doug Thompson has a video on grinding in which he explains how to set the Vari-Grind to any existing gouge that can be fitted into the jig. Start at the 29mins mark for that section. BTW, if you watch this video ignore Doug's butcher's paper 'diagrams'. Doug knows what he is talking about, so listen to him and watch what he does, but his diagrams at times are confusing...

https://youtu.be/ttYyulsM7wg

Terry Vaughan also has a section on 'Duplicating an existing grind' on the following page...

https://turnedwoodenbowls.co.uk/2017/02/25/sharpening-gouges-with-a-jig/


A low grit Alox wheel like Doug is using in the video is a quick way to grind a new profile on a gouge, but too aggressive for repeatedly putting a fresh edge on a gouge. A finer grit CBN wheel is much better for that and gouges will last a very long time if refreshed on those.

Losing a bit of tool length while playing around with new grinds is inevitable but minor in the overall life of a tool before you find the the grind/s that work for you.

[Brian Deakin]

Ron brown has a 40.40 jig ( I have no knowledge of this jig)

https://www.ronbrownsbest.com/sharpening?pages=1-1#p897

but my view is it is better to learn to do the 40.40 grind freehand

please see link to Stuart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhlMQr7Hk0k&ab_channel=DeniseSawyer

[Kevin Jenness]

If you want the 40/40 grind you may as well learn to do it by hand. The only jig that will approximate it is the Hannes Michelson Vector jig, but it gives a more acute angle on the wings and any jig like the varigrind with one pivot point will accentuate that.