Poor man's Vari-grind

[Erin Raasch]

I had kind of reached a dead end with my turning, because I didn't have a good means of grinding my bowl gouge. After suffering sticker shock when perusing the One-Way Varigrind jig, I figured I'd see what I could do.

My inspiration came from a jig that Marc Phillips had made and posted on his website. (http://www.woodhelp.com/)


http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i18/eraasch/VGJig03.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i18/eraasch/VGJig02.jpg

It still needs a few minor hardware adjustments, but it works!

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i18/eraasch/VGJig01.jpg

I still need to work on technique, I didn't get quite the angle I wanted, but it's coming along!

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i18/eraasch/VGJig04.jpg

(Made from hickory, finished with BLO.)

Erin

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Nice work Erin! I'll bet it'll work fine, too! Like you, I had trouble getting the grind I wanted but after a little practice and experimenting with various angles, it's come a long! Again.........Nice tool!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Very nice Erin. Looks like it is a very workable tool. I just wish I had more time to build things like that but if I did I would never get to turn. Nice work.

[Ernie Nyvall]

Nice job Erin. Looks like it should work just fine.

Ernie

[Frank Chaffee]

Nicely executed jig Erin!
Frank

[Dennis Peacock]

Very nice Erin!!!! Good work on the wood too!!!! Many times, I find that a homemade jig works just as good or even better that the "store bought" versions. Excellent work!!!! :D

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Geez, print out those pics and save them! :D

VERY nice work!

Sharp tools rock eh?

[John Hart]

Erin...you could have accomplished the same thing with pieces of scrap steel....but you didn't. You made it a very nice addition to your shop. Very classy looking piece of furniture! And it looks like it works too!!:)

[David Fried]

Erin,

Very nice.

I bought the store made jig before I saw a local turners homemade one. It's even simpler than yours - the angle isn't adjustable. The one addition he made that I though was a good idea was a small piece of angle iron screwed to the side. When inserting the gouge he flips the angle iron forward to act as a stop. It then flips back, out of the way, when sharpening. That way the gouge is always inserted to the same depth.

I'm still measuring everytime I sharpen. I need to drill the hole in a piece of wood to use as a depth guage.

Again - nice job!

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Erin, have you watched the video on the Oneway site about how to use the vari grind jig?

I'll send you a PM.

Cheers!

[Jim Becker]

Nice work, Erin. No harm in rolling your own when you can! Good job!

[Blake McCully]

Erin, have you watched the video on the Oneway site about how to use the vari grind jig?

I just got my AAW directory last week and they included a cool sharpening DVD with Bonnie Klein, and Alan Lacer to name a couple of people. Very infromative, and much better than the one that Oneway has. I imagine that one can obtain if from the AAW, not sure, it was a perk with membership renewal.

[Paul Douglass]

Very nice job. That is the only piece i have left to make for my sharpening system. I enjoy making jigs as much as all the other woodworking.

[Andy Hoyt]

Nicely done, Erin. Looks like it should do the trick with ease.

The AAW DVD is free and only available to members of the AAW. It's shipped with the annual Resource Directory - and I still aint got mine. Dang.

[John Miliunas]

Erin, super job on the jig!!! You saved yourself a chunk of change, accomplished the same thing and gained some enjoyment out of making it yourself! Don't get much better! :) :cool:

[Keith Burns]

Erin, great job. Looks "RICH" to me:) :)

[Mike Ramsey]

That is a great job Erin! Shop made is the best kind!

[Erin Raasch]

Guys, thanks for all the nice comments. Can't wait till the weekend now so I can get out and play in the shop. Unfortunately my shop time during the week is severely limited.

Yes, it is fun having a lathe in the shop. I think back on all the times I needed something round and thought to myself "If I had a lathe, I could make that." Now, when I need something round, it's "Hey, I have a lathe - I can make that!"

Now I can take that $50 I saved and throw it down a different sector of the vortex! :o

Erin

[Don Baer]

Erin,
Very nice and thanks for sharing. I still do mine by hand and have been thinking of making one so your post was very timely.