Garrett Lambert
02-23-2003, 4:41 PM
Having given so many people sharpening jig plans, until yesterday I was still doing my own turning chisels by hand and eye, except for occasional sessions on the Tormek. I finally decided it was time to build a Wolverine-style fixture for myself and am truly amazed at how much of a difference it makes.
In the end I didn't bother with any of the plans, but decided to look in my odds&sods containers for bits & pieces that I could use or adapt. Even at that, start to finish was only 90 minutes.
<IMG SRC="http://www3.telus.net/GLI/Wolverine%20Jig%20Sm.jpg">
Although I started searching for square tube, I found some pieces of rectangular tube that I’d cut off a ShopFox base and not only do they perform very nicely for the guides, the "extra" width also provided the means for screwholes to fasten them to the base. The sliding “rod” is a piece of 1x1 hardwood.
Since I didn't have a large enough router bit and was too lazy to make several adjustments and cuts, I used the tablesaw to cut a stopped 4" vee groove on one end to accept a piece of aluminum angle and backed it with a piece of ½” plywood to form the socket. Please note that this is a VERY DANGEROUS procedure just asking for a kick-back, so please do yours with a router vee bit. The first half of the cut is straightforward. However the second half requires backing the piece into the blade from the wrong side of the saw. To do this, I clamped a stop block and feather board to the fence, and used jointer pads to guide the workpiece while standing to the side of the saw. When I'd made the cut with the workpiece butted against the stopblock, I turned the saw off before withdrawing it.
The locking clamp is just a knob with a machine screw that I threaded into tube. It presses against a piece of 1/4" mild steel that clamps the wood slider against the tube. Borrowing another idea from ShopFox, I drilled a shallow hole in the piece of steel to accept a Lee Valley rare earth magnet that keeps it attached to the screw.
I then mounted the grinder and the jig on a piece of MDF and sharpened one of my bowl gouges. The speed and quality of the sharpening has to be experienced. It’s amazing! Within less than 5 minutes I had put perfect edges on every one of my gouges and was disappointed when I had no more to do. I think I might now make a fixture to mount the whole works on the lathe ways when I’m turning difficult bowls, and just let the grinder run.
Next up, a fingernail jig.
Cheers, Garrett
In the end I didn't bother with any of the plans, but decided to look in my odds&sods containers for bits & pieces that I could use or adapt. Even at that, start to finish was only 90 minutes.
<IMG SRC="http://www3.telus.net/GLI/Wolverine%20Jig%20Sm.jpg">
Although I started searching for square tube, I found some pieces of rectangular tube that I’d cut off a ShopFox base and not only do they perform very nicely for the guides, the "extra" width also provided the means for screwholes to fasten them to the base. The sliding “rod” is a piece of 1x1 hardwood.
Since I didn't have a large enough router bit and was too lazy to make several adjustments and cuts, I used the tablesaw to cut a stopped 4" vee groove on one end to accept a piece of aluminum angle and backed it with a piece of ½” plywood to form the socket. Please note that this is a VERY DANGEROUS procedure just asking for a kick-back, so please do yours with a router vee bit. The first half of the cut is straightforward. However the second half requires backing the piece into the blade from the wrong side of the saw. To do this, I clamped a stop block and feather board to the fence, and used jointer pads to guide the workpiece while standing to the side of the saw. When I'd made the cut with the workpiece butted against the stopblock, I turned the saw off before withdrawing it.
The locking clamp is just a knob with a machine screw that I threaded into tube. It presses against a piece of 1/4" mild steel that clamps the wood slider against the tube. Borrowing another idea from ShopFox, I drilled a shallow hole in the piece of steel to accept a Lee Valley rare earth magnet that keeps it attached to the screw.
I then mounted the grinder and the jig on a piece of MDF and sharpened one of my bowl gouges. The speed and quality of the sharpening has to be experienced. It’s amazing! Within less than 5 minutes I had put perfect edges on every one of my gouges and was disappointed when I had no more to do. I think I might now make a fixture to mount the whole works on the lathe ways when I’m turning difficult bowls, and just let the grinder run.
Next up, a fingernail jig.
Cheers, Garrett