Sharpening jigs

[byron constantine]

I have tried to sharpen my gouges but am not too good at it. What is the best jig for the money? I have looked at the Wolverine and Ellsworth jigs
and they both basically do the same thing. The Ellsworth is the least expensive of the two. Any info ?

Byron

[Bernie Weishapl]

I can't tell you which is the best but I have the wolverine and love it. I watched the video's on the oneway site which helped.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Like Bernie.....I too have the Wolverine. It works as advertised.

[Corey Hallagan]

Wolverine...me 3. I like it alot. Don't know if it is the best or not but it works well. It can also be copied fairly cheaply in metal or wood.

corey

[Vaughn McMillan]

I have the Penn State copy of the Wolverine...seems functionally equivalent and strong, and a bit lower in price (by the time you consider the costs of the additional fingernail and skew grinding attachments with the Wolverine). A co-worker of mine has the Wolverine and really likes it, but he had no criticism of my PSI jig when he saw it. Still, the Wolverine is the one everyong else seems to copy, so they must be doing something right. Don't see how you could go wrong with the real thing, but if cost is an issue, then one of the clones might be a bit more cost effective.

Whatever you decide, I'll bet the jig will improve your sharpening (and enjoyment of the lathe) considerably. Sure did for me, and I still have LOTS to learn yet.

- Vaughn

[Tim Solley]

When I got into turning a couple months ago, one of the first things I did was build a wood replica of the Wolverine jig. It took me about an hour and a half and was super easy. It didn't cost me a thing as I just used some plywood and maple scraps I had in my scrap bin.

I use the Varigrind jig with it to do my bowl gouge. Works great!

Tim

[Don Baer]

hmmm I might have to buy/make a jig. I been doing all of my sharpening freehand..

[Forrest Price]

Wolverine here too! It even survived the fire...for the most part. Get the fingernail jig with it too. Worth it's weight in MOA stock! Hmmm....maybe that didn't come out right!
Anywho...I like the Wolverine. Simple, quick.

[Ed Breen]

Oh Yea,
Wolverine under my grinders also including the jig.
Ed:p

[Brian McInturff]

Make that a Ditto here too. Wolvering all the way!!

[Wes Bischel]

Byron,
I followed Jim K.'s lead and made a jig similar to the Wolverine - though I bought the Vari-grind attachment on sale. Works wonders!

Wes

[Jim Becker]

The Ellsworth jig is for the Ellsworth gouge...that's why it's only $25. You still need to build a support for it, too, or adapt the Wolverine arm for proper orientation to the wheel for David's jig. For general purpose sharpening of turning tools, IMHO, you can't beat the OneWay system. (The VariGrind option lets you do fingernail spindle gouges and side grinds on bowl gouges very nicely, too) The wheel truing system is excellent. The wheel balancing system should be mandatory, even if you're not using their jigs...best investment I made for grinding.

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

I be having the Wolverine, Too. If you can make one out of wood that is as accurate, go for it. Otherwise it is a good investment!

Just my .02.

Bruce

[Roger Bell]

I have the Kelton.....very similar to the Wolverine. Like it just fine. I liked the looks of their system (better table, a nice ball and socket pocket for the "varigrind" jig, etc.) than the Wolverine, but they really are pretty similar. I finally learned to sharpen the fingernail grind easily enough freehand, but the jig makes it a lot faster and more consistent......more time turning is the result.

Dick Sing of the Woodworking at Home DVD magazine did a video review of several of these jigs, including the Wolverine, the Ellsworth and others. You can probably purchase an individual copy of the Dvd from their website if you want. He did a good job of comparing and contrasting.

Ellsworth gives you his grind and his only. The Wolverine/Keltons are adjustable.

[Corey Hallagan]

Don if it had been available I probably would have bought the PSI jig. Basically the same thing and I can't imagine it doesn't work as well.

Corey

[JerHall]

Here is a long discussion on shopmade alternatives for gouge sharpening:
http://woodturner.org/vbforum/showthread.php?t=472

And here is a page I made up of a "Poor Woodturner's" system for my club:
http://www.writely.com/View.aspx?docid=admp7zph558w_bcj4t5jchs7kq&revision=_latest


Jerry