OK you turners, 'fess up....

[Bill White]

How many of you use the Ellsworth grind? Why?
I have not ground my gouge in that configuration, and am wondering about the good, bad, and downright ugly when using same.
Bill

[Bob Hovde]

I use it more than anything except the parting tool. It allows you to do cuts that would otherwise take several different tools.

Bob

[Kim Ford]

I have a 1/2" Thompson bowl gouge with this grind. I use it for virtually everything related to bowls. Roughing all the way down to the final finish.

[Barry Elder]

IMHO, a gouge with the Ellsworth grind is no different from any other as concerns the good, the bad, and the ugly-bugly. It's all an operator kind of thing.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

It's the only grind I use on my bowl gouge........scrape with it....shear with it........

[David Walser]

Bill,

I don't use the Elsworth grind. It tried it and found I preferred something a little less blunt at the tip and a little less swept back. The link will take you to a Tormek chart of various grinds. (Mine is a combination of "2" and "3" on the chart. A 45 degree bevel angle with slightly longer wings than "2".)

http://www.tormek.com/en/accessories/tts100/pdf/tnt_selection_chart_en.pdf

[robert hainstock]

Don't know if the grind I use is the Elsworth, Irish, or McGillicudy, but it is swept back as far as I can get it, and it allows me to execute numerous cuts ala "Grumbine". His Method uses the most of the edge I've put on the tool. :)
Bob

[Steve Schlumpf]

Bill - I use the swept back style of grind - 42* nose and wings at 1" - a little more radical than David Walser's chart shows. I like the grind as I can be as aggressive as I want when roughing or take super fine baby hair cuts for finishing. It's a great grind but something that may take a little getting used to when first starting out with it.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I use a conventional grind on my bowl gouges with just the corners ground back a little for most of my bowl turning, and a Irish grind to do the bottom part if the normal gouge bevel is not rubbing anymore, just the reason the Irish turners developed the steep grind with the wings severely ground back.

[Jim Underwood]

I use it because I'm too cheap to buy any other jig. And I won this one in a raffle for $5. :D

[Jim Becker]

I use three gouges with the Ellsworth grind...two official ones and one re-ground Sorby that's "close enough" for the rougher work. These gouges do 90% of the cutting at my lathe. Why? Because they are extremely versatile and do nearly any kind of cut necessary to take a hunk of wood and turn it into whatever is on my mind or whatever I "find" in said hunk of wood. Of course, taking David's three day course didn't hurt in that decision, either... ;)

[Bernie Weishapl]

I use the Ellsworth, Irish, swept back or whatever it is called on all my bowl gouges except for two which I call the conventional grind for finish cuts. Mike Mahoney showed me the latter grind for finishing bowls at one of his demo's.

[keith zimmerman]

I use both the swept back Irish style grind and also a Michaelson grind. I am considering switching completely to the Michaelson style grind because I like that there is no sharp heal at the base of the bevel and have found it to be really easy to control.

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

I use the Elsworth grind. too. VeryVersital!

[Rasmus Petersen]

well something like ellsworth not quite that blunt.. and a experimental Johannes grind :-) have one of the DK guys from my forum coming by in a few weeks he is masterclass hat turner, and uses the johannes grind hope to get to pick his brain on how to make them and use them :-) and i hope he can help me with my vibration issues...

[john taliaferro]

i use 1@65 and #4 @75 . on a 3/8 bowl packard. john t

[Reed Gray]

There are 2 advantages to the swept back design that I can see. One, by sweeping back, you have a longer cutting edge, so when using a scraping cut (mostly for roughing) so you can take deeper cuts. This is most effective on the outside of the bowl. Also, if you are using more of the nose for cutting, when you want to do the shear cut for that final touch up (again, more effective on the outside of the bowl) you have a fairly fresh edge without going back to the grinder. With the nose more rounded than the traditional grind, it is easier to roll it and make the transition from the side of the bowl to the bottom. I do prefer a scraper with a swept back grind for the same reasons, and it is my prefered tool for roughing.
robo hippy

[Don Orr]

I use a version of the "Ellsworth" or sidegrind or sweptback grind or Irish grind or whatever you want to call it. No rigid angle requirement, just what works for me. I use the Varigrind jig in a home-made sliding rest. I also use a gouge stick-out of about 2 " in the jig. It looks a lot like Ellsworth's early diagrams from his writings, which is where I got the basic grinder/sliding rest set-up geometry. It has been working well for several years. This grind is very versatile allowing many different types of cuts.

I also use 2 other grinds for different applications. One is a fairly "traditional" grind at about 45 deg. done with no jig-just rolled side to side flat on the grinder tool rest. The other is a very blunt-almost dead straight across-for turning the corner at the bottom of deeper bowls. Got the idea from a Jimmy Clewes video and it works great. It's a little fiddly to get the hang of but does a real nice final cleanup cut on the inside. Not much use on the outside though.

[Tom Godley]

I resumed my hobby by taking Davids class - so by default -- I use the grind.

It is a joy to watch how fast and smooth David can switch the tool around to make it do different operations - All in one motion!

I am just a beginner but have found that it is very important that the tool be ground properly so that it feels and transitions the same all the time. The proper jigs are essential for a beginner with the grind .... IMO

I am signed up for another class with him in January -- I highly recommend it.

[Curt Fuller]

I use the "Fuller" grind myself, which happens to be what ever I end up with when I walk away from the grinder. I've never used a jig but I tend to freehand an Irish/Fingernail/Ellsworth type grind to begin with but after resharpening over a period of time it ends up pretty weird. So every now and then I have to go back to the coarse wheel and re-shape it again. But I admit I'd much rather turn than sharpen so I focus on a sharp edge more than a pretty edge.

[Ben Gastfriend]

I use the ellsworth grind because of its versitility. A little practice with it, and you'll get the hang of it. Then it works like a beauty.