Sharpening Problems

[Andrew Kertesz]

I have 3 Benjamin's Best spindle gouges 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" that I am trying to sharpen. I have the Jet slow speed wet grinder that I use with Tormek jigs. The problem that I have found is the flute length on the gouges is to short to seat the tool in the jig at the right setting. I tried going freehand with a shop made wolverine clone on the bench grinder and ended up turning one almost into a bowl gouge. Freehand on the Jet doesn't work, for me at least. I like the orignal grind of these gouges but they desperatly need to be sharpened. Any thoughts or ideas? What does everybody else do/use?

[David E Keller]

I use the wolverine system for all my sharpening, and I'm not familiar with the Tormek setup. If you're problem is that the gouges have reached the end of their useful life then you, my friend, have just happened upon a very reasonable excuse to go tool shopping!

You say you almost turned one 'into a bowl gouge'... If that means that you ended up with nice, swept-back wings, you've done a good thing, as I prefer my spindle gouges with a swept wing.

Some photos of what you got and what you're trying to achieve might help with better recommendations, but you really shouldn't pass up a defensible shopping opportunity!

[Mikey Green]

I've run into the same situation myself. The brass piece on the Tormek jig has a narrow ridge that will odinarily ride "in the flute" of the gouge. When the gouge has been ground down over time, you will need to turn the brass piece so that it rests "across" the gouge instead of riding "in the flute". As you tighten the Tormek jig on the gouge, you'll have to "eyeball it" to make sure the gouge is riding straight-up in the jig. Then, you should be able to sharpen as you normally would.

The only problem comes when you try this with some of the larger diameter gouges. You have to raise/open the jig more to allow the brass piece to ride across the gouge than when it rides in the flute, and you may run into an instance when it won't open enough to allow the brass piece to ride across a larger gouge