Spindle gouge sharpening

[shroom]

I fail miserably to sharpen my spindle gouge to the lovely workable edge that it had new. The shoulder never seems quite right and often the top get too sharp a point.
Please pease and tips, angles...anything please...T

 

[jaymar]

I had a similar problem with a pointy gouge until I realised to leave the middle part on the stone longer, simple really

 

[CHJ]

As jaymar says, resist the temptation to swing it past the centre too quickly, dwell longer as you pass round the nose.
Always tempting to remove too much material off the sides because you stop at the end of the travel then reverse, all of which takes a few fractions of a second longer than when passing the front.

 

[miles_hot]

To be honest I always use a jog. Whilst this does not remove errors and it is still easy to stuff up the shape it does at least provide some hope. Sharpening free hand is a real skill and I have huge respect for people who do it (watching George do my gouge at the last but one bash was fascinating) however I prefer to spend my time becoming skilled in turning - the variability my cack handed grinding introduced significantly impaired my ability to learn!

Miles

 

[shroom]

Thanx chaps, sound advice....... Miles, what is a Jog and where does one aquire one and at what cost??????????

 

[miles_hot]

Thanx chaps, sound advice....... Miles, what is a Jog and where does one aquire one and at what cost??????????

pipper, I meant jig (hammer) (homer)

Miles

 

[shroom]

Ah well what is in a vowel.... however are they easy to aquire? T

 

[miles_hot]

Without investing in a new grinder you're looking at something like:
[*]the Wolverine which is a long support which projects out from the bottom of the grinder for scrapers and a pivot for gouges
[*]Tru-grind which is a pivoting platform for gouges and a flat one (which replaces the normal platform) for skews etc

I went with the Tru-Grind as was pretty happy with it, it also has the advantage that there isn't a ruddy great ole sticking out, however I suspect that the Woverine type is possibly faster for scrapers as you just drop the handle in (assuming they're all the same length - otherwise there's set up again).

You can find numerous examples of people's shop made jigs, especially for gouges (which are the tricky ones really) - some out of just wood and others out of metal.

If you move beyond the jig for the dry grinder you enter the discussion around Sharpening systems. The front runners seem to be Tormek and Pro Grind. The Pro-Grind has the USP of a flat bevel which, depending on who you speak to will make little or a massive difference. My personal view is that people have been producing astonishing bowls with hollow bevels for 100's of years so the recent issues reported with the grind causing ripples is either breaking science or a new "racing drivers excuse". I have a Tormek and the most relevant concern around that is that it's absolutely useless at shaping tools - to do this you need a dry grinder (onto which you can now fit Tormek jigs). The Jigs are fantastic - the only thing that is ever said against them is the cost...

Hope this helps.

Miles

 

[CHJ]

Thanx chaps, sound advice....... Miles, what is a Jog and where does one aquire one and at what cost??????????

Minimal cost if you spend a few hours in the shed.

<<<<Linky Pic.

 

[Jonzjob]

Thanx chaps, sound advice....... Miles, what is a Jog and where does one aquire one and at what cost??????????

pipper, I meant jig (hammer) (homer) I lashed out and got the Wolverine stuff after

Miles

Sounds like you ad a vowel movement there Miles?

I lashed out anf got the Wolverine kit about a year back after doing my sharpening on a simple shop made jig. I haven't looked back and now all of my gouges are just how I like them... 8) 8)