Aligning Woodcut gouges in sharpening jig

[NeilS]

Has anyone found a quick way of aligning Woodcut gouges in a sharpening jig so that they sit in the same orientation each time?

I like the bevel and the cut I get with the Woodcut, but the flute is so short that it doesn't register in the jig against the top edges of the flute when it projects 50mm out of the jig and only the round bar is sitting in the jig.



383474


I can sharpen four 'standard' flute gouges in the time it takes me to get the Woodcut straight in the jig and then sharpen it. For me that is the only drawback with this gouge, which I would love to overcome.

Any suggestions?

[QC Inspector]

Can you drill a dimple on the shaft further up the shaft that the jig can register in? Probably have to get a carbide bit though. A spot drill would be the best as you are only going in a little.

Pete

[brendan stemp]

I just 'eye-ball' it.

[NeilS]

Thanks Pete for your suggestion.

I have diamond burrs for my rotary tool, so putting a dimple in either the HSS tip or the mild steel shaft would be easy enough. The issue then is what would mate up with it on the jig, given that the tip reduces in length over time with repeated sharpening.

A groove that is ground parallel to the shaft (like a keyway) would solve that issue, but that still leaves what would mate up with the keyway that wouldn't also interfere with some of the other tools that go into jig, eg like a small detail gouges that has quite a shallow flute, which would foul on any 'key'.

Still thinking...

[NeilS]

I just 'eye-ball' it.

Yes, thanks Brendan, that is what I have been doing, but my 'eye' ain't what it used to be (or maybe never was as good as yours) and more often than not I'm just missing the edge on one wing and taking too much off the other, which then requires a further adjustment and regrind...:C

As for freehand grinding, which I still have to do occasionally when I'm at the local men's shed, well that is just too slow for me and the best I can achieve after years of practice is far from satisfactory.

So, back to the drawing board for me!

[pommyphil]

I have a few worn gouges and to get the last few inches have just ground a flat on the shaft behind the flute.

[pommyphil]

Like this 383501

[turnerted]

This is why I have not considered Woodcut gouges . It seems strange that Woodcut make the most common sharpening jig, but have not made their gouges more compatible with it .
Ted

[NeilS]

I have a few worn gouges and to get the last few inches have just ground a flat on the shaft behind the flute.

Thanks, Phil. That will be my fallback solution if I can't find another workable way of aligning the gouge in the jig without grinding away part of the tip and shaft.

The downsides of grinding away that amount of metal in that area of the Woodcut gouges is that it would reduce the amount of metal where the replaceable tip is held and potentially weaken it. A reasonable sized flat area would have to be ground (as in your example) to provide sufficient area to consistently realign the gouge every time it is put into the jig.

I have one idea currently stirring around in the old grey matter that might be a workable solution, which I will share here if the prototype works out. Might even sell the idea to Woodcut if it works out OK....:U

Like Ted, I have held back from their gouges for this very reason, but they are good gouges and it is a shame that there isn't a solution available for this issue with them.

[NeilS]

'
I completed a prototype of my alignment setting block today.

I drilled a block of wood to the depth of the required tool projection (50mm in my case).


385599 385600

Then removed wood to a depth that was level with the top edge of the flute.


385601 385603

That had to be done incrementally to avoid going too deep.

It was at this stage I discovered that the top edges of the flute were far from true to the flute profile and had to be ground down quite a bit on one side, as can be seen in the following photo. No wonder I was having trouble positioning it visually in my sharpening jig to create a consistent grind.



385610

Then added a plate (loosely screwed in place) against which a small clamp applies pressure to bring the flute into alignment.


385612385607

A wooden dowl was added to the bottom of the block, set at a precise right angle to the clamping plate, but on the opposite side. The dowl is used to line up the setting block with the leg of the sharpening jig, like a pair of winding sticks. Here it is finished and being used to get the gouge aligned in the sharpening jig.


385608

After a number of test sharpenings using the alignment block, with felt pen applied to the bevel to detect any unground areas, I got full and even bevel grinds each time. I'm using a diamond wheel that takes off very little metal each grind, so any misalignment between grindings show up with only one wing being fully ground.

It takes just a short time to set the extended length of a 'normal' gouge in the sharpening jig. The alignment block serves that purpose as well as aligning the Woodcut. The time to undertake the alignment is extra, but having not practised it I don't know just how much extra time. I will run the stopwatch on that when I have the hang of it.

[Mobyturns]

I use a Heligrind and the Tormek T7 so I face the same issue with my Woodcut gouges. I though long and hard about grinding a flat on them and decided not to, because the one thing I chose them for was the solid shaft and how it helps to minimize vibration.

Like Brendan I "eyeball it" but I also use a small machinist square held across the top of the flutes and use it like "winding sticks" to check that the flute is parallel to the Tormek jig frame, not so easy on the Heligrind for spindle gouges though.

[NeilS]

I thought long and hard about grinding a flat on them and decided not to, because the one thing I chose them for was the solid shaft and how it helps to minimize vibration.

Agreed, Moby, that is why that would only be my fallback solution, ie if I can't get anything else to work. That rigidity in the shaft works particularly well for deep reverse scraping inside closed forms, and I wouldn't like to lose that benefit.


I also use a small machinist square held across the top of the flutes and use it like "winding sticks" to check that the flute is parallel to the Tormek jig frame

That bar on the Tormek provides a good reference point, but I don't have that on my jig system. If I did, I would just pop a magnet arrangement on top of the flute and use that to align the Woodcut bowl gouge.

BTW, I also have the Heligrind but only use the platform and skew jig nowadays. If you would like a spare gouge jig for yours, you are welcome to it.

[Mobyturns]

BTW, I also have the Heligrind but only use the platform and skew jig nowadays. If you would like a spare gouge jig for yours, you are welcome to it.

Thank you for the offer but I'm OK. Maybe another forumite could use it.

I like the spindle gouge profile the Heligrind creates on my Hamlet spindle gouges. It doesn't work so well on detail gouges or the heavier fluted Thompson gouges.