Turning Topic for 1/07/04
TDaniel
>Sharpening jigs. Many are having problems getting the proper grind with their fingernail jig. I don't know how well we can cover the set-up on this medium but let's give it a try. Up front I will say that the biggest problem is people actually expect the jigs to give the profile desired; it will not. There are no stops on the jig, therefore, if you keep holding the gouge to the stone it will keep removing metal, and if it keeps removing metal then the profile will keep changing. The jigs give you 2 things: the nose angle and the side angle, that is all. The rest is done by eye. To start, turn the gouge upside down and grind the end to the shape you want. Then set the nose angle by pushing whatever amount of tool you need through the jig to get the nose angle you want. Now turn the jig to the side and adjust until you get the side angle you want. Refer to the "Grinds" section at the top left of this page. With the nose angle and the side angle set, the jig will blend these two together but you must grind off any high spots by watching what you are doing and removing metal where it is not wanted. Your jig should be set so that the tip of the gouge is hitting the grinding wheel at or just above center. A slight misadjustment of the jig will give totally unsatisfactory results. Join us at 9:00 pm for general questions and we will start the topic at 9:30 pm