Sharpening Jig Question

Re: Sharpening Jig Question

Lyn J. Mangiameli

>The Wolverine is a good system. A lot of turners have one because it was one of the first truly good jigging systems for grinding turning tools. Most are quite satisfied, so you tend to hear more positive comments about it just because it has already come into more turner's hands.

I would not say, however, that the Wolverine is necessarily the best. There are some very credible alternatives that have advantages of their own.

The Kelton (sold by Lee Valley, among others) is very similar to the Wolverine, but is of more recent design. It has a few nice little touches like graduations on the extension bar that the Wolverine doesn't have.

The Woodcut TruGrind (available from Craft Supplies) is another. It is a much more compact system than either of the others, but is everybit as versatile, except for offering a flat table.

There is also the old Sorby Gouge jig, that is a licensed version of the Tormek Universal Gouge jig, but adapted to dry grinders. A lot of people really like this for gouge grinds, though it is limited in adaptability for other tools.

I hope to have a comparative review of these rests put together in a few months, but I know that doesn't do you much good right now. At this point, I just suggest that you consider all the units and see which best meets your needs and space available (the long bars of the Wolverine and Kelton can take up a lot of space, both forward and behind the grinder).

Re: Sharpening Jig Question

NickB

>I'll second Lyn's comment re space requirements. I have the Wolverine, with my grinder mounted on a little shelf near my lathe (which I had built before I got the Wolverine). Making the shelf wider (it is about 12") wasn't an option, so I ended up having to (a) drill a hole in the wall to allow the bar to extend into the stud bay, and (b) buy a second bar (which I cut short) to get me in close for smaller tools (even with the extra 6" of the stud bay, I couldn't sharpen my spindle gouges because I couldn't get the end of the bar close enough).

Hope this helps,

Nick

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