Sharpening Ellsworth Gouge

No jig will do it

Terry Daniel

>Barry, all any jig does is give you the nose angle and the side angle....everything else is by hand/eye coordination. These jigs have no stops so as long as you hold the metal against the wheel it will take the metal off. You must know what shape you want before you go to the grinder. Set the nose angle, then set the side angle (some people do it the opposite) and then grind away the part that you do not want. With a little practice you'll be able to sharpen a gouge in seconds.

TD

Speeding up the process

Dennis J. Gooding

>Barry, Terry's point is a good one. Take a good look at the original profile before you start grinding so you will know what to aim for. Setting the nose and cheek angles on the Varigrind is complicated by the fact that the settings interact. Changing one affects the other also so that you may have to go back and forth several times to get the desired match. Here is a procedure that minimizes the interaction and speeds up the setting process. Step One: With the grinder stopped turn the gouge horizontal, present it to the wheel and move the the rest cup in or out so that the wheel matches the cheek angle. Step Two: Turn the gouge flute upwards and adjust the angle of the varigrind to match the nose angle of the gouge. If necessary repeat these two steps one more time. Guaranteed to work. Dennis

Re: Sharpening Ellsworth Gouge

dick mcneill

>Packard Woodworks sells a six inch sample of a 5/8 inch gouge w/ an Ellsworth grind. You set up your jig using the sample. Then replace the sample with your gouge in the jig. You can always reference what the Ellsworth grind is from the sample which never gets ground.(e.g. 65 degree bevel on the wings, etc.) This may work for you assuming your gouge is actually a 1/2 inch flute with a 5/8inch width

Re: Sharpening Ellsworth Gouge

Barry Irby

>I have an Ellsworth gouge and the fixture for it. I leave one side of my grinder set up for it with the rest set as described in the literature that comes with the fixture. I use the gouge more than all my other tools combined and I think being able to sharpen it in a matter of seconds is worth it. I have been using it for years and can't tell I have ground away any metal. I wish I had written down the length of the flute so I could tell. I don't have a varigrind or one of the other adjustable jigs, so I don't know how well that would work.

Re: Sharpening Ellsworth Gouge

Ted Owen, Pittsburgh

>David Ellsworth explains in his classes that the vari-grind jig does not work for his grind. His jig does--and makes quick work of it.

Best, Ted

Re: Sharpening Ellsworth Gouge

Greg Jensen

>I purchased an ellsworth jig quite a few years ago and then laid in on top of the vari gring to match the Ellsworth jig. The setting are, adjust the leg of the vari grind so that the top of the leg is on the third line or notch up on the protractor. Set the protrusion of the gouge to 2 1/2" and you are set. I like a little more swept back grind so I set my protrusion at 3". More protrusion gives you more swept back, less gives you less swept back.

Re: Speeding up the process

Barry Turner

>Having a little rouble visualizing the gouge presentation angle in Step 1. Could you try to clarify? Thanks. Barry

Re: Sharpening Ellsworth Gouge

Darryl Hansen

>The key is keeping a 65 degree angle from the tip all around the side. Even with Dave's jig you have to roll the gouge around and down as you sharpen.

Speeding up the process

Dennis J. Gooding

>In Step One, the flute should be pointing either to the right or the left. In Step Two, it should be pointing up. Dennis

Re: Sharpening Ellsworth Gouge

John F

>Dont the elsworth gouges come with instructions to make his jig?