Do not discard your old SHV-60 straight jigs (heavy mortise chisels)

[ionut]

Hi Everyone,

This is a continuation of the " longer threaded pins for SE-76" thread.
If anyone wants to sharpen their heavy mortise chisels with not many headaches and you still own the SVH-60 don't throw it away and if you don't have one get one, there must be dealers or distributors still having them hidden in some corners or someone who upgraded and does not use the old one anymore.
I got one yesterday and successfully used on a chisel that has 1/2" at the place of clamping and I didn't even had to change the set screws. If the chisel is even heavier than that in the area where is getting clamped like the Ray Iles ones changing the set screws with longer ones would allow anyone to sharpen the chisels properly. You may still not have to change the set screws for Ray Iles mortise chisels but I am not sure as I don't own any.
I've promise a picture but I didn't get one yet and it is pretty straight forward. If anyone is still interested to see it working first I could take a picture one of these days.

Ionut

[Ken S]

What is the availability and cost of the SHV-60?

Ken

[ionut]

Hi Ken,

I don't know exactly, I got mine for free from the dealership where I got my machine a pretty long while back. I think Jeff will know better the answer to that question. I know for sure that the production of that jig has stopped a while back, as I asked Tormek in Sweden. Let me know if you cannot find any around your place, I will ask my dealer if they have any spare ones and let you know. If they have I can get one for you and send it to you.
Don't get me wrong though I am on the same side of the table as you are, just a user of the machine.

Ionut

[Ken S]

Hi Ionut,

Thank you for your offer.  I doubt my local Tormek dealer has any of the older parts in stock, so, if your dealer has an extra, I would appreciate it.

Since I do not have one of the older jigs to look at, I am taking my best guess.  It seems the main difference between the jigs is the newer jig uses the flat back of the chisel as the reference surface against the fixed plane.  That does seem more logical, when it works. 

With a large mortise chisel:  If the jig is rotated so that it looks downward in the front position.  (This would mean the front support bar position would be grinding into the bevel instead of away from it.) The chisel is placed in the older jig with the back against the fixed plane (instead of against the movable plane).  This would mean the chisel would be slid into the jig from the direction opposite the usual way.  If this works, it would make the back the reference plane with the fixed clamping surface of the jig.

I know the last paragraph is difficult to read.  It was clumsy to write, even with English as my primary language.

The two knobs might prevent this, and have to be replaced with regular (6mm) metric nuts for better clearance.

I become fascinated with problems and occasionally find a solution for a problem which does not exist.  The older jig may work well as is if one is careful and checks to be sure the chisel is positioned properly.

The newer jig does seem an improvement for general use.  I am surprised that places like ebay do not seem to have any of the older jigs for sale.  Their owners must have decided to keep them.  Many of us are reluctant to part with old tools which have worked well, even when improved versions are available.

A large mortise chisel has a lot more steel to remove when sharpening than a smaller delicate carving chisel.  Being able to sharpen it on the Tormek seems a real work saver.

Ken

[ionut]

Hi Ken,

If I understand you correctly you are suggesting to use the jig upside down in order to reference the correct face of the chisel to the stone. With this jig that create a number of problems, first the two parts of the jig that slide on the support are reversed now so you would have to mount the chisel close to the opposite know where there is nothing to reference it for square-nes. This would not be a problem because you can always use a small square to fix that but there are two more problems after that, having the offset backwards would not allow you to move the chisel while grinding over the entire surface of the stone and second the knobs will create clearance issues relatively to the stone.
I thing the main design flaw of the old jig is acceptable for mortise chisels, they are usually having the both the face and the back in parallel planes which will give a square cutting edge and even if the chisel would have those planes a bit off because the mortise chisels are not very wide the out of square of the cutting edge would be minimal and acceptable.
In my case as soon as I got the jig, I mounted the chisel in, rested it on the square shoulder with my eyes closed and 30 seconds later I had a square cutting edge checked with a small square. The chisel I used was 1/2 wide.. So I don't think turning the jig upside down is really required.
Because the mortise chisels have a steeper angle and are narrower they don't require much work anyways but as heavier they get the bevel will require more work that's why I was looking for a solution to grind against the edge and not away from it. My old method using a totally different jig was pretty much acceptable but I was pretty much squeezing a nice square edge.
I have measured the jig and it would allow a thickness of approx 5/8 to be safely clamped without changing the set screws for the knobs, so I believe would work without any problem for even heavier mortise chisels than the ones I have and it is really fast and accurate.
I will contact my dealer and see if he has another jig and let you know, unfortunately I am pretty busy these couple of coming weeks and I am not sure how soon I could get there to pick it up if he has one more. If you are in a hurry and can't wait, I believe the Jet machine uses the same jig as the old Tormek, but I cannot say if it allows you to clamp that thickness or if it fits the universal support and even though is shinier in the pictures I doubt it has the same quality.
I will let you know as soon possible.

Ionut

[Ken S]

Thanks.  No hurry, as I will be very busy with my grandchildren for the foreseeable future.

Ken