Gouge Jig - Horizontal or Vertical?

[bborzell]

Hi Jeff...

I have a book by Richard Raffan (Turning Wood), that shows him using a Tormek to sharpen a gouge with the universal rest in the vertical position.  Any thoughts on this technique?  Thanks.

...Bob

[Jeff Farris]

I haven't seen that.  Don't know whether it is old or new, but I would guess old.

There is virtually no situation on a gouge where a vertical orientation would be advantageous.  Even when shaping a gouge, I prefer to use the horizontal orientation and some pressure.  The vertical orientation and a small contact area don't play well together.

[bborzell]

Hi Jeff...

Just for giggles, here's a copy of the photos in the book .  The book is dated 2008.

[Jeff Farris]

That certainly is going to work, but it will be a bit hard on the grindstone, and is an awkward approach.  I'm surprised that you say the book is published in 2008.  That machine is from the early 90's and I know that Richard has a newer machine in his shop.  He spent a week with Torgny a couple years ago and I believe is now a fan of the horizontal mount.

[bborzell]

It's a third edition, but the text, photos and illustrations have a 2008 copyright.  My guess is that they have been been using that photo from day one and nobody has thought to update it.   

[Ern]

If memory serves, doesn't the manual say that the vertical orientation is an option.  And good for aggressive shaping?

[Jeff Farris]

The book does say that, and it works, but the shorter the bevel angle, the greater the wear on the stone will be in the vertical orientation. 45 degrees or so, and it is not a big deal, but at 60 degrees, the tool wears the grindstone quickly.

[Ken S]

Rather than try to guess what Richard Raffan might say, I decided to email him.  ("Contact" on his website, richardraffan.com)

Richard promptly and graciously replied, and allowed me to post his reply.  Here it is:

Ken,

These days I have my Tormek set up with a platform fixed on the vertical rest for my skew chisels: the wheel comes to the chisel. And on the other side I use the horizontal rest for gouges, mainly so I don't have to adjust the skew platform.  I prefer the wheel coming on to the tool as I don't hone, and I used the vertical approach because I found that easiest at the time and I could well have been shown that by Geoff Brown.
I might add that I do very little turning these days and now use my Tormek mostly for knives. I'd go with what Jeff Farris recommends as he'd use the Tormek more than anyone and knows it inside out.

As far as updating photos in books:  it's a nice idea but generally deemed far to expensive. Typos and major errors in editing are corrected at the first reprint but that's about it. I'd love to upgrade all my publications on a regular basis but it's not feasible.

I'm not sure this does much to clear the air, but feel free to post on the forum. Cheers, RR.

Richard Raffan