Setting the bevel angle for a 'V' carving chisel

[mike40]

I sharpened my 2nd new 'v' chisel today, and I had problems both times setting the correct angles. This led to wasting some length on both tools, not a lot, but enough to be frustrating. I used the angle finder in the way shown in the handbook, i.e.; by laying the angle finder ear into the bottom of the 'v' in the chisel, but it is hard to see if it is resting evenly there.a Both times I came up with wrong angles and had trial and error it to get the correct bevel, 20 deg. in this case. I'm not sure if it is failing eyesight or something else. Can anyone give me some advice on a way which works well for them?

[Ken S]

Mike, I haven't sharpened a V chisel, so these thoughts are of a general nature. I have become a great believer in using the marker on the bevel. I test the setting by turning the wheel a little by hand. The hand motion indicates the setting with removing next to no metal.

I recently bought a Milwaukee twelve volt LED flashlight. It uses the same batteries as my drill/driver and impact driver. I have been amazed with how useful and bright the LED flashlight is. If the Tormek replacement knob seems pricey to you, no doubt the Milwaukee LED flashlight will, too. However, I am sure there must be lower priced very usable LED flashlights. The bright, very directional light might make it easier to see the anglemaster. It is easily movable as it is handheld. It is certainly a visual improvement over the florescent lighting my my shop. Lee Valley sells an interesting light, which is probably available elsewhere.

Good luck.

Ken

[Ken S]

Mike and Kiwi,

I believe my knife project might benefit your carving work.  It is not original, but does not seem to have been applied before. Essentially it borrows the idea from the turning jigs that a known blade projection from the jig and a known distance between the universal support bar and the grinding wheel will produce a known bevel angle.

For example, (please excuse my ignorance of carving tools) Mike learns through trial and error that a Pfeil # whatever V chisel with a projection of so many millimeters and a distance of X mm between USB and grinding wheels will produce the bevel angle he desires. Mike posts this information on the forum. Kiwi writes the information in her carving notebook. The next time her V chisel (same model) needs to be sharpened, she sets the projection and distance distances from Mike. Her results should be identical.

Meanwhile, Kiwi has just sharpened her # whatever sweep gouge to perfection. Kiwi notes the two distances and posts them. Mike writes them down and sharpens his sweep gouge just like Kiwi's.

They both make up simple gage sticks for each tool and note the tool number on the sticks. My very primitive working models were paint stirring rods. On one face I mark the projection distance in the jig. The pencil line lined up with the edge; the jig set on the bottom of the stick.

I cut a 12 x 12 mm notch in one side and trim the stirring rod to where the distance from the notch to the grinding wheel is correct. Mark the stick for the correct tool, and you should never have to measure for that tool again.

If enough forum members participated, the amount of measuring for each person should be minimal.

Ken

[Kiwi]

Sounds good Ken just one correction Kiwi is of the male species don't worry that is my aka my real name is Kara where often people mistake me for the her gender often because there are a lot she Karas out there enjoying your replies

Kiwi

[Ken S]

Oops!..... My error, Kiwi. Please excuse my northern hemisphere ignorance.

Anyway, despite the error, I still believe the constant projection and distance is a good plan. Not being a carver, I wouldn't know where to start. I would think a carver would have a better idea of where to start to hopefully standardize one of the two variables.

Ken

[Ken S]

Mike,

I think the bevel marking technique I learned last Friday would make it easier to sharpen your V cutter. See my post in General Tormek section. Instead of removing the jig and seeing how much of the black marking is removed, the jig is moved side to side. The support bar height is micro adjusted until the black mark on the stone is the full width of the bevel.

I find the mark left on the stone is much easier to see than using the angle master.

Ken