Sharpening a detail gouge with an asymmetric shape

[banewf]

I'm a new Tormek user & relatively new to turning. I chose the Tormek as I had no previous experience with sharpening & felt that the Tormek system with all the jigs would eliminate the 'skill' & learning curve required to sharpen tools by hand & eye on a bench grinder. So far, I think that decision - while expensive - has been a good one.

I took a turning course given by a world renowned turner/instructor who tuned my detail gouge for me on a bench grinder. He basically ground the two wings differently: one wing longer than the other. It did make a difference which I could feel right away.

My question is ... can you sharpen an asymmetrical shape with the Tormek using the SVD-185?

It appears to me that you can't. The SVD-185 mechanics wants to present the bevel to the stone in a consistent manner: when you think about it that's exactly what you would want a jig to do.

Does anyone have any insight on this? Should I simply be satisfied with using a super sharp 'symmetrical' detail gouge?

Cheers

[Dakotapix]

I'm curious what the advantage of two different lengths on the wings of your gouge is supposed to give. Mind giving us the name of the pro who did this? Not critical, just curious.

I suppose you might be able to come close to this grind but it seems to me that you would need to either change the projection of the tool in the jig to account for the different wing edge shapes while you grind each side. This might also be a case where you'd just do freehand grinding using the tool rest jig. Frankly, I would go for a symmetrical grind but that's just me. I sharpen my turning tools on a slow speed dry grinder using the Oneway Wolverine system.

[Ken S]

This is just a guess, but I think the advantage of the asymmetrical grind would be to offer the benefit of a longer cutting surface with the stability of a shorter grind on the opposite side of the tool.

Ken

[Jeff Farris]

You most certainly can do an asymmetrical grind on the Tormek.  Just find the jig settings that match each half and work to the center from each side at two different settings. It takes a little finesse to blend the meeting point, but not nearly as much as it takes to do the whole thing by hand.

There are a couple different guys who do this. Ray Key is one, Richard Raffan is another. The concept is that you have your long side grind in your hand, with an asymmetrical ground gouge, you have the proper shape for working across the bottom of the bowl without grabbing another tool.

[banewf]

Thanks to those of you who replied. The instructor of the course who tuned my gouge was Richard Raffan. I don't mean to turn this into a commercial but if you ever get the chance to take a course from him - grab it!!!

The explanation for the rationale of shaping the gouge this way is exactly as Jeff describes. My task is now to learn how to replicate sharpening this shape with the Tormek. Like everything else so far it's trial & error ... just another part of the journey. 

[Ken S]

You might be interested in an earlier posting.  A question arose about how Richard Raffan worked.  I decided to send hi an email and ask him.  He replied promptly and graciously allowed me to post his answer.  i've never met him, but he seems like a nice guy and a fine turner.

Here is the posting:


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

[Dakotapix]

Ahhhh....Richard Raffan. Not turning much these days. Must be spending his time demoing and teaching. He is simply great. Thanks for posting this, Ken.