DIY fixture for sharpening large roughing gouges

[highdesertdreams]

I made this fixture (see attached photo) for sharpening my large roughing gouge which doesn't seem to fit well in any of the TORMEK fixtures I have.
My simple DIY fixture seems to work fine for sharpening my roughing gouge.
For initial shaping I used a similar fixture on my dry grinder.

The hole in the board that slides onto the Universal Support is a slightly reamed out 15/32".
The gouge angle can be set by repositioning the sliding "V" block where the handle of the gouge fits and/or by repositioning the universal support in or out.
The angle support for the jig is wedged between the base of the TORMEK and a notch cut into the bottom of the horizontal part of the fixture.

Cheers,
Frank in Arizona

[Rob]

Very ingenious Frank 

In fact, your approach is pretty much a carbon copy of the Wolverine jigging system by Oneway without the elliptical grinding clamp.  Of course you don't need that because a roughing gouge is ground straight across the bevel ie without removal of the wings (though some do that too).

The Tormek jigs can handle roughing gouges and the name of the jig that does it escapes me for the moment but it's the one with a v shaped seat set in a square frame from which the tightening knob comes down onto the top of the flute.  Is it the SVD 50???

You could also improvise a simple 45 degree angle from the flat platform (T-lok) directly against the wheel for roughing gouges.  The beauty is they only need grinding straight across, there is no elliptical aspect to their geometry so you don't actually need the setup you have, just a flat platform set at the right angle.  Your setup would work well for bowl and spindle gouges if you added an elliptical jig like in the wolverine system

[highdesertdreams]

Hey Rob,

The large gouge only fits if I remove the little V-block in the SVS 50 jig which makes a perpendicular alignment and tight fit quite a challenge.
Holding the SVS 50 forward to the Universal support bar while simultaneously pushing the gouge bevel onto the sharpening stone was also quite a juggling act for me.
Add to that the fact that I might be spending several hours roughing out lamp blanks during which I need to re-sharpen the large roughing gouge many times.
Accurately repositioning the gouge back into the SVS 50 again and again is yet one more challenge, even when using a length stop block.

The flat platform at 45 degrees would also work but I'd guess I'd have difficulty rolling the gouge while maintaining forward and downward pressure on the gouge.

So ... for my particular needs a Wolverine jig, or my DIY version, is fast and easy and repeatable, plus it's much easier to hold the gouge bevel down on the grinding wheel.

I have the woodturners set of Tormek jigs which seem to work fine for bowl and spindle gouges. Just not the large roughing gouge.

I love my new Tormek and have successfully sharpened most every tool in my shop and every knife in my house.

The only troublesome tools where the large roughing gouge and my kitchen cleaver.

Any ideas on how to sharpen the cleaver

Cheers,
Frank

[Elden]

Here are some ideas that would work for a cleaver.

   Robin's extended universal support bar
     http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=2866.0

   Ionut's
       http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=1191.msg3308#msg3308

       https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=bc168f3568163031&id=BC168F3568163031%21299&Bsrc=EMSHOO&Bpub=SN.Notifications&sff=1
       
   Herman's jig
      http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=1560.0

      http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=1592.0

   An adaptation to Herman's and Ionut's jigs
       http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=1605.msg6897#msg6897p

[highdesertdreams]

Elden,

Thank you very much for providing all the links.

I'll work my way through the info and get that cleaver sharpened !

Thanks again,
Frank in Arizona

[Rob]

Yes I recall the SVS 50 was a bit of a pain to setup, particularly with wider roughing gouges.  If you're doing the heavy lifting on a batch of lamp blanks I can understand why you would want to avoid unnecessary setup time.

I use a v block to keep the 90 degree rake to the grinding medium but that's on a system where the abrasive is travelling towards the edge....no bouncing up problems.

You know what, if it's working, then all power to you :-)