Bench Grinder/BGM USB and the SE-77 Square Edge Jig

[RickKrung]

Two things converged to make this happen.  First, I recently set up my 8" Rikon "slow speed" bench grinder with two BGM-100 USB supports.  Second, I came home from a farmers market sharpening day with four plane blades to sharpen.  I had set the BGMs up for use with the Frontal Vertical Base (FVB) which provides UP/Down (vertical) USB adjustment as well as In/Out (horizontal).  So far I had used it for rough grinding of knife bevels and drill bit facets. 

The plane blades were pretty rough, having been bought at garage sales, although that doesn't mean we don't beat up our own.  I wanted to do the rough grinding of the plane blades on the Rikon as I thought it would be faster and save some wear on the Tormek wheels.  I initially set up one of the blades in the Square Edge Jig (SE-77) and then set up the USB/FVB on the fine wheel side (right) and proceeded to grind the blade.  No problem, as the standard way to set up a blade in the SE-77 on the Tormek is in the vertical USB for edge leading grinding.  That works for the BGM USB on the right side of the dry grinder. 




It does not, however, work for the coarse wheel (left side), due to the sliders hitting the USB mounting posts.  In order to use the SE-77 on the left side BGM/USB, I had to turn the plane blade around in the jig so the edge projected out the "back side".  I had not anticipated this as there was no mention of anything like it in the manual, but it is exactly what would have to be done to used it on the horizontal USB on the Tormek if one wanted to grind edge trailing.  And it works beautifully as the SE-77 is essentially symmetrical in that regard.  I set up one of the larger blades that had a lot more grinding to do, due to rounded corners and nicks and proceeded to grind on the coarse wheel. 




This worked very well, except that it took a long time, I think because I was taking a lot of care to prevent heat build up on the blade, so I took limited, light passes and dipped the blade in cool water whenever it was the least bit uncomfortable to grip and squeeze the edge.  I wonder if it wouldn't have been just as fast on the coarse diamond wheel (DC-250) as there would not have been the pauses to check for heat.  Nonetheless, I am happy with using the dry grinder for the plane blades and will continue its use.  (BTW, I thought the finish on the dry grinder blades was quite good, even from the coarse side and prior to becoming a Tormek user, I would have been quite happy to use them that way.)

Rick

[wanderingwhittler]

Thanks for sharing this Rick. I have no plans to acquire a bench grinder any time soon, but I still enjoy reading posts like this. They're fun to read and maybe something I file away in my memory will inspire a creative solution to some problem I'm facing some day.

I particularly like the tip about flipping around the SE-77. It makes since that it would work, but I'm not sure I would have thought of it.

[Ken S]

Greg,

We certainly have some creative members on this forum with good ideas. I would encourage you to create your own favorites folder of topics or replies. This can be copy paste, printed, or another way. It just keeps good ideas from getting lost in the pixels. A good help is to note the poster name and date. With those two facts, retrieval is usually not bad.

My advice for beginners is to learn the standard Tormek technique well. most of us deviate from it eventually in some others. Knowing the basics will give you a good frame of reference.

Ken