My favorite spindle gouge comes new with a fairly short flute so it's not long before there's none for the stepped brass block to fit into.
The manual suggests grinding a flat on the shaft for the screw to lock down on.
It's hard to place this accurately. (Any tips?)
I wonder whether this would work better: a slight cove on the bottom of the stepped brass block to allow it to sit crossways on the shaft. Or indeed a 2nd block with a V groove running lengthways on the bottom.
A cove or vee on the bottom of the clamping pad would not insure that the tool would be flat relative to the flute edges.
The best tip for grinding a flat on the shank of the tool is to make a friend of someone who has a milling machine. ;D
Or, find a small machine shop, most of which would do it for a few bucks.
That's true Jeff but for me anyway it would be easier to line up than it would be to grind a flat and errors would be recoverable!
Thinking out loud, maybe fixing a strip of wood across the flute would help orient the shaft clearly vertical for a bit of grinding.
Yes, a good friend was unkind enough recently to swap from machinist to a new career.
Every turner should have a machinist or the like as a friend 8)
Ern,
The clamping pad as it is will clamp a round shank securely. The issue is just one of alignment, which, as you say, can be accomplished by placing a straight edge across the flutes and manually leveling the tool. I've also done a surprisingly good job of cutting a flat on a old spindle gouge with a draw file.