BGM 100

[fugops@msn.com]

I am having difficulty in replicating the angle on my roughing gouge from the grinder to the T-7.  I rechecked the installation of my BGM 100 and it appears to be spot on with the instructions in the manual.  I set the angle with the TTS-100 on the grinder (8") and on the T-7 as well.  I can certainly tell the shaping angle from the grinder is nowhere near 45 degrees and does not match the angle set on my T-7.  Looking for any suggestions or ideas.  Perhaps I have overlooked something?  Thanks.   

[Ken S]

Richard,

I hope you will receive several informative posts. Our forum is lean on turners, so I would suggest you also email your question to Tormek support in Sweden (support@tormek.se).

Ken

[RichColvin]

I'm going to be doing some sharpening tomorrow.  I'll make some tests & pictures to report back no later than Sunday.

Rich

[Ken S]

Thanks for posting, Rich. I will look forward to reading your observations.

Ken

[cbwx34]

I rechecked the installation of my BGM 100 and it appears to be spot on with the instructions in the manual. 

I have no idea, just a suggestion.  If you can, it might be worthwhile to post a picture or two of your setup... someone here might be able to spot if something isn't quite right.

[Ken S]

Just to make sure the bases are covered, are you using the A and B holes in the TTS-100 to set the Distance between the universal support bar and the grinding wheel?

Ken

[RichColvin]

Richard,

I must first thank you for this task.  It seems my Spindle Roughing Gouge (SRG) was in worse shape than I'd thought, and this was a good exercise !

Firstly, here are pictures of my BGM-100 setup, as shown beside my 8" high speed grinder.

To sharpen this tool, I used the SVS-50 Multi Jig.  It was setup as shown below.

I used the "B" hold on the TTS-100 to set the distance for the Universal Support Bar from the wheel.  I didn't get a picture of the setup on the 8" high speed grinder, but below is one for the Tormek grinder.  (By the way, those lines on the wheels of the TTS-100 are a great idea I learned on this forum.  It makes it very easy to see when the wheel is turning or not!)

The Spindle Roughing Gouge was setup in the SVS-50 using a 55mm projection as shown below.

Before starting, I flattened the edge of the Spindle Roughing gouge so that the cutting edge was consistent.  This produced a few flat spots, but that allowed me to start from a consistent edge.

After grinding on the 8" high speed grinder, I got a tool grind that is shown below.  It measured around 40°, but I couldn't tell exactly as the burr made the measurement difficult.

One note of use with the BGM-100 :  after the initial grind, the reshaping of the tool's edge made the tool's steel to be ground back around 1/8 to 3/16 inch.  This is significant, so I cooled the Spindle Roughing Gouge, reset the projection to 55mm, and gave it a very light grinding :  just enough to get a smooth edge.  You can see some discoloration.  Seems I was a bit aggressive with the grind.

I cooled it once more, and verified the projection again.  It was good.


Then I moved to the Tormek grinder.  First, I trued the stone (using the TT-50), then ground the edge on the Tormek grinder.  This was a little slow going, so I had to reactivate the grindstone a few times with the stone grader (SP-650).  I honed the inside of the gouge's flute using the profiled leather wheel (I have an older version, but the new one is the LA-120).  I don't hone the outside edge of my Spindle Roughing Gouge as it is for rough turning anyway.

Once finished, the edge looked as shown in the picture below.

The final angle, when measured on the WM-200 Angle Master is 35°.

That is somewhat smaller than the typical angle given by most as optimal (45°), but I've not found this to be problematic.

Here is the label I applied afterwards.

In summary, I would make note of the following :

• When grinding on the high speed grinding wheel, take as light a pass as possible.
• That said, when re-profiling an edge, you will probably find you need to reset the projection a few times.
• When resetting the projection, cool the tool first.  The TTS-100 plastic melts easily (I speak from prior experience).
• When grinding with the SVS-50 jig, it is important to hold the jig's edge against the universal support bar, AND hold the tool against the same bar.  It is easy to have it rise off the universal support bar, so keep attention to this.
• If you want to increase the angle from 35° to a higher number, this can be achieved by shortening the projection.  The TTS-100 only goes down to 55mm, but you could certainly try something like 45mm and see where that gets you.

Final note :  the settings I used here for sharpening this are on my on-line handbook :  SharpeningHandbook.info.

Good luck,
Rich

[Jan]

Proper function of the BGM-100 is not sensitive to how the set is mounted on the grinder. Important is that the USB is parallel with the axis of the grinder.

The TTS-100 is designed for SVS-50 and SVD-185/6. To get the same edge angle on Tormek and a grinder you have to use the same hole A or B to set the USB – wheel distance, and also use the same setting of the tool in the gauge jig or the multi jig. Than the edge angle should be the same on Tormek and the grinder, independently on the diameter of the wheel.

Jan

[fugops@msn.com]

Sorry for the slow response, got kind of busy.  Rich, thanks for the information, very, very helpful.  Also, the sharpening handbook is great.  Went through it all again and I was using hole "A" instead of "B" and I had the incorrect projection set.  Reground the gouge and then tried it again on the T7.  Angle is still off and I do believe I may have found the issues.  It does appear my measurement (dimension "b", Tormek mounting instructions) is off a bit in regards to the distance between the platform and the center of the grinding wheel.  Attached are some pics.  In one pic of the gouge you can see that the T7 is not hitting the whole bevel.  In another pic you can see where I remeasured and it does appear the measurement is off based on the line I drew.  Would this incorrect measurement cause the angle to be off when moving from the grinder to the T7??   THANKS!!

[Ken S]

Very thorough, Rich.

I would highly recommend the Tormek Turner's information box for any turner. In fact, I have benefitted from watching the DVD several times, even though I am not an active turner. The DVD is done by Jeff Farris, formerly of Tormek. Jeff is a very experienced turner, Tormek expert, and also the founder of this forum. Included with the kit is a book geared to turning tool sharpening by TorgnyJansson, the inventor and driving force of the Tormek. If knowledge is power, this dynamic duo is turbo power!

As I stated, I am not an active turner. However, I have done some testing with different wheels using hhs turning tools and metal lathe tool bits. I found the Tormek wheels perform better with frequent light truing with the TT-50. In this case, the cuts are really dressing cuts, rather than truing cuts. They expose fresh grit for more efficient grinding. As noted in the handbook, a quicker pass (around thirty seconds) with the TT-50 will produce a coarser edge on the grinding wheel.

I use a series of several very light cuts, perhaps half a microadjust number, and only remove enough in the total operation to get one clean full pass. I can use heavier cuts; I just prefer the control of lighter passes. The TT-50 produces a coarser edge than the stone grader. Each has its purpose.

Here is a link to the turner,'s information box:

https://www.tormek.com/usa/en/accessories/other-accessories/tnt-300-woodturners-instruction-box/

Ken

ps Regarding  attaching photos: I had to struggle with this. What finally made the difference was going back into one of my prior posts using the edit button. I just kept on by trial and error until I could attach photos consistently. I did this with both photobucket and the forum attachment mechanism. Sweden recently increased the maximum size to 250kb each and four photos. I have found the 250kb size quite adequate for web use