Wolverine Grinding Jigs???

[pen-turners]

All,
Have come to the conclusion that I really suck at sharpening. I watch all these videos with long streams of wood flying off the lathe and just can't seem to get the same result. I am thinking of purchasing the wolverine grinding attachment with the gouge addition and was wondering if any of you have this???? Any suggestions would be appreciated. I cannot afford a Tormek right now or I would go that way.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[Fred in NC]

I have the Wolverine, and I am very happy with it.

In my opinion, for turning tools the Wolverine is much better. I can touch up my gouges in a couple seconds, and keep turning. I use a 120 white wheel, so it does not grind a lot of metal off the tools, and they last longer this way. For initial shaping of the tool, if needed, it is better to use one of the coarser wheels that come with the grinder. The just a touchup as needed.

 

[ryannmphs]

I do not have the actual Wolverine jig, I have a homemade version of it. It does help me some, but I'm still in need of help. One thing you might want to try to do is get with a turner in your area and have them help you with your grinding technique.

Ryan

 

[Gary]

I have the Wolverine set up and use it all the time. It really does make sharpening easier, for me at least. I know some people do their sharpening freehand, but it would be a disaster for me to try that.

 

[Guest]

Hve you tried diamond stones?
I rarely use a grinder and actually have better luck with a belt sander.
As far as the Wolvewrine goes,There are enough who have built their own wolverine set-ups and saved themselves $80.00.
Here's a picture of one I ran into while surfing

And the link:
http://www.jeanmichel.org/

I have seen them out of both wood and metal.
One guy modified a Harbbor freight bar clamp so he had a screw adjustment.
Another guy made a pretty good knock off of the Actual Wolverine jig.
Why is it that even though we think of ourselves as woodworkers there is a need to go and buy the simplest things that make our "hobby or passion" when we have teh tools brains and materials to make them ourselves?
A sharpening jig is just that. An aid to get repetative accurate results. That's it.
I have also seen EXCELLENT bowl turners mount a belt sander in the vertical position so their chisels are held the same way a wolverine is used. They hold the end of the chisel on their bench and "lean" the edge into the blade.
I don't mean to sound like this is a rant, I have never been able to sharpen drill bits by eye.I received the Drill Dr.
The results are perfect, fast, repeatable and more accurate than ANYONE can do by eye.
It is not a jig it's a sharpening "tool"
THe Wolverine is a jig.
You mentioned a Tormeck. I can see it's place but not as a turning sharpener.Again, an expensive tool not necessarily needed.
You can spend your money any way you wish, but I would rather build my aids than buy them.
I'm off the soap box now, good luck with your sharpening.
Life is too short to be aggravated by an inatimate obect.

 

[Fred in NC]

You can always put a sanding disk right on the spindle. It does not interfere with the mandrel.

 

[vick]

I love my wolverine and woudl recomend it to anyone. As a note i believe you only need the gouge attachment if you have fingernail grind gouges.

 

[DCBluesman]

Some of us only think of ourselves as penturners.

Originally posted by Eaglesc
<br />Why is it that even though we think of ourselves as woodworkers there is a need to go and buy the simplest things that make our "hobby or passion" when we have teh tools brains and materials to make them ourselves?

 

[Fred in NC]

Sometimes I build, sometimes I buy. And sometimes I build, and end up buying. So long as it makes ME happy, it is ok.

 

[daledut]

I made a really crude version that I use with my cheap-o Craftsman sharpener and it works pretty good.... but it does make me want a real one with a good sharpening wheel, just can't bring myself to spend the money.

 

[Andy Ryan]

With a little research on the net. You can find several places to find grinding jigs. With a Litte artistic lincense one can make what they need (except the grinder). I have a finger nail grind jig in the works right now. Making it out of metal because that is what I do at work( at least when i come off workmans comp) So take the time and Look. I like personally like Brian Clifford in the UK. He touches on a lot of diffiernt thing that wood turners need. But to each his own, as long as we are happy!!![][]

Check it outhttp://www.turningtools.co.uk/widgets/grindingjig/grindjig.html

 

[PenPauli]

I am still a pup at turning and didn't want to spend alot of time learning how to sharpen or ruin my tools. So I broke down and bought the wolverine jig. Man was that the best thing I did. I love it, It only takes a few passes and its sharp. I highly recommend it.

 

[tipusnr]

I have a Wolverine setup as well and STILL have trouble getting as sharp an edge on my gouges as I would like. There is a learning curve even with this excellent aide.

 

[vick]

tipusnr,
Just a suggestion but make sure you areremoving the burr from your gouge that forms in the hollow flute. If you are still having problems you mat want to consider dressing your grinding wheel.

 

[J. Fred Muggs]

Chris:
I love my Wolverine not because it gets anything any sharper, but because the exact same grind is repeatable every time.

But, let me address part of your original post. I watch all these videos with long streams of wood flying off the lathe:

What the videos usually don't bother to tell you is that the demonstrater is turning GREEN wood (As in wet - not the color)[]. It's relatively easy to throw long streams of shavings of green wood with a reasonably sharp gouge. I've seen Andre Martel from Canada peeling contiuous shavings of 50 - 60 feet long, and it's a sight to behold. It doesn't matter how you sharpen your tools, you ain't gonna get those kind of shavings from a dried pen blank.[]

I would highly reccommend the Wolverine for consistency and for the tool steel that that consistency saves you as opposed to hand holding. But don't buy one expecting from a pen blank what only a green bowl blank will produce.[:I]

 

[woodscavenger]

I would echo the last response. Green wood rules if you want to up your ego and watch the shavings fly. I am cheap at heart but broke down and bought the wolverine jig. It's great! I have actually gone to using the fingernail gouge for almost my entire pen shaping since I still haven't quite gotten the hang of the dreaded skew.

 

[Fred in NC]

Tip for Wolverine type jigs:

If you want to see what the grinder is cutting, take a black marker and paint the bevel with it. The, with the motor OFF, put the tool in position against the wheel, and turn the wheel by hand. Do this at the center of the cutting edge, and then halfway each side.

 

[J. Fred Muggs]

Shane: There is no better place to learn the skew than on pens. The smaller diameter seems to be much easier than tackling a larger diameter object. Once you get the hang of it on pens, the same technique works on larger stuff. I use the skew almost exclusively on pens now.

An Ammendment to my post to ypu Chris: I do not reccommend buying the skew jig for the Wolverine. I sharpen my skews on a diamond stone by hand. Their flat straight angle is very easy to repeat by hand by holding the handle of the skew under your forearm and pushing the point across the stone on a table. Fingernail type grinds on gouges are best done on the volverine.

 

[woodpens]

I love the Wolverine for sharpening my gouges, but I have not figured out (or taken the time to figure out) how to sharpen my skew. The one time I tried resulted in an arc rather than a straight edge.

 

[Tom Stephens]

I was very poor at sharpening until I got my Wolverine setup.
I like it very much.
Tom

 

[daledut]

Also the type of wood makes a difference. I recently made a pen that combined Bocote and Apple. My gouge was sharp and the shavings off of the Bocote were very small almost like thousands of little splinter. However every time I came across the Apple wood I got nice consistent fairly large shavings.

Try plain old Maple and the try any stabilized blank. The maple will produce a very nice pile of shavings while the stabilized blank will come off more like grains than shavings.

 

[woodbutcher]

I first tried sharpening freehand. A few minutes later I went to Woodcraft and bought the Wolverine. Works great! Also a diamond sharpener will keep your gouges cutting well between times. Those tools are expensive and I'm in no hurry to turn them to powder with my grinder. In my opinion the Tormek system is expensive and slow. In addition to fully realize total use ofthat machine the total cost for all the accessories runs in the neighborhood of $1000.00. It is a great tool, I'm just not so sure of it's need in a turners shop.
Best Wishes,
Jim[]

 

[Carole in VA]

Well, I will echo what most others have said. I have the Wolverine with the Varigrind and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Like Fred, I use the 120 wheel. I tend to give my tools a quick lick BEFORE they become very dull. If I am going to change the shape, I use the 80 grit wheel.

 

[Fred in NC]

What the Wolverine lacks:

The tool rest sticks out quite a bit from the bench. I find myself almost bumping into it all the time.

I tried making a mark for the setting that I use most of the time. The mark is not very accurate. I will have to find another solution, or move the grinder bench to a different location in my shop.

 

[jwoodwright]

I use the Wolverine. I tried the shop-built 1st and wasn't satisfied. It's not the complete answer, it's only a jig. Still takes skill...[8D]

 

[Ken Massingale]

Originally posted by woodpens
<br />I love the Wolverine for sharpening my gouges, but I have not figured out (or taken the time to figure out) how to sharpen my skew. The one time I tried resulted in an arc rather than a straight edge.

Jim,
Me too![]
As much as I don't want to, I'm about ready to get the skew attachment.
ken

 

[goldentouch]

The skew attachment works great every time for me. I could believe the difference the first time I used it.

 

[pen-turners]

All,
Thanks for the great inputs. I actually went out and bought the basic rig last night. I have an el-cheapo Craftsman grinder so had to make some modifications to make it work. Because the base of my grinder extends out below the grinding wheels, the Wolverine jig did not fit correctly. So, I had to make a new table to mount it on.
Sharpened all my gouges last night and I have to say things are alot better. My tools are not necessarily any sharper but my bevels are all even now and sharpening takes about a tenth of the time. Having consistant bevels made all the difference in the world and turned 3 pens and 4 bottle stoppers last night. Thanks again to everyone for the great info. I would recommend this tool to anyone. It runs about $90 although found quite a few websites on how to make your own.

Chris

 

[Fred in NC]

Glad it worked out for you, Chris. What kind of wheel are you using on the grinder?

Also, I am sure you are not the only one with a grinder that interferes with the jig. Would be nice if you could help others by posting a pic of they way you mounted your jig.

 

[Randy]

I have the Wolverine and was really getting frustrated until I purchase the system and a white grind stone. For new woodturners, I believe the Wolverine system is an excellent aide to help with sharpening your tools. There are other systems out there, that will also do a good job. Whatever you do, the advise about finding an experience woodturner to help with your sharpening is a great suggestion. The correct grind for the tool you are using is sometimes just as important as having a sharp tool.
I purchased some cheaper carbon steel tools to practice my grinding until I was confortable with what I was doing. Then moved on the the HSS and more expensive tools.

 

[gerberpens]

Does a Wolverine system work on a 6" AND/OR a 8" grinder? Or is one better than the other?

Just curious.

Gary

 

[vick]

either, but I would recomend the 8". You will get less of a hollow grind.