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The Ellsworth Grind?

Do any of you all own/use the Ellsworth Grinding Jig - if not, may I put forth a bit of an endorsement? If you do own it, this post may provide you with a new way to look at using it.

I have been using, and am very happy with the Ellsworth grinding jig, for about 3 years. I do not use it in the prescribed way - ie: according to the included instructions. Do not get me wrong, I respect Mr. Ellsworth, but I think the grind he developed is too difficult to use in my everyday turning. So I have modified my use of his jig to better suit my needs and usage of the bowl gouge.

The way I use it is pretty simple, I attach it to my gouge so 2" of the shaft extends out of the jig. I use a pre-measured block to make the measurement easy. Then, I use the V cup of my Wolverine grinding jig to hold the post of the Ellsworth jig. Using my eyeball, I look at the gouge's bevel against the stopped grinding wheel, making sure the bevel touches from the top of the bevel to the bottom. (I look at this from the side of the wheel).

Once I am satisfied that the wheel and bevel are in contact, and the angle of grind is the desired angle, I turn my gouge so the square block of the jig is parrallel to a plane that is tangetial to the grinding wheel and gouge bevel connection point. I then start the grinder and proceed to grind a flat bevel along the wing of that side of the gouge. I make sure that the block of the jig does not pass the point of being parrallel witht he plane. If this happens, it will cause the wing of the gouge to be rolled over, rendering it useless. Then, I flip the gouge and jig over to the other side and grind a flat bevel on that side. Then I blend the two sides together by passing the nose of the gouge across the grinding wheel until there is a smooth curve across the nose of the gouge.

I find the grind to very effective for the way I work and easily repeatable.

I know that many of the devices we are offered in the catalogs (that magically arrive at our doorsteps) promise a whole new way to skin the cat, but this simple little jig can really make a difference. Especially if you figure out the way the device can work for you.

This is not meant to say that Mr.Ellsworth way is wrong, it is merely another way to use his device.

Do any of you all use this jig or other jigs in your own way?

Ray Sandusky

Reply to
Ray Sandusky
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Hi Ray, Thanks for the tip. I'll try using the jig your way for a different grind. How did you guess that my jig is a homemade copy? Arch

Fortiter,

Reply to
Arch

Hi Ray,

I use the "side grinding jig" from Packard on a belt sander fixture.

I chose this jig because the angled bottom allows me to sharpen multiple sizes of gouges.

Like you, I use a stop block to ensure identical placement of the gouge with respect to the grinding/sander belt.

I recently made an improvement on this method by creating a flat on the top of the gouge (using a vise grip to hold the gouge on a belt sander) which allows me to ensure the rotational placement of the gouge is identical in the jig.

I use a small piece of steel to sit on top of the gouge and allow the screw to pressure the gouge into the angled jig.

George

Reply to
George Saridakis

nd is the desired angle, I turn my gouge so the square block of the

Reply to
Hamp

The Ellsworth jig can be used with the Wolverine by placing an insert in the V cup. This raises the jig to match the angle and setup measurements recommended in the instructions. Grinding using just the jig and the Wolverine produces an incorrect grind angle.

Reply to
Amish Biker

The incorrect grind angle is what I am aiming for - it is actually a straight edge along the cutting edge instead of a rounded cutting edge or a domed cutting edge. This domed cutting edge is what makes the Ellsworth grind difficult for me to use.

Ray

Reply to
Ray Sandusky

For $500 and a 3 day trip to eastern PA (just north of Philly), you can have Ellsworth himself show you how to use it. Check out the link

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would recommend it highly. Junior

recommended

Reply to
Junior

I have no desire to learn how to use it - I learned how to use it that works best for me! That is the point - you do not have to do things in the prescribed manner for it to work!

Ray

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> I would recommend it highly.>

Reply to
Ray Sandusky

Ray So you have the feeling that no one reads the original message? the way you are sharpening reminds me of the idea behind Jerry Glaser's gouge design with a radiused bottom and straight sides. He figured anyone could grind the sides straight and radius the bottom. If people had only listened it would have been easy to sharpen. I do not use gouges much anymore for faceplate work, but when I do I use my home made jig to basically duplicate what you are doing: straight sides brought back and the top radiused. Works for me.

Reply to
Darrell Feltmate

Derrell

Thank God somebody else has seen the value of this kind of sharpening process. In fact, I have the Glaser gouge and used it as the prototype to figure out the way to use the Ellsworth jig to sharpen it - I have had it for over a year and it has basically the same grind as the day I bought it. The Ellsworth jig is a clever little device!

Ray

Reply to
Ray Sandusky

I was fortunate enough to get a telephone call last Wednesday morning asking if I wanted to take a one-day class from David. Naturally, the answer was "yes".

One of the things that David covered was the use of his sharpening jig with the Wolverine system. There is a new set of numbers to use if you do not want to use the riser block in the vee.

With Riser Block Without Riser Block 2" 2 1/8" 4" 5 1/4" 7" 7 1/8"

The numbers refer to protrusion of tool, height to center of wheel, jig to front of wheel, respectively.

One further note, the distance from the back edge to the front edge of the vee bracket is 2 1/8"; you don't have to use a drilled hole as a depth gauge anymore.

David has also changed his recommended sequence for grinding. It is covered in the new release of his signature gouge video. Simply stated: start on one side and grind just past the front edge; repeat from other side.

The mad dash across Dallas in rush-hour traffic to get to the class was worth it. Those of you familiar with Dallas traffic will appreciate the magnitude of this comment.

Randy

Ray Sandusky wrote:

Reply to
Sawdust Bytes

I was fortunate enough to get a telephone call last Wednesday morning asking if I wanted to take a one-day class from David. Naturally, the answer was "yes".

One of the things that David covered was the use of his sharpening jig with the Wolverine system. There is a new set of numbers to use if you do not want to use the riser block in the vee.

With Riser Block Without Riser Block 2" 2 1/8" 4" 5 1/4" 7" 7 1/8"

The numbers refer to protrusion of tool, height to center of wheel, jig to front of wheel, respectively.

One further note, the distance from the back edge to the front edge of the vee bracket is 2 1/8"; you don't have to use a drilled hole as a depth gauge anymore.

David has also changed his recommended sequence for grinding. It is covered in the new release of his signature gouge video. Simply stated: start on one side and grind just past the front edge; repeat from other side.

The mad dash across Dallas in rush-hour traffic to get to the class was worth it. Those of you familiar with Dallas traffic will appreciate the magnitude of this comment.

Randy

Ray Sandusky wrote:

Reply to
Juergen

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