# Homebuilt Sharpening Jig



## Skordog

And finally, a few pictures of the sharpening jig I built.  Again, I could not see spending a lot of money on a sharpening jig when it looked like I could build the same thing myself.  Not to mention that building jigs is part of the fun of this hobby.  

So after scouring the net for ideas I borrowed pieces from here and there and this is what I came up with.  It is basically a duplication of the Wolverine system with their Vari-Grind jig.








The grinder sits on top of a couple of pieces of plywood that are separated by four slats of wood.  The opening between the two pairs of slats provides a track for a long block of wood with a toolrest on the end of it.  This can be adjusted forward and backward and can be locked down by tightening a T-bolt.







The Vari-Grind jig look alike is basically a block of wood with a hole through it and a dowel glued in at an angle.







Final result is to clamp the gouge into the jig, pull the arm out the appropriate distance (marked with a pencil line), and sharpen.

Way, way better than I was accomplishing by sharpening freehand.


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## dougle40

Hey Jeff , I like that , just might have to borrow the idea . Thanks .


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## DCBluesman

Hmmmm...and how much would you charge to make one for an inept wood worker?   That looks real good.  Now you can take the money saved and buy some more exotic blanks!  Very nice jigs...all of them!


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## jwoodwright

Very Nice set-up.


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## ctEaglesc

Beautiful simple and sweet.
There's 80 bucks I don't have to spend.


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## Ken Massingale

I couldn't do without my Wolverine, but if I had seen that first I'd have a hundred bucks for pen supplies. I looked at all the look alikes I could find, but none approached this one.
ken


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## Paul in OKC

Not to mention that building jigs is part of the fun of this hobby.  []


Cool. And yes, building stuff is fun.[]


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## crash

you should post a step by step on how you built it..   nice job..  


i'll take one..


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## J. Fred Muggs

Jeff:  Very good job![] Wish I'd thunk of that![] The rod on your jig looks a bit long, though.  You might want to check out the Ellsworth jig for actual length.  Also, you could easily make the jig adjustable just like the Vari-grind.  I really do like the design.  I spent about $150 on the whole woverine setup several years ago.[]


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## jdavis

nice set-up. I just might have to make on.


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## rtgleck

Very nice setup.   Wish I would have thought of that before getting the wolverine..  Then I would have had more money for pen blanks.


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## KKingery

That's another great setup!


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## GregD

Nice job, guess what my next project is. BTW, I built the same router table.


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## jkirkb94

Prettier than my Wolverine setup and I'm sure a lot cheaper to build!  Looks like you did a fantastic job!  The main thing is that it seems to work!! You did good!  Kirk[8D]


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## Skordog

> _Originally posted by J. Fred Muggs_
> <br />Jeff:  Very good job![] Wish I'd thunk of that![] The rod on your jig looks a bit long, though.  You might want to check out the Ellsworth jig for actual length.  Also, you could easily make the jig adjustable just like the Vari-grind.  I really do like the design.  I spent about $150 on the whole woverine setup several years ago.[]



Fred,

Thanks  for the tip on the rod length.  That explains the steep (vertical) grind I'm getting on the chisel.  I haven't taken the time to figure out why it's that way or if it should be that way.  As far as being adjustable - in which way?


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## Darley

this is great could you tell me the lenght od the dowel, I would rather to change for steel and to be stronger, very nice set up

Serge


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## Skordog

Well, I just shortened my dowel, moved the toolrest closer to ease the angle on the chisel.  Had to spend a bit of time on the rough wheel before going back to the fine wheel.  I think I still need to grind it down a bit more because it's not completely smooth.  Does seem to cut nicer though.  However it seemed awkward holding the chisel so close.

two questions:

1. What is the typical angle that is ground on a spindle gouge?

2. For any of you that own a Wolverine system with the Varigrind jig, what is the length of the rod coming out of the block, and where on the wheel does the chisel make contact (i.e. center of wheel, just above the center, way above the center).


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## Queso

I copied your design today, and it works 100 times better than what I had before.  Not nearly as pretty, since I used an old melamine desktop and 2x4s, but it works nonetheless.  For the vari-grind I turned the entire piece from a 2x2 piece of dogwood, and drilled the hole for the tool and the set screw on the drill press.

Thanks for the ideas!


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