Acessory for easier sharpening of gouges

The sharpening of gouges can be difficult for the beginner. To make the sharpening of these tools easier, one can buy a lot of different jigs and other acessories. You can also make this simple acessory yourself, that can be used for basic sharpening of gouges on the bench grinder. It can't make more advanced types og grinds on the gouges.

A perfect grind can be obtained simply by using a piece of metal or plastic tube as an aid. The tube has to have an inner diameter large enough to make the gouge fit into the tube. The length of the tube is adjusted to give the desired grind of the tool. The only requirement is that the rest on the bench grinder is always in the same position or can be adjustet to the same position. The tube can be used for sharpening bowl gouges, spindle gouges, roughing gouges, parting tools and probably more.

When the to is to be sharpened, you slide the tube over the tool, and the tool is placed on the bench grinder rest at an angle so that it doesn't touch the grinding stone. The tool is moved until the tube touches the bench grinder rest and then the tool can be moved into contact with the grinding stone. The tool is rotated so that the whole cutting edge has been sharpened.

Slibning med hjælperør

The first time, the length of the tube has to be adjusted to give the right angle on the bevel of the tool. Of course, you need an individual tube for each tool.
Gradually, the tool is worn shorter, and therefore, the tube has to be shortened accordingly from time to time to ensure that the bevel on the tool has always the correct angle. To avoid having to adjust the grinding angle when adjusting the length of the tube, you can write the length of the tool protruding the tube on the tube. The you can easily measure how much to remov from the tube. If you have more tubes, you should also on the tube write for wich tool it is intended. If you want it easier to find the correct tube, the tubes and tools may be colour coded.

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