Wolverine Sharpening Jig Mistake
I just made a really stupid mistake when using the oneway wolverine grinding jig to sharpen my round nose scraper.
I wanted to change the angle to 20 dregrees, something that Thompson recommends, not problem I thought. Some turners showed sharpening their scraper on the platform that comes with the oneway sharpening jig.
I had not put the platform together yet, only had a couple minutes tonight to see if the change in angle makes much of a difference in the scraper. I had the scraper at 40 degrees and it was giving me some grabs in a hard piece of oak burl, I thought maybe the 20 degrees would make a difference. I’ve since come to understand that some scrapers are at 10 degrees, thus lessening the chance for a grab.
Used the Single Cup of the Wolverine Jig to Sharpen The Scraper
So I just used the long arm of the oneway jig with the cup on it and I placed the scraper on the wheel, I would need to cut more from the top of the scraper to change the angle to 20 degrees…..so I slid the arm out until it looked like it would take a good piece of the top off, then I would check the angle of the scraper.
I turned on the grinder and lowered the scraper onto the grinding wheel and it happened. I thought my little shop exploded and it felt like I lost a finger!
Well, I see why you should use the platform to sharpen a tool with a smaller angle. You can see in the pictures, the tool was almost horizontal and when I turned on the grinder the tip caught the wheel, dug a hole in the Norton 8″ 120 grit wheel and broke the top of the scraper. I don’t know what else happened, all I know is that I have a gouge in my finger and hand, the grinding wheel might be ruined and it scared the crap out of me.
WoodTurning Tool Sharpening Lesson Learned
Lesson learned…. when sharpening be careful! Pay attention to the angle that you are sharpening, use the platform when necessary and always introduct the woodturning tool slowly into the wheel. I don’t know, maybe I pushed to hard, too fast but I now am much more careful when sharpening ….I pay attention to all the details when resharpening my woodturning tools or trying to reshape my woodturning tools.
It was late, I was in a hurry, I wanted to try some new grinds I had studied over the last couple of days and I was not paying attention to detail.
I’ve worked with powertools for almost 50 years…yes, I did start young but you should never allow yourself to get so comfortable when working with power tools that you are not taking proper precautions to safety rules. I’m afraid I let the familiarity of working with power tools get the best of me, need to pay more attention to the task at hand….. always!
Should Have Checked My Setup Before Turning the Grinder On!
If I would have stood back and looked at the setup I made, I would have immediately noticed the dangerous situation. I’m thankful that nothing worse happened, I could have easily been injured severely since the scraping gouge went sailing and the grinding wheel took a beating and could have boke up sending pieces of the wheel everywhere.
WoodTurning Tool
Sharpening Lesson Learned!
Slow down, and if you can’t ….do the task another day.
The Oneway Wolverine Grinding Jig is an awesome set up for sharpening your woodturining tools and you should not be afraid of it, but you should be careful, think, use some logic and be careful with each setup and each sharpening situation.
Take a minute to analyze each set up before you push the “ON” button.
Be careful friends, although wood turning is addicting the tools we work with are extremely dangerous if used incorrectly! We tend to focus on the wood lathe and the project in the chuck….. its a good idea to be aware and be careful all around the shop. This week I bound up a bandsaw blade, the wood kicked back and the blade threw off the wheels ….. I tried making a new scraper and the unshielded wheel caught my arm ….not a good week for me and I definitely will pay more attention to what I am doing and not approach my work in such a lackidasical way!