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FWW on finger-nail grind

n7bsn

n7bsn

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Has anyone tried the grind method described in the recent issue of FWW?

The method looks very simple, and in practice I found it easy to do (I just did the grind to my 1/4inch bowl gouge). It does give the gouge a rather short finger-nail, but it was certainly easy to do.
 
Freehand

Seems like basically the method I use, though I'm not quite as precise. I brace the tool on the grinding rest, lay the bevel on the stone and wind around, using the bevel as my reference. Almost as if I were taking a scrape with it at the lathe.

Comes from carving, where all the tools have different profiles, I guess. The precision comes back when the tool no longer cuts properly even with a fresh edge. My clue to lengthen or shorten the bevel.
 
I just got my FWW today. Thats basically a slightly modified Stewart Batty grind althought I don't know who originally came up with this grind. I've been playing with it ever since seeing Stewart last August. His grind differs in that it doesn't have wings. It's sharpened at 40 degrees through out the grind. It is a really wonderful grind for woods that tend to tearout. If you let the tool do the cutting and don't force the cut you can get a finish that looks like it's been sanded to 220 or beyond.
I'm still not totally comfortable with it. I guess because it's new and my old grind is so comfortable. I suspect I'll like it better the more I use it and get comfortable with how it cuts and it's limitations.
I actually screwed up when I first started because I made the grind with 45 degrees. I didn't think it was all that spectacular but looked like it had possibilities. Then I happen to see my notes from the symposium and realized it is 40 degrees. Now it seems to function a lot better. I seem to remember Stewart saying this was the "sweet spot" of the different angles that you can use and that is why he prefers that angle.
 
This is the grind that Stewart Batty and Mike Mahoney were demonstrating at the AAW Symposium in Louisville this past June in one of their "tag team" demos - very entertaining and lots of little hints if you take care to listen closely. The constant 40 degrees is fairly easy to get after some practice. I started practicing on a 1/4" gouge first so I could get the roll and sweep movements working OK while not grinding away too much metal, and having the grind more or less equal on both sides of the gouge. The sharpening using 'freehanding' gives some additional practice where I'd grown accustomed to my standard set-up using the Vari-grind in the Wolverine, or the 'Vertical Solution' jig on my Ellsworth gouge - pretty mindless sharpening and fairly quick to a good edge. I need more practice on the '40 degree' edge technique, but it's very useful for a wid range of cuts.

Rob Wallace
 
tjchigh71 said:
I'd love to see a picture of this grind if anyone has it available.
Click to expand...
If you get the current issue of FWW, the article starts on page 100 and there are plenty of pictures. You really need to read the full article to see the procedure for setting things up and the grinding procedure. I don't believe a picture will be very useful in figuring out how to do it. As an example, it looks a lot like the Glaser grind when viewed from certain angles, but it is very different when you compare them side by side in your hand.

Bill
 
john lucas said:
I just got my FWW today. Thats basically a slightly modified Stewart Batty grind althought I don't know who originally came up with this grind.
Click to expand...

Of course consistent-angled grinds are as old as woodturning, and for good reason - the sweet spot is anywhere on the gouge and the bevel won't allow a roll nor catch because it's not ground at a different angle.

Old fellas like myself watched the turning world adjust to the new cylindrical gouges with their inconsistent thickness and bruised a bit of wood while rotating the gouge and of a sudden finding that heel in the way. Had to find a way to compensate for the new stuff. While a bit of fingernailing gives poke to a gouge, major fingernailing is an attempt to get back to the constant cutting angle of the forged gouge, and a cutting problem in two unknowns versus three. Drawing the edge way back and sacrificing toolrest support on deep-flute gouges results in the forged gouge cut but with the nose of the tool ready for a catch if the handle varies much, which it can, because the variable bevel will let it.

Mutatis mutandis.
 
Cindy Drozda taught us that grind at JCFS last year. She attributed it to someone else.
She wouldn't allow us to use the vari-grind and took away the adjustment knob for the platform of the grinder.
It works really well for a number of cuts, especially a roughing cut straight down into the wood (spindle orientation) with the flute opening at about 2 oclock 2:30.
Transferring the platform adjustments back home did not work out too well.
The description in the article looks like a good way to get the angles right.

mark.
 
john lucas said:
Thats basically a slightly modified Stewart Batty grind althought I don't know who originally came up with this grind.
Click to expand...

Keith Rowley describes the method clearly in his book "Woodturning, A Foundation Course". I don't think he invented it either. It seems that the English have been using this method for God knows how long in production shops. Grinding Jigs are fairly new and seem to have been developed for the hobbiest. Rowley's method is so fast once you have it down and it'll work for almost any angle you prefer. I've been using this method since taking up turning since Rowley's book was the first one I purchased.
 
Tried it yesterday on an old 3/8" Sorby that's getting too short to be worth much anymore and got such a pointy shape it looked like a detail spindle gouge. 😱 I sure must have done something wrong but what? 😕

Read the article several times before hand, made the angle jig for the tool rest etc. and what came out was nearly useless.

I'll probably play around with the process again today or just wait for suggestions from this knowledge base.
 
Griesbach said:
Tried it yesterday on an old 3/8" Sorby that's getting too short to be worth much anymore and got such a pointy shape it looked like a detail spindle gouge. 😱 I sure must have done something wrong but what? 😕
Click to expand...

Pivot as you go around the nose and don't push into the stone as you pass 10:30 or 1:30, or you'll pull it back too far. Can't do it with your eyes closed, that's for sure.

Pointy gouges hollow like crazy, so you might want to try plunge and sweep cuts into endgrain before you discard it. I have two specifically ground that way, and for that purpose.
 
MM is correct on the 10 and 2 or whatever clock numbers you want to use. Stewart Batty mentioned that you actually lighten up or pull the gouge back as you rotate through these areas. If you don't you get a sort of pointed nose instead of a more rounded shape across the front.
I had forgotten that and my gouge started to get funny looking. I went back and looked at my notes. I don't usually write small stuff like that down but fortunately did this time.
 
I spent several hours turning some bowls today (alder, maple and cherry), using the gouge I ground to the specs given in this article (also two that are ground in a traditional "finger nail").

I found it constant angle 1/4 gouge easy to control, I could not get it to cut as aggressively as a finger-nail grind. But it was also much easier to control.

I expect I am going to leave my 1/4 gouge in this grind, it's going to be very useful.
 
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