Raptor bevel set tool work with vari grind 2?

[Brent Wells]

I have recently upgraded with cbn wheels and I have seen the raptor set up tool on craft supplies before and thought it was a neat idea for repeatable bevel grinds, and an easy way to experiment with different bevel angles. I know they work with most sharpening systems, but I thought it was mentioned that it only worked with the original vari grind not the vari grind 2. All they are doing is setting a distance for grind I can't imagine they wouldn't work. Does anyone know for sure? If needed I will get the original but no reason to buy it if the set up I have now works.

Thanks. Brent

 

[Jamie Straw]

I have recently upgraded with cbn wheels and I have seen the raptor set up tool on craft supplies before and thought it was a neat idea for repeatable bevel grinds, and an easy way to experiment with different bevel angles. I know they work with most sharpening systems, but I thought it was mentioned that it only worked with the original vari grind not the vari grind 2. All they are doing is setting a distance for grind I can't imagine they wouldn't work. Does anyone know for sure? If needed I will get the original but no reason to buy it if the set up I have now works.

Thanks. Brent

I owned the Raptor set for awhile, biggest problem I ran into was that, due to the size of the grinder guards, the grinder had to be set too high for the Raptors to work, advise that you check that distance before buying. The Raptors can easily be replaced by either triangular pieces of wood in different sizes per "Sharpening De-mystified" or even pieces of dowel, again in different lengths. I'm now a devotee of David Schweitzer's school of sharpening (he of D-Way tools), and find that taking his approach greatly simplifies the process when using the Verigrind and Wolverine system. (I have the original Verigrind, found the #2 to be quite awkward, sold it). I wrote up notes from Dave's two videos that contain sharpening info for a friend, here's the excerpt that gives time stamps:
In "Sharpening Bowl Gouges" – 5:07 starts explanation about the leg, the dowel, tool tip and sides. [Explains how side grind is affected by the V-pocket distance and bevel angle by the leg of the of the VG fixture, shows how he sets things up, info needed to follow the next video]

"Sharpening …Spindle Gouges…" (and all his other tools, LOL!) It’s all good, but the Wolverine/spindle section starts at 10:00. He re-grinds the pointy-tip gouge at 15:10

If you want a gizmo to set your platform only, the Robo Rest is worth considering, Would love to have one myself! That makes an appearance in Dave's video also.

 

[Brent Wells]

Thanks Jamie now I have some other things to think about, dowels would work especially since cbn will always be the same diameter. The guards won't be a problem though since you remove those so the cbn will fit.

Much appreciated

Brent

 

[John King]

Toss the Raptor

Toss the Raptor jigs and go with 1' PVC pipe to set the V-arm extension distance. See attached photos. Cut PVC pipe to length (trial and error) that sets the V-arm to the proper distance for required grind. Works great with CBN (or similar) grinding wheels because they never change diameter. With a constant diameter grinding wheel and extension of V-arm set by PVC pipe, two of three variables required to reproduce your favorite grind are set. The only remaining variable is the angle of the leg on the Oneway (or equal) vari-grind jig. I have my vari-grind leg more/less permanently set. So, when I want to change grind, all I have to do is pull out the proper PVC pipe, set the V-arm and grind away. - John

PS - Not the originator of this idea. Picked it up on some woodturning forum/website. - J

 

[john lucas]

Or simply make your own custom "Raptor" jigs. I started making these wooden ones long before the Raptor came out. Very cheap and quick to make. You will see them in this video. And they do work on the CBN wheels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbggxj2kgyc

 

[Dennis J Gooding]

Toss the Raptor jigs and go with 1' PVC pipe to set the V-arm extension distance. See attached photos. Cut PVC pipe to length (trial and error) that sets the V-arm to the proper distance for required grind. Works great with CBN (or similar) grinding wheels because they never change diameter. With a constant diameter grinding wheel and extension of V-arm set by PVC pipe, two of three variables required to reproduce your favorite grind are set. The only remaining variable is the angle of the leg on the Oneway (or equal) vari-grind jig. I have my vari-grind leg more/less permanently set. So, when I want to change grind, all I have to do is pull out the proper PVC pipe, set the V-arm and grind away. - John

PS - Not the originator of this idea. Picked it up on some woodturning forum/website. - J

I agree with John, I also use this approach. John may just have forgotten to mention it, but I saw out a lengthwise slot in the pipe so that I can just drop it onto the V-arm. A further point: If you use this technique, it is very helpful to adjust the two V-arm mounts so that they are the exact same distance from their respective wheels. This assures that when you do a rough grind on the coarse wheel and then transfer to the fine wheel, you will not have to remove a lot of metal. Otherwise you would need to have a separate PVC piece for each wheel. By the way, I used this method for years before buying CBN wheels. As a practical matter, stone wheels wear down very slowly and a change of a couple of degrees one way or another in nose angle is not significant. Also, PVC is cheap should the time come to correct for wear.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Toss the Raptor jigs and go with 1' PVC pipe to set the V-arm extension distance. See attached photos. Cut PVC pipe to length (trial and error) that sets the V-arm to the proper distance for required grind. Works great with CBN (or similar) grinding wheels because they never change diameter. With a constant diameter grinding wheel and extension of V-arm set by PVC pipe, two of three variables required to reproduce your favorite grind are set. The only remaining variable is the angle of the leg on the Oneway (or equal) vari-grind jig. I have my vari-grind leg more/less permanently set. So, when I want to change grind, all I have to do is pull out the proper PVC pipe, set the V-arm and grind away. - John

PS - Not the originator of this idea. Picked it up on some woodturning forum/website. - J

John,

Thanks for sharing. This is a great idea to get a repeatable length. I've painted, taped, and scored my vari-grind jig leg and none of them has been satisfactory. Easy to do, and I can simply mark the PVC with the tool I'm using it for.

Mark

 

[Brent Wells]

Toss the Raptor jigs and go with 1' PVC pipe to set the V-arm extension distance. See attached photos. Cut PVC pipe to length (trial and error) that sets the V-arm to the proper distance for required grind. Works great with CBN (or similar) grinding wheels because they never change diameter. With a constant diameter grinding wheel and extension of V-arm set by PVC pipe, two of three variables required to reproduce your favorite grind are set. The only remaining variable is the angle of the leg on the Oneway (or equal) vari-grind jig. I have my vari-grind leg more/less permanently set. So, when I want to change grind, all I have to do is pull out the proper PVC pipe, set the V-arm and grind away. - John

PS - Not the originator of this idea. Picked it up on some woodturning forum/website. - J

I too like this idea and just happen to have a bunch of pvc. Thank you all for the ideas. Time to go cut some pvc.

 

[Pete Blair]

Preset lengths

John,

Thanks for sharing. This is a great idea to get a repeatable length. I've painted, taped, and scored my vari-grind jig leg and none of them has been satisfactory. Easy to do, and I can simply mark the PVC with the tool I'm using it for.

Mark

I tried the marking and spacers but found that there are only three positions I use regularly so I merely drilled a small hole in the outer casing and three in the inner and just put a pin (you could use an allen key) in whichever hole I need at the time. Quick easy and you don't have a bunch of pipe lengths hanging around.

 

[David Buskell]

Raptor bevel set tool work with vari grind?

Anyone used the Ron Brown angle gauge?

 

[john lucas]

I looked at Ron Browns pretty hard but it won't really do anything my home made setting jigs won't do and they take about 2 minutes to make.

 

[Jamie Straw]

Anyone used the Ron Brown angle gauge?

Just curious, couldn't find it with a search. Do you have a link?

 

[hockenbery]

Just curious, couldn't find it with a search. Do you have a link?

Ron is a really good turner and a great guy too. He has lots of tools on his web site. i could not find the grinder angle setting jig. It shows up in a picture with no price so it may be out of stock or maybe he isn't selling it now. Below is a link to one of Ron's pages with lots of things you can turn and make.
You can get to his store pages from there too.

http://ronbrownsbest.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=11

 

[Mark Hepburn]

I tried the marking and spacers but found that there are only three positions I use regularly so I merely drilled a small hole in the outer casing and three in the inner and just put a pin (you could use an allen key) in whichever hole I need at the time. Quick easy and you don't have a bunch of pipe lengths hanging around.

Even easier. Thanks, Pete

 

[john lucas]

PVC spacers work if you are using a wheel that doesn't wear like the CBN> If you are using wheels that wear and get smaller then the raptor, plywood, or dowel work better. What I don't like about the dowels is it only has one reference point on the wheel. Using my wooden cutouts or the raptor you have 2 points touching the wheel so it's much more accurate. I have a new device that Don Geiger sells that bolts onto the Oneway 3/4" square tubing. I have it set for my bowl gouges. Using a CBN wheel and this adaptor the V arm is set perfectly every time. I have filler blocks that fit in the V arm for my various spindle gouges that I sharpen at a sharper angle than the bowl gouge. This way my V arm never actually moves so the setting is always dead on.