Grinding LN fish-tail chisels on Tormek

[bgeva]

Hi,

Anybody has experience in grinding primary bevel of LN fish-tail chisels on Tormek? The form of the blade is extremely uncomfortable to lock in any holder. The only idea I have so far is free hand, but I don't have the proper support. Any other suggestions?

Also, what angle of primary/secondary bevel you use? These will be used primarily on cherry and walnut.

Thanks,

BG

[Boatman53]

I made a small batch of these this past winter, mostly for the pig stickers but it holds the fish tails just fine. There is a small notch on the bottom for riding on the Tormek bar. It can go from the grinder right to the stones. I traded one to Admiral, I wonder if he has tried it out yet. I'll see if I have any other photos.


Jim

Here it is with a bench chisel on the Tormek.

[bgeva]

Interesting! Can you provide more details? I have a gunsmith friend whO can help making one.

Thanks,

[KlausK.]

Hey Bill,

that's fantastic stuff for sure! If I understand it correctly, your jig allows to install a hollow grind onto the Tormek AND the later honing onto a stone? That's pretty ingenious and something really new. If you now find a way, that guarantees that the tool will be clamped square reliably, this jig will be a winner for many Tormek guys for sure.

Wish you all the best with your sharpening jig adventure!

Klaus

[Wilbur Pan]

If you want to sharpen the L-N fishtail on a Tormek, the shape of it is going to make it difficult with the standard plane blade/chisel jig. There’s another jig for the Tormek that should hold the fishtail chisel just fine. Here’s a link: http://www.tormek.com/en/jigs/svs32/index.php

[bgeva]

Wilbur -
Not sure how the jig will lock a conical shape of the LN fishtail. Also, it will be a challenge preventing it from rotating right and left, making repetitive grind a bit an issue.

Jim,

Can you please share the design details a bit more? How is the tool locked in the jig? I assume the "bridge" is moving up and down to accommodate the different sickness of the tools? Is the part seating on the axes of the bridge round or flat? I think round will allow to lock conical fishtail, especially if you have a v-groove cut in it to center the tool, however flat will be better to lock flat tools? If this piece also rotates on the axes it will allow to lock wedge shaped chisels. Or you can make it replaceable to have both flat and round.

Any answers will be appreciated.

Thanks,

BG

[Wilbur Pan]

In my experience with using that jig for the Tormek, I’ve found that it locks down on a tool with a round shaft surprisingly well, despite its appearance. You can set the left/right alignment by eye, which will be good enough for a fishtail chisel and what you would use it for. If you really wanted to, you could make a small V-block to cradle the conical portion of the chisel.

[Boatman53]

BG, here are some more photos. For some reason I rarely do more than a napkin sketch before I start making something. All the parts of the first one came out of the scrap bin. No drawings or hard measurements have been written down so I have nothing to offer you there. The wheels are 1" diameter and 3/4" wide the frame is made out of 2" aluminum tube with 1/4" walls. The pressure plate that clamps the tool is 1 1/8" half round stock (I had a shaft in the scrap box that I cut in half initially and thought it worked well) everything else can be seen in the photos. I've moved on to a different jig that does a lot more and is more versatile. More of a one jig does most. For as simple as this one is it does a good job on some difficult to hold tools. I designed it initially for mortise chisels.





Jim

[bgeva]

Wilbur and Jim,

Thank you very much for the info.

I will think about the options. I actually like Jim's design a lot.

BG