How To Sharpen A Roughing Gouge Without A Jig

Now that I have considerable experience with free-hand sharpening Im more likely to approach the wheel with the tool at an angle of 30 - 45º as opposed to having it almost horizontal as described above.

How to sharpen a roughing gouge without a jig. Take the gouge you want to sharpen doesnt matter whether its big or small. You dont want to round over that edge you just want the burr gone. If you are extensively reshaping a gouge rough out the new grind on an angled platform before starting with the jig.

It will go away on its own after the first few hundred revolutions of the wood against it. For example if you want to make a 40-40 grind start by grinding the 40 degree nose bevel square across without rolling the gouge. You might want to try keeping your hand steady while sharpening.

For spindle gouges I go with the traditional fingernail grind. It can be a nightmare to try and sharpen wood turning chisels such as bowl spindle roughing gouges and you can easily ruin your expensive tools if your not careful. You can always use a diamond or CBN card to sharpen and rely of the wheels when it is time to restore its shapeprofile.

Practice keeping the angle fixed on the wheel quite a few times before you turn it on. Sharpening without a Jig This is fairly the same process as before less the adjustments of the gouge to the jig. In this third episode Nick Agar shows how to sharpen a roughing gouge with a few simple steps using the open seat of Tormeks Multi Jig SVS-50.

Sharpening a roughing gouge is one of the easiest lathe chisels to sharpen. How to sharpen roughing gouges skews and parting tools using Tormek SVS-50 Multi Jig. The platform rest is great for scrapers spindle roughing out gouges or parting tools.

Then turn the gouge flute-down on the platform and grind the 40 degree sweep of the wings. I use a round fish hook sharpening diamond hone. Always use these gouges on material that is turned between centers and the wood fibers run parallel to the lathe bed.