More Ugly Jigs that Work Great: Part One

 For my upcoming class at the North Bennet Street School, I called Elia Bizzarri to get some travishers and he informed me that he was out for the moment. But he was kind enough to sell me some blades that I could make my own. Having 6 blades to sharpen is different than just maintaining the one in my hand. I'm generally happy to freehand grind and hone. But the quantity pushed me and my intrepid friend Andy Jack to find something more consistent.






Perhaps folks have been doing this all along, but it's news to me...and good news at that. I took an ugly pine scrap and cut the curve of the blade into it, aligned the edge flush to what would become the bottom of the jig, and screwed it on.

Next, we set the angle of the tool rest so that the wheel of the grinder contacted the middle of the bevel.

Once we had it, Andy simply moved the curve along the wheel until it reached the edge.

Once the grinding was done, he dressed the edge with diamond paddles and then a hard dowel, chucked in a drill with some diamond paste on it.

 

You can do this while still in the jig, or in a vice.

 

After the bevel is honed, he honed the back on the stones, which is easy because the bending process leaves a lovely hollow on the back.

And why did I need Andy's help? Well, I had a few turnings to finish up for the class!