Monthly Archive for February, 2011

Comments on Grizzly’s 10″ Wet Grinder

Published on February 18, 2011 in Machines and Reviews. 2 Comments Tags: , .

Tormek's T-7 wet grinder

Maybe you’ve thought about a wet grinder to sharpen your tools. Having used one for over 15 years, I can tell you they’re a wonderful way to put edges on carbon steel chisels and plane blades. You just can’t burn the steel, no matter how ham-handed your grinding. That means you can grind to a feather edge—something you can’t do with a dry grinder without overheating the edge and drawing the temper. Once you see some heat coloring, it’s already too late!

Jet’s JSSG-10 10″ Wet Grinder

Cost is what keeps most people from using these grinders. Tormek, grandaddy of the category, sells their T-7 system for $600. Then there are the accessories… But competition is bringing prices down. Jet sells their version of the tool, the JSSG-10, for $320 (at Amazon, who also sells the Tormek). In a smart move, Jet made their machine accept all the Tormek accessories, so they had a full line of fixtures available before they got all their own on the market.

Grizzly’s T10010 10″ Wet Grinder

Now Grizzly has joined the party with the T10010, its version of the same tool. At less than $200, it’s a new low price point. But how good is it?

Woodworking friend and Sawdust Shop regular Julien Lecomte wrote me about his experiences with the Grizzly. With his permission, I’ve published his message:

“Since you teach the sharpening class at the Sawdust Shop, I thought I would report on my experience with the Grizzly wet grinder.

I use it solely to shape the primary bevel on my chisels and plane irons. I haven’t tried the leather strop yet.

One thing I noticed immediately after unpacking the unit was that the wheel was not true at all! I purchased the Tormek jig to true the wheel (almost all the Tormek jigs fit the Grizzly unit) and was back in business in no time.

Overall, I am very happy with this wet grinder. It misses a few nice features of the Tormek, such as the fine adjustment of the guide rod, but for only $180 (vs $400 for the Tormek), I warmly recommend it.

The final product

Published on February 9, 2011 in Finishing and Jigs and Fixtures. 2 Comments Tags: , , , .

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The "flag", laid out on an offcut from the turning

The last step was to make the “flag” that signifies an 8th note in musical notation. I actually didn’t care about the musical timing, but needed the flag to hang the note on its stand.

I bandsawed off a slice from that large bulge I originally turned on the bottom of the blank, drew the flag, then scribed a line on the right, where the tenon would begin. Scribing this way keeps the wood fibers from fraying at the cut line, giving a clean cut. I scribed both sides.

Cutting the tenon on the flag

I cut out the flag and tenon area on a scroll saw, then mounted the piece on a horizontal router table to cut the 1/8″ thick tenon. Here you see it elevated on a scrap, secured by clamps. A 1/2″ spiral straight router bit comes in from the right, held by the horizontal router. The router table allows me to set a depth of cut, then move the workpiece horizontally to cut one side of the tenon. The router is held on a plate attached to a 16TPI threaded rod. Once I’d cut one side of the tenon, I just turned the vertical control handle 10 turns, to raise the router by the diameter of the bit plus the 1/8″ thickness of the tenon.

With the tenon cut, I carved a slight flat around the mortise on the stem so the flag would sit flush, then glued it place. I sanded everything, applied three coats of shellac, then waxed and buffed the note.

The note on its stand

Finally, I brazed together some cold-rolled steel—1/8″ rod and 1/8″ x 1/2″ flat stock, into a musical “staff”. I attached the staff to a steel plate at the same angle the note hung at, sprayed everything with black lacquer, and the project was complete.

I’ll mention in passing how handy it is for woodworkers to have a bit of metalworking capability. Brazing is easy (like high-temperature soldering), strong, and can be done with a MAPP gas torch in your driveway. It let me make a light, strong stand in scale with the note—something harder to do with wood, which isn’t as strong in small sections.

From a pile of parts to a jig

Published on February 5, 2011 in Jigs and Fixtures and Routing. Closed Tags: , , , .

The parts, ready for assembly

Here’s the pile of parts, waiting to become a jig. That loop in the front is 1/4″ threaded rod that I bent into a semicircle and covered with vinyl tubing. It’ll help secure the router in place, along with the knob at the back of the picture (which threads into a hole on the side of the router casting).

I inserted the carriage bolts and drew them up to bite into the melamine, then secured them with nuts. Nuts and washers near the top of the bolts support the top plate which holds the router.

Setting the height

Here’s the jig with the router in place. I set that height gauge on the left to the distance between the table that will support the router jig and the centerline of the lathe spindle. Now, it’s a simple matter to adjust the nuts up and down on the bolts until a bit chucked in the router is at the spindle height, and the router is level. The digital protractor in the foreground helped with the leveling.

The jig at work, cutting a mortise

It’s time to try it out! Here you see it in place on a plywood table that’s mounted on the lathe ways. I’ve clamped stops to limit the width and depth of cut, and chucked a 1/8″ spiral bit into the router. The note, not yet fully carved, is held in place on the lathe.

Here’s a close-up of the action.

Here you can see details of what’s happening at the business end of the router. Once that mortise is cut, I can carve the rest of the note so the stem flows smoothly into the body, and make a “flag” that plugs into the mortise. See it in the next post.