Shopsmith Forums

Hey, does anyone know how to grind a fingernail profile on a gouge with the Shopsmith? I have the disc and belt sanders, and the sharpening station thingamajiggy, but it looks like you would need some fancier things to make that happen. Suggestions?

RiotNrrd

I just tried my first finger nail grind the other night. I have a wolverine jig and a bench grinder with the old hard wheels. It worked but, I used up alot of metal learning how to do it. I also had some blueing of the metal which I know you are supposed to avoid. I have been thinking about how to do it on the shopsmith using the jig some how. The main problem I see right now is how to have the rooom to swing the handle enough to complete the grind. It may be that the sanding disk needs to be placed on the left side of the headstock and a jig setup off-board the SS not sure yet. I have not had time to try and figure it out yet. If I can come up with something I will post it. There are alot of smarter SS owner here than I that might have some ideas.

Pardon my Ignorance, but just What is a 'Finger Nail' grind???? Are we referring to the beveled circular end of a gouge, or some unique variation?

riot_nrrd wrote:Hey, does anyone know how to grind a fingernail profile on a gouge with the Shopsmith? I have the disc and belt sanders, and the sharpening station thingamajiggy, but it looks like you would need some fancier things to make that happen. Suggestions?

RiotNrrd

Here is an excellent video on how to do a fingernail grind. It's not on the SS, but it shows how the grind is made...

http://www.woodmagazine.com/woodvision/ ... 1339217302

kd6vpe wrote:I just tried my first finger nail grind the other night. I have a wolverine jig and a bench grinder with the old hard wheels. It worked but, I used up alot of metal learning how to do it. I also had some blueing of the metal which I know you are supposed to avoid. I have been thinking about how to do it on the shopsmith using the jig some how. The main problem I see right now is how to have the rooom to swing the handle enough to complete the grind. It may be that the sanding disk needs to be placed on the left side of the headstock and a jig setup off-board the SS not sure yet. I have not had time to try and figure it out yet. If I can come up with something I will post it. There are alot of smarter SS owner here than I that might have some ideas.

Jim,
I have the same set-up, I have replaced the standard (hard) wheels with softer, Finer grit (light blue) wheels. They don't cause as much heat and don't wear away as much metal as the hard wheels. If you have the high speed steel gouges you don't have to worry as much about loosing temper like with the old tool steel gouges. A little bluing will not hurt the hss gouges.

Hey Curious George - thanks for the video. Very helpful.

This is making me wonder if I can use station 4 of the sharpener jig. It seems like if I use that, and sharpen a gouge bevel up, it might give the similar results. I'll have to check out the range of motion, but it seems like it might work... maybe I should find a cheap imported gouge somewhere to play with, so if I mess it up I wont be dissapointed.

Any other thoughts or suggestions?

RiotNrrd

I have the basic set from SS, which I think is just carbon steel. I also just bought a Wood River (WoodCraft) spindle gouge, which I think is also carbon steel.

Looking at that video again, I think the Sharpening station won't work - it looks like all the tools I've seen for grinding a fingernail result in a variable angle that a simple pivot at the tip will not produce. Maybe it's time to build a jig. If I come up with anything, I'll post it.

RiotNrrd