Work Rest / Gringing Jig

ERIK KNIVES

ERIK KNIVES

Joined
Aug 17, 2010
Messages
883
When I made my first work rest for my grinder, my buddy, David suggested round versus square tubing. I had X,Y,Z control, but no angle control. That was well over a year, but I have thought about it often. I have since fabricated one rest that has compound angle control, but lacks in some areas I desire, mostly clearance and versatility. After looking at the MAP arm (which I'm not trying to build) and other work rests, I feel as though solid rod with solid bar stock is the route for me. I grabbed some 3/4" cold rolled rod and 1 1/2" square rod this morning, as well as a bit of plate steel. I don't have any high-end machines, so working with this material this size creates it's own challenges. I don't have any revolutions to share or show, but I thought I would post in case those of you smarter than me would like to offer any suggestions. In exchange, I'll post my first finished set-up, I know where I want to go with that one (clearly I am not done), but I see some other options arising from the simple arm set up. :)

EA

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I remember seeing one where the rod pointed at the belt vise running parallel to it. Been wanting to try one of those out. Looks like some good progress so far.
 
Thanks, Quint for the reply. I know what you are talking about and I plan to add that option. If I was smart, I would finish this and grind a knife with it before posting pics. Like I said...

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Thanks, Weatherman. Angle is the question. I'm not a engineer or machinist, so I put an idea to work and see what happens. I'm not concerned with anything in the 90 to 45 degree range - I'm trying to get as close to zero (5 degrees would be awesome) on the flat platen without losing the sweet spot on my 8" contact wheel. The cutout will probably come down more and I'm removing material in front of the belt on the backside of the plate, but we will see. I may need a different plate for flat and hollow grinds for the clearance/angle/attitude I'm looking for. I'll let you know how it goes.
 
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Weatherman, you piqued my curiosity, so I went out and put a magnetic protractor on the thing. It looks like I will be able to get a 2.5 degree angle on the flat platen without lowering the cutout and only removing material about half way down the back of the plate. That should allow the same plate to work for me on a platen or wheel, which would be good. I probably have an hour or two of grinding the back of the plate to sure, but it looks good so far.

EA
 
That looks great, Erik! I have always wanted to build a rest for my grinder that would make grinding swedges easier. That looks like it would do it beautifully. I need to get off my ass I guess and build something similar.

Nice work!
 
Holy-cow-amoly that looks like it will work...although I'm still trying to figure out what Gringing is?:D:p
 
I'm pretty happy with this sucker, but have a few tweaks left and then will grind. Again, I post this stuff to get people thinking about ideas and what they may want to try. Thanks to David Sharp for the inspiration, although, he would never use this :).

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Wow! Cool rest! I need to make one now! I like making tools almost as much as making knives! Thanks for the nice pics!!
 
That's one slick setup! If you ever get a chance I know myself and probobly a lot of others would like to see a video of it in action.
 
Well I'm impressed. I would like to see what your trying to accomplish with this fixture. Is it for grinding the swadge?
 
PaMtnBkr said:
Wow! Cool rest! I need to make one now! I like making tools almost as much as making knives! Thanks for the nice pics!!
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I have this same problem :o Cool rest. I might try to take a crack at one of these too. Have you gound any knifes on it and if so, how steady is it when you are putting pressure on it? It is tight enough that you aren't changing the angle when putting pressure on it (looks like a big lever)? Love the design/ concept.
 
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