Announcement: EasyGraver sharpening fixture by GRS

Sam

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While teaching a class at GRS a couple of months ago, I tried a prototype of a new sharpening fixture designed to easily make parallel heel 120° gravers. It works extremely well, and makes incredibly accurate gravers quickly and easily and without dialing-in angles as in other fixtures.

The EasyGraver has nothing to adjust. Simply mount a graver that's in a QC (QuickChange) holder onto the front of the fixture and tighten the lock screw. You will note that the little tab of metal that fits into the notch in the QC holder is tapered to eliminate rotational play, so expect to see a bit more space under the QC holder than you'll see when mounted on a handpiece. If it's a new graver, slide the fixture onto the toolpost using the first set of holes on the fixture and grind on a 260 grit diamond lap, and EasyGraver will produce two perfect grinds on the bottom of your graver, reshaping it from 90° to 120°. This is a one-time operation as it reshapes a long portion of the bottom of the graver.

To sharpen the face, use the middle hole of the fixture. I sharpen the faces of my gravers on a 600 grit diamond lap. EasyGraver's face angle is nearly 50° which makes it especially suited for both high speed steel and carbide gravers, making a stronger point than my usual 45° face. 50° is usually is usually a bit better for carbide gravers as they benefit from a slightly steeper face angle.

For heeling gravers I have always avoided diamond laps and sharpened on ceramic only, as diamond can be too aggressive, resulting in heels that are much larger than needed. However, for parallel heels (especially in carbide) I find that my ceramic-only approach is much too slow, as the parallel heel (or nearly parallel heel as in EasyGraver) has more surface area to grind. So when using EasyGraver, a couple of quick swipes across my 1200 grit lap (without power) gets the heels to the proper size (in my case about 1/4mm), followed by a quick polishing on a ceramic lap. The result is a 50° face and 15° heel graver sharpened very quickly and with deadly accuracy.

I should add that until now I've not been a user of parallel heel gravers and have been quite comfortable with gravers sharpened the conventional way. After testing and engraving with gravers made with EasyGraver, I'm now just as comfy with EasyGraver's parallel heel as I am with my standard heel gravers. It cuts really well, producing sparkling flared cuts when I need them and is capable of extremely fine shading. I can't ask for more than that.

Since EasyGraver has no adjustments, you are locked in to one graver geometry. You can't easily change the face angle and there's no way to change to something other than 120°. Fortunately, GRS is making EasySharp in 105° and 120° models, so you do have that option. What it lacks in flexibility it makes up for in speed and accuracy. While I like the flexibility of my trusty Dual Angle fixture, I rarely sharpen my 120° gravers other than with a 45° face and 15° heel, so EasyGraver is a perfect choice. If you're like me and your go-to graver is 120° or 105°, then you will love this fixture. If you're a beginner and confused with dialing-in the correct angles on an adjustable fixture, then EasyGraver might be the ideal setup for you.

EasyGraver retails for $118 and does not include the tool post. Since it's just now getting in to production, there are only a few in stock at this time.

fixture.jpg reshaping_grind.jpg face.jpg heel.jpg graver.jpg
 

silverchip

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Looks like a great idea and a good solution to the dial inaccuracy problem I have experienced in the past. But what if you want a 110* or something different than a 120* grind?
 

fegarex

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In the last year I have been using a 105 graver for most of my work. It gives me just a bit more angle plus some more strength for hard metals.
I had a chance to test the 105 fixture and it works fantastic. I have no problems using the dual angle fixture either but I am also lazy..... :)
The new fixture makes sharpening a bunch of gravers at a time a cinch. The other plus to it is I tend to get "rough" when I sharpen and press too hard on the fixture which sometimes moves the settings. There is nothing to move on the EasyGraver. I have one now for myself and for 90% of my sharpening needs it fills the bill.
The "shaping" angles of the fixture were a bit too low for my preference but I am able to adjust that to my taste by adding a small shim under the QC holder in the front. I think most people will find the factory specs fine but I wanted just a bit higher angle.
Rex
 

Brian Hochstrat

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That is very cool idea, although creating these to fit everybodies personal choice of "go to graver" would be never ending. But, if they ever do one in a 110 with a 45 face and 17 1/2 lift, I'll have one on my bench for sure.
 

fegarex

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Brian,
I don;t know what they are going to make beyond the 105 and 120 15 degree lift. They picked those two as they seemed to be the most popular grinds. These won't be for everyone but it's handy and quick if you like either one of those grinds.
 

Brian Hochstrat

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Yeah, a person may have to give in a little on what geometry you like, to capitalize on the convenience of this tool. You cannot expect them to make these in every variation. But still a fixture that sharpens a 110 with a 45 face and 17 1/2 lift, and triangle heel, would be a huge seller. I am sure of it :)
 

Crazy Horse

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Seems to me if you wanted to change (slightly) some of the angles you could shim the tool post holder to obtain a modification.
 

RoycroftRon

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I was just there for a class and missed this one (I would have picked up both the 120 and the 105). Finley did have a neat contraption to alleviate lap switching... Keep your eyes open for that one to come out...
 

Christian DeCamillis

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Interesting. My question is how do you narrow the sides and cut the relief angle on the top of the graver ? It seems that after some resharpening the point will keep getting wider and thicker. Can one assume that needs to be done on another fixture?
 

Sam

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top.jpg

Here's a view of the top side. Like most of my gravers, I round off the top freehand on a coarse diamond wheel then finish off on a 600.
 

Red Green

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Wow, GRS is making the Lindsay patented Parallel Point. It's good to see the people at GRS and Steve Lindsay could work together to make this happen. I don't know how many will sell at that price, Lindsay's cost is per template is around $22 or so and make a nice flat top on the graver too. Why not just sell his templates directly they work fine, I've gotten a great deal of use with them and can't tell any difference form when they were new. Anyway it's good to see that GRS and Steve Lindsay are working together.



Bob
 

Andrew Biggs

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Hi Bob

I don't think the two are the same.

From what I understand, and I could be wrong..........the Lindsay parallel point is not just a parallel cutting edge. That is as old as dirt and has been around long since any of us were born.

I don't pretend to understand the maths exactly but the Lindsay point is to do with the way that the relief grind at the bottom is related to the face and heels. It's an engineering thing and something to do with the way the angles converge. This effects the way the point cuts through the metal. That explains why the set-up has to be so precise with the graver sticking out of the holder at an exact length using the jig. It also explains why the base of the template is supposed to be a certain height from the cutting lap. Steve explains it very carefully somewhere on his web site.

Unless things have changed.............to use the Lindsay templates you would also have to take the graver out of the QC holder if you are using GRS tooling. That sort of does away with the whole concept of a QC holder.

From what I can see of the GRS EasyGraver it is a standard 120 degree graver with a parallel edge. You use it at any height from the lap and can use any length of graver as it takes advantage of the sliding post. Plus if you use the GRS QC system then you don't have to take your graver out of the holder.

So if you want to be technical about it they are quite different things...............That's the way I'm reading it anyway :)

Cheers
Andrew

P.S. The shaping of the tops and sides is irrelevant. I've seen everything from precise angles to rough as guts. Template/jig or freehand doesn't matter. Just whatever gets the job done and you like working with.
 
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