Questions on EasyGraver sharpening fixture

mitch

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i've been thinking about getting a 120 and was wondering a few things (that are not immediately obvious from the info on the GRS site).

what are the various angles of the finished point?

from the instruction sheet it appears the rough shaping grind is not 0, but slightly elevated. if it doesn't create a level 120 bottom surface, how often does it need touched up?

the heel is not quite a full 'parallel' heel and there is some mention of it being about 108(?), which i take to mean that it doesn't maintain a full 120. i couldn't find any mention of the angle at which the heel is raised- 15? 20?

and the face angle is spec'd as "<50", so maybe 48? 49?

any of this make sense? :tiphat:
 

Jkasal

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I can only speak for the 105 fixture that I have purchased. It is amazing. The parallel heel is a true parallel heel. The "relief" cut is not exactly 0 degrees. It might be closer to 1 or 1.5 degrees. This is helpful when shaping new gravers. I love the consistency that this fixture offers. However, like with any sharpening template, you are relegated to those restrictive angles.


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Eric Olson

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You won't regret getting it and you'll want the 105 as soon as you use the 120.
Just get 'em both if you can. Don't forget the little pole that it slides on.
 

fegarex

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The heel is a full length heel. When you throw the math of face angle and heel angle the required it comes to 36 degree "tilt" instead of 30 degree which put into the formula ends up being 108.
 

Sam

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It produces a graver almost identical to my conventional heel 120s except that the heel is nearly parallel to the face.
You shouldn't have to resharpen the rough bottom grind, but if you do, it's fast and easy. In fact the whole thing is fast and easy and very accurate. I use the 120 and 105 EasyGravers all the time. And as you know, since it uses a toolpost it doesn't matter how long or short the gravers are.
 

Sandy

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Maybe we should do it like the old masters did it. "That looks about right".;)
 
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monk

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It produces a graver almost identical to my conventional heel 120s except that the heel is nearly parallel to the face.
You shouldn't have to resharpen the rough bottom grind, but if you do, it's fast and easy. In fact the whole thing is fast and easy and very accurate. I use the 120 and 105 EasyGravers all the time. And as you know, since it uses a toolpost it doesn't matter how long or short the gravers are.

i have the dual angler. what's the advantage of the easy graver type over the dual ? curious minds need to know
 

diandwill

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i have the dual angler. what's the advantage of the easy graver type over the dual ? curious minds need to know

You don't have to think, or remember. The fixture drops on the post with the quick change in place, and voila. It is the right angle...at least for one of the 5 possible choices. But, not to worry, they are all labeled.
 

mitch

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i've been reading thru the responses- thanks to all- and it appears that while this widget is slicker than greased owl scat to use, it's not going to make a point like the one i really prefer using. a friend of mine is a whizbang machinist, maybe i can get him to make me a custom unit...
 

monk

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You don't have to think, or remember. The fixture drops on the post with the quick change in place, and voila. It is the right angle...at least for one of the 5 possible choices. But, not to worry, they are all labeled.

oh, ok. now i got it. tyvm
 

Sam

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i've been reading thru the responses- thanks to all- and it appears that while this widget is slicker than greased owl scat to use, it's not going to make a point like the one i really prefer using. a friend of mine is a whizbang machinist, maybe i can get him to make me a custom unit...

What are you wanting to make, Mitch?
 

mitch

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this is for carbide, so i'd like a 20° heel with a 50°-55° face. i prefer the steeper heel for both point strength and clearance behind on curves. i'm also not sold on the magic of a parallel heel* for everything, so that's not important to me. rolling the fixture right & left 15° then lifting straight up works fine for me. i don't need the added complication of recalculating a rotation angle for heel lift AND parallel to the cutting edge.

i've found that with a 120° sharpened in this way, i can completely forget about dubbing the point. it will slowly wear as sort of a 'self-dubbing' process. i'm very happy with my personal combination and while i already have a sharpening fixture i designed and built that handles it well, i use this graver so much i thought it might be nice if the EasyGraver could do it even faster.

*and before true believers of The Church of the Parallel Heel chime in, i do use them for some specialized things, but find them unnecessary for most work. personally, i think a regular heel works best for most cutting because the heel gets shorter at the top of the cut. in other words, for cutting curves, especially tight ones, you want a short heel, and a regular type heel automatically gets shorter at the top surface of the cut, whereas a parallel heel maintains its full width all the way up. my $0.02

:graver:
 
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