After much study, I believe I have discovered the supposed difficulty in sharpening the 40/40 grind. In the process I have deepened my understanding of both the gouge jig and the setting tool.
I have often stated my belief that the SVD-186 gouge combined with the TTS-100 is Tormek's most innovative jig and set up tool combination. Include the SVS-50 Multi Jig, and it is a very powerful combination.
The next part is my opinion. When a question is asked about something like sharpening the 40/40 grind, we often mistakenly think it cannot be done with a Tormek. This is not correct. I believe the Tormek designers thought that explaining the full potential of the turning tools combination would prove confusing to the average Tormek user. So, they put together a preprogrammed group of seven combinations, as recommended by leading turners. In general, I believe this was a wise decision. However, this selective process also excluded many other leading turners.
Tormek selected 30° and 45° as the chosen bevel angles. These were not bad choices, however, after becoming accustomed to using the labels, it is too easy to assume that they are the only two bevel angle choices. Gouge and skew bevels can be as versatile as chisel bevel angles if you do not limit yourself to the three projection slots.
With the new 186 jig, the seven sweep settings are fixed. 99% of the time, this is a real improvement over the older 185 design, where slippage was a problem. For very precise sweep settings, the older jig might work better, especially if the setting was left fixed. Personally, I prefer the newer jig.
The projection and distance settings on the TTS-100 need not be limited to the jig's presets. Setting turning tools can be set as easily as with a kenjig or similar tool.
The 40/40 grind or something almost identical is possible with the Tormek; it just didn't make the preset cut.
Like Tormek, I believe that the vast majority ofTormek turners will be very well served by the presets. However, we should not feel limited to the pre sets.
Ken
