# Wolverine Jig - Difference between Vari-Grind1 and Vari-Grind2



## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

Can someone describe the functional difference between the Wolverine Vari-Grind1 and Vari-Grind2? I've got the Vari-Grind1 and I'm not likely to spend the money to get a Vari-Grind2, but I'm curious what prompted the re-design in that it might help me use a different technique with the Vari-Grind1. Who knows, maybe it will cause me to get the Vari-Grind2.


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## Maylar (Sep 3, 2013)

From what I've read, the VG2 is easier to control and has a shorter learning curve. It's also safer in that you can't roll off the edge of your wheel. The downside is you only use the center of the wheel which causes uneven wear. Most turners prefer the VG1.


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## 9thousandfeet (Dec 28, 2014)

I have them both, having picked up a VG2 for cheap at a yard sale.

In terms of what kind of profile you can grind on a tool, they are functionally interchangeable. You can use one to reproduce a profile which was ground using the other.

The major difference is that the #2 is captive in the saddle so it can't drop off the edge of the wheel if the operator is clumsy or not paying attention. Or if they are young students in an introductory class and have no clue what they're doing, which might be why Oneway designed the darn thing.

I do use it, but I don't use the "safety saddle." 
I have the toolholder set at a particular angle that I don't ever change, so that when I just drop the pivot point in the normal pocket on the Wolverine base—the one you use for almost everything— it gives me a profile on detail and spindle gouges that I really like a lot.
This is a different "side angle/nose angle" relationship than what I prefer on bowl gouges, so I use the Varigrind 1 for sharpening those.
Doing it this way I lose the "safety" feature, but I don't care, 'cos I don't have to adjust the crank angle on my #1 and I don't have to replace the Wolverine pocket with the safety cradle.

There is no advantage to the #2 over the #1 except the safety feature which prevents falling off the side of the wheel. 

Would I buy a Varigrind 2 at anywhere close to full price? If I was teaching children or clumsy people how to sharpen and was worried about liability, then maybe. 
But I'm not, so no, I wouldn't.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

At the risk of hijacking my own thread, Where the heck did you find a yard sale that had sharpening accessories? I NEVER get that lucky!


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## 9thousandfeet (Dec 28, 2014)

Heh, I've never been that lucky ever before or since myself. 
It was a yard sale in a farmhouse not far from here. There were no other turning related items to be seen either, no lathe, no turning tools, not even a bench grinder. 
The Varigrind was still in the box.
Weird.


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## john lucas (Sep 18, 2007)

Because I sharpen 2 or more bevels on my gouges I don't like the Wolverine 2 at all. With the the Wolverine 1 I can move the jig forward in the V slot to grind my secondary bevels.


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## Bill Boehme (Feb 9, 2014)

The Varigrind 2 is intended to be safer by being somewhat captive and not get trapped so that it is jammed against the grinding wheel. But, this comes at a price ... it make the Varigrind 2 far less versatile than the original Varigrind as far as what kind of profile you can put on a gouge. Somebody mentioned not using the part that keeps the tool position captured. That improves its versatility, but it is still less versatile than the original Varigrind jig.

So, like John, I would forget about the Varigrind 2. Just be careful that when you grind a tool that you do not put a really blunt nose angle on the gouge. An example would be a "bottom feeder" grind which has a nose angle of about 75° to 80°. It wouldn't take much for the grinder to grind enough metal away so that the gouge would get jammed against the wheel at 90°, possibly throwing out some chunks of wheel and slamming the tool down violently. That is why using the tool platform is a safer way to grind gouges like that. The other thing to be mindful of is don't let the tool slip off the front of the wheel.

Follow all the safety precautions when using a dry grinder. It might seem like a rather benign tool, but it can do nasty things if you are careless and also the dust really is a very serious respiratory hazard. The really fine aluminum oxide and ceramic dust can hang in the air a long time and that super fine dust is the type that is most harmful becaue your respiratory system has no very defense for filtering it before it reaches your lungs. Once in your lungs, it is there for good.


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## Ed Greenberg (Aug 14, 2019)

I bought an old cast iron Atlas lathe (on a wooden stand with motor) at a garage sale, for $35. It was a "men's garage sale." All tools and handy items. 

Ed G


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