Response To Light

Here are some quick pics of the final product.

MIDI Workstation 1

If you are going to be a woodworker, you need to have sharp tools. Last year I went to a couple tool sharpening clinics and purchased the required waterstones and honing jig. This system works well but it’s slow. It also doesn’t work well if you have nicks in your chisels or planes.

A few months ago Woodcraft had a sale on an 8″ slow grinder with white aluminum oxide wheels for $100. This seemed like an incredible deal so I bought it. When I finally got it I was sorely disappointed. I would swear that the wheels were wobbly and the built in tool rest was painful to use. So it’s been sitting in my shop — useless.

I was about to purchase a Jet Sharpener or a the new Work Shop 3000 when I decided to give the grinder one more shot. To make it easier to find the proper grinding angle, I purchased the Veritas Grinding Jig. Realizing that this might not work, I actually asked the sales person if I could bring it back if this was the case. She assured it wouldn’t be a problem. With the confidence that I wasn’t throwing good money after bad, I brought it home and setup a grinding jig.

Tim’s Grinding Jig

I left on the original 120 grit aluminum oxide wheel and replaced the other one with a hard felt wheel. I then attached the Veritas Grinding Jig.

Veritas Grinding Jig

What a difference this setup makes! I can now confidently grind a proper edge.

When I am working with a new product, I often will use it in a final project. It is much more motivating to me to be working on a project that I am interested in than just practicing using a tool. Admittedly I will make mistakes along the way but I can usually fix them as I go along. In the case of the MIDI workstation I have made a shocking number of errors but so far I have managed to cover them up fairly well.

Most of my errors are because of the alignment pin in the Veritas 32 System.

Alignment Pin

No matter how hard you tighten it, it still moves. And with the system being the way it is, if you make one change, you have to check the entire system. I can’t tell you how tedious this can be. Since most of the measurements are repetitive I will be making some jigs to make the setup more automatic and consistent.

If I can fix this portion, I think I will enjoy using it more. As it is, I see the potential of using but it seems to be a very fussy endeavor so far.

Setup 1

Setup 2

While the jig is not attached it is meant to allow me to add 4.5″ sides. This failed (twice) and eventually I had to use biscuits.