I made a grinding jig for my turning tools soon after getting started. My grinder is a toy one really, with rubbish wheels, but it will do me for the time being. My original jig was wooden, made from pine, and a bit flimsy. I decided it would be a good idea to upgrade to a metal jig.
My welding isn’t up to much, so don’t laugh too loudly. My welder is a small gasless mig set, so probably in the borderline of suitable for the job anyway.
I started with a bit of SHS (square hollow stock) with an inside diameter of 21mm. This was cut to size and placed directly under the grinder wheels. Into this I inserted SHS with an outside diameter of 20mm. Quite a snug fit.
I drilled a hole in each piece of the larger SHS, and welded on a nut. I then took a couple of bolts & wing nuts, which I cut to size and welded the wing nuts to the threads of the bolts. These are used to anchor the inner SHS when the jig is in use.
On the end of each of the inner legs, I made a small “basket” to hold the various tools etc. being ground. I think these are too small though, so may alter these at a later date.
The new jig, however ugly, is much stronger than the previous wooden one. All I need to do now is upgrade the grinder, buy better quality wheels, and build a jig for sharpening my other tools.
Adventures in Turning 
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