I did free hand grinding, until I got an Elsworth gouge, and his
grinding jig. Before that, I had 2 of the Veritas adjustable platforms
made for grinders. The scraper side (80 grit) was and still is set at
about 80 degrees (I never measured). On the gouge side, I set it at
about a 30 degree angle. This worked for gouges and skews. I had a
couple of different angled jigs to put on the platform for the few
other angles that I used. Now it is just the Elsworth jig on the gouge
side for all of my gouges. I seldom use a roughing gouge, and if it
needs to be touched up, I do it freehand. I also do the skews freehand.
The scrapers all are done on the same angle on the one platform. I have
2 gouges that I use for the bottoms of deep bowls and vessels, that are
done on the scraper side. Keep is simple, and make it easy to repeat.
robo hippy