Sorby Sharpening - Fingernail Profiler

The Fingernail Profiler (ref. 445) is designed to aid the turner who has difficulty in sharpening his bowl and spindle gouges free hand. Typically problems which recur from free hand sharpening are the appearance of facets on the bevel leading to a less than perfect finish on the project, inconsistent shapes, and the unnecessary grinding away of valuable tools. Facets are caused by differential pressure being applied to the tool against the grinding wheel. The geometry of the Fingernail Profiler ensures that only regular pressure an be applied thereby ensuring a clean, ‘as new’ finish on the bevel every time. By ensuring that the same length of tool is protruding from the jig – and this length may well differ from one tool to another – the same will always be replicated whether the user refers a long grind, a conventional square grind or anything in between. One useful tip when using the Fingernail Profiler is that once the turner is comfortable with a particular shape it is advisable to make a mark or a bench stop so that he goes back to exactly the same length every time. That in turn ensures that the desired shape is replicated. And because the same shape is replicated the amount of material removed is minimal thereby producing immediate cost savings.