Newbie Having Problems Getting an Edge

[Joe]

I have had the Tormek T7 for about a week and have had a lot of success getting an edge on several different types of knives.  Today, however, I could not seem to get an edge at all.  I don't think I'm doing anything differently.  Are there any adjustment tips that might be helpful?  Any troubleshooting advice?

Thanks for your help. Joe

[Jeff Farris]

Joe,

It's hard to say from your post what the problem is, but I'll give you the two most likely issues, and you can work from there.

First, the two bevels have to meet.  It is pretty common on an extremely dull knife for the sharpener to assume that the two bevels have come together, when in fact, more grinding is needed.  Look directly into the edge.  If you can see a reflection anywhere along the edge, you have a flat spot.

The other very common error is to bring the angle up too steep when honing, thus polishing off or "rounding off" the edge just created on the grindstone.  On the honing wheel, you would much rather be a little too flat than too steep.

[tb444]

For knives i find it best to grade the stone to fine as otherwise it can be too aggressive. Do you have the knife jig as this makes it much easier to maintain a constant bevel, and grind evenly along the length of the blade?
For most kitchen knives an inclusive angle of 40 degrees is a good intermediate between edge strength and sharpness, to get this use the angle master to set a 20 degree angle to each side of the knife. If you are sharpening japanese knives this angle can be reduced down to around 20 degrees inclusive, i.e. 10 each side. This is because the stell is much harder so can take a thinner edge without sacrificing edge retention.
When setting up the knife it can be useful to "paint" the edge with magic marker, then manually rotate the stone against the edge to check where the metal will be removed. By grinding each side in turn until you can feel a slight burr on the opposite side you should get a sharp edge. Try searching for tormek on You tube to see videos that may be usefel in viewing technique.
Just keep practicing, once you get used to it you'll be surprised how easy it is to keep knives extremely sharp