longer threaded pins for SE-76

[ionut]

Hi Jeff,

Does Tormek have any replacement for the SE-76 threaded pins with longer ones, or maybe optional ones? That would allow clamping of thicker mortise chisels. Right now I am using a non-Tormek clamp and grinding away from the edge and I would prefer to use the SE-76 for these chisels. I think 1/4" longer would just be perfect.

Thanks,
Ionut

[Ken S]

Ionut,

The threaded pin screws in the SE76 appear to be standard 6mm threaded set screws 30mm long. (They are loosened with a 3mm metric allen wrench.)  I checked in my Reid Tool catalog.  They show only shorter set screws in the 6mm metric thread.  A specialty hardware store carrying an extensive metric inventory might have the set screws in a 40 mm length.

Reid carries a variety of studded knobs in inch thread sizes.  If you redrilled and tapped the bar for possibly 1/4 or 5/16 threads, you could use knobs.  (The 1/4 inch thread might be too close to 6mm to have much strength.

Reid does carry metric socket head cap screws in longer lengths.  Matching a screw length to your application might require using more than one washer.  This method would require using an allen wrench.  It would be a bit of a Rube Goldberg, but it should work.

If you ground the support bar thinner, would it be rigid enough to hold the thicker mortising chisel without bending?

If you ground the support bar from the inside, you would not need longer screws.

Ken

[ionut]

Hi Ken,

I already looked around close by I mean and couldn't find anything similar in hardware stores or speciality stores, I didn't have much time though to check all the online resources, I will probably have to dig some more. In the worse case I will use 50 mm full threaded cap screws with few washers for each screw, regardless Rube Goldberg, I just want a better solution than I have today but before getting there I also want to see if Tormek has an option for this which would be normal. I may also need to drill the plastic knobs if I want to use this is the solution for all the tools handles by this jig. The metric range in Europe is the only range there so it may be easier to find something suitable.
I don't really want to go grinding, it seems to me pretty extreme even though I have to jigs. I will dig a bit more and if I find a good source for fixing this problem I will definitely come back with more information for anibody else who would be interested.

Thanks, a lot for your suggestions,
Ionut

[ionut]

I just realized it wouldn't work anyways because of the inside shoulder of the jig, the clamp bar stops on the shoulder regardless how long are the screws, but I just got another idea, I will take the clamping bar off and use another small clamp to gol the tool, hopefully that would be  enough.

Ionut

[Ken S]

I clamped my 1/2" mortising chisel (Marples) in my SE-76 jig.  It fits nicely in the side of the opening with the square edge.  I discovered that if I slide the chisel over the other side, I can gain several millimeters of thickness.  The other edge is not square; squareness would have to be checked.

If your chisel fits that way, it would be a very simple solution to your problem.  If that still is not thick enough, you could file a slot near the far side of the jig (away from the square edge).  This would not interfere with squaring narrow regular chisels.  The slot would not have to be very deep, only deep enough to accommodate the thickness of your mortising chisels. The less deep, the better. The width of the slot should only be wide enough to fit your widest thick mortising chisel.  Spending the time to make sure the edge of the slot was square would be well spent.  If your chisel required a deep slot, you might want to file some of it on the main part of the jig, and some on the movable part, to spread the stress.  Using a file with safe (no teeth) edges would help.

This would allow you to use your SE-76 jig for your mortising chisels, without interfering with regular chisels.  It should require no extra parts.

Ken

[ionut]

Hi Ken,

My mortise chisels are pretty heavy duty ones, the thickness goes from 3/8, close to the edge, to more than 1/2" so there is no way to use the clamp bar of the jig. I've tried two other approaches, get the clamp bar off, clamp the chisel with 2 very small clamps, or just wedge it under the square shoulder and none of these methods are securing the chisel enough to stay square. I went back to the actual non tormek jig I currently use and used it grinding towards the edge which is perfect as long as my mind doesn't fly somewhere else and I take the pressure from the jig which may lead to have my chisel digging in the dirt, sorry the stone. So as long as I pay attention it will be fine.
There is another option out there which I will investigate the next week, another clamp that may offer a more secure connection to the universal support and I will see if that works better. If I would have at hand the old straight jig (SDV-60 I guess) I could try to change the set screws with longer ones on the jig. It's design would allow accommodating thicker blades if that one also uses set screws.

Thanks a lot for your suggestions,
Ionut

[Ken S]

Hi Ionut,

I have had my Tormek about a year.  It came with the newer SE-76.  I had known there was an earlier model, but had not paid much attention to it.  Using the older jig for your thick mortising chisel is very clever.  It seems a case where the "new and improved" model actually is improved most of the time, but not in all cases.  Having the fixed plane (the top of the jig) against the back of the chisel seems logical.  Keeping the opening small to allow the tool to protrude less also seems logical.  Your mortising chisel is a case of something which doesn't work well without some thought.  You have added the thought.  The older jig clearly has more potential for thicker tools.

I think the tormek is a marvelous machine.  My hands like it, too.  The Tormek lets me keep my chisels and planes razor sharp without all the wear and tear of my hands.  The Tormek is not an industrial surface grinder.  However, with creative users like you the Tormek becomes more versatile an like a surface grinder.

Keep up the good work.

Ken   

[ionut]

Thanks Ken, I wouldn't go though too far about me here, I think I just have a small spot on my brain about the heavy mortise chisels, that needs to be scraped away, we are talking about how to make the things better
As I said earlier I have a solution for thicker tools but I am not really happy with it so this weekend I am supposed to pick up from the dealer an old jig that is collecting dust so far and will change the set screws with longer cap screws if the hole goes all the way through and try it and will see how it works. I think it should work just fine. If that's the case I will follow up with a picture and  a suggestion to not discard the old jig for who would be interested.
As far as the Tormek goes you are right, the machine is great and for me and my woodworking, it does almost anything I need and in my opinion it does a much better job than the industrial machines which are made for fast sharpening and production quantities which is far from being equivalent with great quality as well and they usually take as much material as for 10 sharpening sessions. More than that you can customize it to even get better results than the ones we already are used to.

Ionut