Free hand sharpening

[NotTheSharpest]

I am looking for Guideance or instruction on using my tormek for sharpening smaller pocket knife blades.  Some of my pocket knives blades do not fit in the knife jigs tormek sales.   I am having problems free handing the appropriate 20degree angle. 

[Ken S]

Don't get discouraged.  A reply is in the works.  It may take a while, but should be worth the wait.

"not the fastest"

Ken

ps Welcome to the forum.

[glh17]

NotTheSharpest,
I haven't used the Tormek stone to sharpen my pocket knives but I do use the strop.  I've used a 1000g water stone followed by stropping and recently used a fine diamond stone followed by stropping.  The strop is great and saves a lot of time versus honing on finer stones. 

After you get your knife sharp, it's easy to maintain with the strop.  I've never had to repair a chip blade on a pocket knife but that's where I'd try it on the water wheel.

gary

[Ken S]

The ideal solution would be to visit your local authorized Tormek dealer and purchase an SVM-15 Small Knife Sharpening Jig.  Unfortunately, that won't work.  Tormek doesn't make such a jig.  So, here's my 'Plan B":

Start with an SVD-110 Tool Rest.  You may already have one. If not, they are inexpensive and versatile.

For clarity, I will refer to the SVD-110 as the "Tormek platform".  The part you make will be the "blade platform".

I suggest you start by making a mock up.  Mine was just three layers of cardboard cut to 2" x 8" and a couple clothespins. Quarter inch plywood or Masonite would be ideal.  Beveling the underside of the mockup piece will let you get closer to the wheel.  I just staggered the cardboard layers.

Set up your Tormek with the universal support bar in the horizontal position (wheel revolving away from the blade).  Install the Tool Rest jig.  Place the mockup (henceforth referred to as the blade platform) on the tormek platform.  For starters, place it lining up with the left edge of the Tormek platform and protruding about two inches beyond (toward the stone).  Secure with the clothespins.  Set with the angle jig to 20 degrees.  Follow the general Tormek safety practice of allowing 2mm (3/32") clearance between the jig and the grinding wheel.

I used my pocket Swiss Army knife with the prototype.  The small blade rests on the blade platform.  DO NOT TURN ON THE POWER.  With the blade resting on the blade platform, swing it to follow the arc of the edge. Notice the two inch dimension matches the width of the grinding stone.  This lets you position both sides of the blade without moving the jig. 

Using the mockup prototype will let you see how much platform protrusion you want. YOu want it short enough to be rigid and long enough to swing the blade arc. Making the mockup requires very little time and no cost.  It will speed the end result.

Once you have decided to proceed, you will probably want to add some shoulders on the bottom side of the blade platform to register against (rest against) the Tormek platform.  This will keep the platform from shifting.  I would consider an ideal final shape to be wide enough to allow shoulders on both sides of the Tormek platform, with the protrusion notched to two inches (to match the width of the wheel).  I would place a shoulder under the front edge for the shortest protrusion you wish.  The back shoulder could either be placed for this position or moved back to allow a longer protrusion when needed.

Vise grip makes a nice small plier type of clamp which allows for the back of the Tormek platform not being parallel.  This clamp can be pre adjusted and popped on and off as needed.  A regular C clamp ("G cramp" for those of you who still speak English) would do fine.

I use Baltic Birch Ply  for lots of stuff.  Unless you use metal, the water from the wheel will create a harsh environment for your jig.  Paint it, or otherwise seal it.  It probably won't last "forever", but should give good service.

This simple jig will not give the ease of use the regular Tormek knife jigs do.  It should give you more control over the angle of the bevel.  You must lay the blade flat on the platform; the jig does not actually hold the knife.

I would suggest starting very gingerly with the stone fully graded fine, or, as mentioned by Gary, on the leather honing wheel if the knife is not very dull.  The coarse stone can be used to rapidly create "nano knives" which may not please your customers.

I hope this helps.

Ken

[Ken S]

Plan C; an afterthought.

The SVD-110 can be cut in half.  The half section will be just wider than the grinding wheel.  A metal cutting band saw or a hack saw should do the job.  Make sure the cut edge is smooth and deburred. Wet or dry sandpaper on a glass plate should make everything smooth. The half jig can be turned around (long platform facing the grinding wheel).  This will require substituting a standard 6mm thread bolt head for the existing plastic head.  This should be a standard hardware store item.

A minor downside to this arrangement is that the bolt head will require a metric wrench.

A side benefit is that the SVD-110 has a second hole, so the jig can actually be converted into two half jigs.  (nice to share with a Tormeker friend; halvies on the jig.)

Or, the two halves should be able to work together as the original jig.

The top platform surface might work better with very small blades if it is flattened.  Again, this is a sandpaper on glass job.  I'm not versed in finishing aluminum.  Maybe some of you metallurgical types will add comments.

Ken

[brettgrant99]

I've been thinking that my lansky clamp may work, don't know if it has enough clamping power, though 

Brett

[ionut]

You could try Ken's idea, or if you have a lot of small blades to sharpen and you are willing you could cut an SDV 110 jig to a much narrower shape not more than 2 inches and if it is needed grind the back of the platform to allow you to get it as close as possible to the stone and to follow the stone shape and use it as a sharpening platform. This is also suggested in the manual as well, to trim the jig based on the sharpening needs. Or if you don't want to do any construction  or modification get a small sacrificial blade and  start learn to sharpen it  free hand. I am far from being a knife sharpener but I have done it  and in 3 cases I've done it free hand on small blades and I was able to get great results with that. If you have a lot of small blades to sharpen and you learn to do it it will be useful for you to skip the step of setting up the machine.
If you would opt for the last suggestion always grind away from the blade, use the universal support as a support for your hands and at first until you get used to it, use a marker to mark the bevel on one side and with the machine running, set your hands on the universal support using one hand to hold the back of the blade which will act as a guide for keeping a consistent angle and the other one holding the knife handle moving the knife left to right or the other way depending on the side you are sharpening. First  swipe the knife once and check where the mark has been removed, adjust your guide hand accordingly to get to cover the entire bevel and after that continue in that position until you get a consistent a burr on the opposite side. When that happens you are done with that bevel. Repeat the these steps with the other side of the blade.
Try not to combine your hand moves, one acts as a guide and the other one will move the knife left or right to cover the entire blade. Your guide hand should rest on the universal support. I bet after three sharpening sessions it will become a second nature. Do not apply a lot of pressure until you get in control.

Hope that helps,
Ionut

[Ken S]

Try Ionut's suggested three sharpening sessions before you look for a new blade for your hacksaw. 

I took a class in hand cutting dovetails.  As a class project, we each made a shaker candle box.  Our dovetails were less than stellar.  The instructor suggested making fifteen boxes on our own.  By that time, we would have become proficient.

Ken

[NotTheSharpest]

I appreciate everyones Response.  I will try Free handing some more and then look to the modifications Kem suggests.   And a small jig blade would be nice from Tormek

[Ken S]

Keep us posted.

Good luck.

Ken