Tormek troubles

[Ken S]

I have never read any posts about a Tormek unit needing repair of just being "shot" from overuse.  The troubles seem to develop from carelessness and/or idleness.

Here in the upper midwest, it is standard operating procedure to "winterize" the lawnmower and run the gas out of the snowblower at the end of winter.

Good machinists always wipe their tools and gages with an oiled cloth before returning them to the drawers in their toolboxes.

Chefs clean and dry their knives before returning them to the slots in the wooden blocks.

Why do Tormek users leave their grindstones sitting in dirty water?  Why do we allow our honing wheels to become encrusted?  We clean our finish brushes, which cost a fraction of a Tormek grinding or honing wheel.  We clean our saw blades.  Why do we allow our Tormek units to get into such states of disrepair?

We are reluctant to use the stone grader for fear it will wear out our precious grinding wheels, the same wheels which sit in swarf water until the water evaporates, leaving a rusty shaft.  (Don't count on the stainless shafts not rusting in this environment; stainless will rust in the presence of rust....the metal particles floating in the water.)

Dumping the water trough and wiping it clean is such a simple and quick task.  We don't lubricate our oilstones with used crankcase oil.  Why do we soldier on with swarf laden water with the Tormek?

Watching Alan Holtham change the shaft on his Tormek made me realize how simple it would be to remove the honing wheel after use.  I believe the great forum debate about oiling or not oiling the leather wheel would not be an issue if the honing wheel was removed after use and placed in a ziplock bag.  Diamond paste users do this regularly.  Why not us?  I'm not talking about doing this before lunch.  How many times do our Tormeks go unused for long periods?  If we stored our honing wheels in the ziplock bags, dust and sawdust would not be a problem, and dried honing compound would certainly be much less of a problem.

For those who regularly move their Tormek about (mobile sharpening services or commuting to a shop), the EZYlock shaft makes removing the grinding wheel a snap.  In fact, for longer periods of storage, maybe we should routinely remove the wheels.  The shafts and "innerds" would stay very dry, and no tension would remain on the driveshaft bearings.

Lots of use, but no abuse.

Ken 

[brettgrant99]

I always dump the water out and scrape out the "goop".  I hadn't really thought about wiping down the wheel, or storing the honing wheel, though.

Here in Arizona, everything is so dry, I'm not sure that storing the honing wheel would do much good about drying out the paste, but it would keep the dust off.  No shortage of dust here.

I do tend to go long periods between use.  I've been meaning to get a cover for the machine, but haven't yet.

Certainly, these are topics to think about.

Brett

[Herman Trivilino]

You're right!  I've told myself many times that I should build a dust cover for the whole machine.  Have never done it, though. 

Did you see how easily the old shaft came out of Alan Holtham's machine in that video?  I had to drive mine out with a hammer!

[Ken S]

Brett and Herman,

I finally bought one of the Tormek covers.  It works well, although I suspect the old bath towel I was using before worked just as well.

Yes, Alan's Tormek did seem to "field strip" very easily.  Probably by the seventeenth take, Alan could do it blindfolded.  It was likely stainless, and the wheel looked like it was almost new.  None of this detracts from the video.

I can see where Tormek might not want to show a video of Herman using a hammer (and perhaps some appropriate language) to remove a rusted shaft.

Removing the honing wheel is probably overkill.  I would prefer this to some of the horror stories of encrusted wheels.

When I changed my shaft, I found a 19mm box wrench was a better fit than 3/4".  I wish I had drawn a simple diagram of how the thing went together when I disassembled the shaft.  I was able to reassemble it, but only with an element of luck.

Ken

[Keith Bays]

I'm always looking for a quicker way. How about putting a shower cap or other type plastic bag over the honing wheel when not in use for a few days?

[Ken S]

Keith,

Your idea would indeed be a quicker way.  However, I was not thinking of a "few days" time interval.  I suspect most of us, including me, often go much longer between sharpening sessions.

Ken

[Ken S]

ps to Keith,

Welcome to the forum.

Ken