How can I flatten my stone grader?

[joel]

I know it wasn't smart but... the water in my shop container was frozen and I was cold and rushed to sharpen two chisels. I poured the little melted ice water I had into the Tormek tray and proceeded to sharpen. The rough grinding seemed to go OK. However, when I used the grader to smooth the stone, it quickly wore a dish into the stone grader. So... NOW I went back to the house, got "liquid" water and filled the tray to the proper level. How can I flatten my grader? Or, do I need to buy a new one?  Signed, lazydumbguy

[grepper]

Hi Joel!

Is this helpful?

http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=130.msg371#msg371
http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=1521.msg5262#msg5262
http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=494.msg1156#msg1156

Mark

[grepper]

Oh, and just to make you feel even more like a total goof, (Just kidding!!!...  The following thread is all about "Short stints of dry grinding" ), you might find this about dry grinding helpful:

From: http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=1525.0

Guys, my computer has been down for a couple of days, so I'm catching up, but...

DON'T DO IT!!!

It will damage your grindstone and will not have the desired effect (faster cutting).

Take a trip to a machine shop. If they have high end equipment, you'll see that it all uses a liquid coolant. Coolant makes for faster cutting, not slower. Dry cutting on dry grinders is faster because the stones are 4 to 6 times coarser, not because it's dry.

I've got to admire your dedication... working in a shop where it is so cold water has changed state from liquid to solid!

[Herman Trivilino]

Joel, we just learned the other day that Jeff actually prefers a concave wear pattern on the fine side of the stone grader.

Like you I thought I had damaged mine and for years I kept using it in such a way as to not make it worse.

Now I know better.  If you're trying to get the grindstone into the fine grading mode the concave stone grader actually makes the job easier and faster!

[grepper]

And when you think about it, that makes total sense.  When the grader stone is flat, only a very small surface area of the grader touches the wheel.  When it is concave, matching the curve of the wheel, more of the grader touches the wheel.

[joel]

Thanks Mark and Herman for your prompt replies. Yes, these posts were very helpful. My "dish" is really deep but it sounds as though the grader is salvageable. I'll try lengthening its life by using the ends as Jeff suggests.   

It's not so much dedication as it is "fixed income frugalness." To insulate and keep my barn/woodshop heated full-time would be way expensive – and impractical since I don't use it daily. So, I turn on a salamander heater when I first get out there. Then, it isn't too unbearable – except for the first half hour or so. Enough water would have melted if I had mustered a little patience... but nooo... I'll just short cut the process this one time...

Thanks again.   Joel

[grepper]

My T-7 is in my rc helicopter shop in my basement, but the bench grinder is in my frozen (Michigan) garage.  I have a Readyheater 55 salamander heater pointed right at the bench grinder.

I LOVE the salamander!, even with K1 @ $4.60US/gal.

So, like yourself, I just sort of tough it out.  Go out there, turn on the heater, get done what I need to do while it warms up.

I love summer.  I love everything about summer.  If I had a daughter, I'd name her Summer.

[Ken S]

I feel like a wimp.  After working in an unheated northern Ohio garage for almost twenty years, I moved south (to mid Ohio) and a heated basement shop.

A standard idea in photographic darkrooms is a film drying cabinet heated by a 25 watt lightbulb.  I would think a wooden box with a small lightbulb inside would be adequate to keep enough water warm enough for a Tormek.  25 watt would be a starting point......maybe 40 in Michigan and other parts of the arctic.

Don't give up, Sargent Preston, the Yukon needs you.

Ken

[Rob]

Interesting thread this chaps. Being in England I've been wrestling with cold in my shop for ever. I use a propane gas heater in a wheelie metal case. The fuel cost is pretty high over here as the government tax the bejebbas out of it

What I really want but haven't got round to installing is a wood burning stove. Or even better one of those  devices that can squash and bond wood shavings into artificial logs.

[joel]

I've been dealing with this problem for 35 years here in northern Maryland. I do have an old wood stove and a small coal stove (both Swedish Yodels) in storage which I used to heat my old farmhouse before they were displaced with a "real" furnace. I've thought about trying the wood stove to heat the shop full-time but I know I'll be paranoid about the fire hazard – especially when I'm not out there with it. Just doesn't seem practical to have to haul wood, etc. out to the barn just to keep the stove going... I certainly don't need another "chore" around the old place. And, if I lit the stove only when I AM going to use the shop, it would take hours to heat it. So, the salamander and the expensive K1 still seem to be my best option. Not ideal, but workable.

[joel]

Thanks for the suggestion Ken but I don't use the Tormek frequently enough to warrant even the minor expense of keeping a light bulb lit. In the future, I'll just bring water out from the house for sharpening sessions on an "as needed" basis... until Spring returns. And, that can't be any too soon for me, my tools... and my wood supply.

[Rob]

What is a salamander Joel?  Not a term I've come across in England

[grepper]

http://tinyurl.com/cqqoqtc

[Rob]

Got it. We have those here but didn't realise they were called that

[Elden]

You might want to check out solar. It doesn't have to be complicated or expensive, just a do it yourself project that can small or as big as you want to make it.
Check out:

http://www.n3fjp.com/solar/index.htm