Brand new tormek has lateral wobble

[Floridagrinder]

Is this a normal feature of the machine out of the box?  I know the drive mechanism is different from any of the other various grinding machines I've used in my professional knife sharpening career.  I'm having a bit of difficulty controlling the knife jig vs the toward edge grinding direction but each attempt has been progressively better.  I have 6 years in sharpening for knif rental service with hollow grinding, spiral honers, and large high speed wet grindstones that are used grinding away from edge freehand.  Also proficient with traditional waterstones and my work is superb.  I bought the tormek to get my own side business started and it slightly concerns me that I'm having difficulty.

[Herman Trivilino]

How much of a side to side wobble?  Is the honing wheel also wobbling?  If they are both wobbling that would indicate a bent main shaft.

If the side to side wobble of the grindstone is small they recommend taking the grindstone off and rotating the washer a quarter turn.  Repeat until you find the sweet spot.  Recently people have reported some quality issues with new grindstones and Tormek has been very cooperative in replacing them.

As to your problems with the knife jig, make sure you are dividing the angle by two.  For example, if you want a 40^o edge angle on a butcher knife you need to grind at a bevel angle of 20^o.

[Floridagrinder]

They are both definitely wobbling in synchronization.  A bent shaft, this is troublesome I just spent 900 on the hand tool T7 package and had read nothing but positive things about the machine.  Does this mean I will have to send the machine back to Tormek?  I ordered it from sharpeningsupplies.com. (I apologize if URLS aren't allowed, I didn't read the rules :x).

As for the angle, I have been using the sharpie method and "eyeballing" the best angle with the micro adjuster and the blade in jig, resting against the stone with machine off.  I have a very intimate feel for a good angle for the thickness and wear level of a given knife blade.  Though I am going to run a few through tonight precisely measuring the 40 degree total angle(20 on each bevel) to see how they come out.  My main issue with the jig control is that the jig is not anchored to the support , and therefore the direction of the stone's movement is "kicking" the knife upward and causing the edge to come into direct contact with the stone, at best ruining the edge, and I see a risk of severe damage to the stone with a hard enough blade.  Applying additional pressure to hold it true just causes the machine to push against me even harder.  I had imagined perhaps the wobble is contributing to this problem, though after further reading I do see that the Tormek is very different from most of the machinery I have used in the knife sharpening business and a learning curve will be present irregardless of my skill level. 

I am considering trying to free hand semi-convex edges on it to wire edges and finish freehand on the honing wheel. Do any guys seem to get good results that way who are experienced with freehanding other grinding and buffing equipment in respect to knife sharpening?  I have an F.Dick knife honing machine on the way from Germany which will help finish the razor hone on kitchen knives, but I believe the Tormek finish done right would probably be ideal for thicker, harder knives, and anything requiring a convex edge, which i would start with my belt grinder, and finish a slight secondary cutting bevel  on the Tormek.

Overall, I purchased the Tormek because I did my research and determined it was a versatile, reliable, and well liked piece of equipment, and that I could use it to sharpen a wide variety of different tools and blades with the jig system that free hand methods or commercial knife equipment cannot touch, therefore expanding my possible customer pool. 

[Herman Trivilino]

I would call or email the vendor.  Likely all you'll need to do is send back the mainshaft.

Have you watched the videos of the knife jig being used?  That kicking up and biting into the grindstone was an issue for me as a beginner, but it was because I had the angle way too blunt.

You could also try building yourself a HK-50 for those smaller convex knives. http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=1592.0

[Rhino]

I would apply a pencil on one side slowly so it only mark the leftmost or rightmost spot on the wheel.  Then mark the wheel and shaft so you know how it was mounted.  Clean the shaft and the hole and make sure they don't have dirt debri etc.  Rotate it 90 degree based on your mark on the wheel and shaft. 

Then I would try again with a pencil.

If your shaft is bent, the pencil should mark a new leftmost or rightmost spot on the wheel.  You need a new shaft.

If your wheel is not aligned, the same spot should show up as leftmost or rightmost.  You need a new wheel.