How to best use the honing wheel.

[mike40]

I've been watching the the videos on the CD included with my new T7. It shows the honing wheel being used with the universal support in the horizontal position and with the same angle as used on the stone wheel. This seems a little counter intuitive to me. I can't see the relevance of honing the whole bevel. I would think that the honing should be just a 1/16" or so up from the edge, and it seems to me a waste of time to polish the whole bevel. Now I realize that this might just be a matter of applying finger pressure at the tip of the blade, but I would like to know if that is correct and also what experienced users opinions are about  this.

[Rob]

you'll find many different opinions Mike and there is no absolute yes or no to the methods.  In fact one of the beauty's of the tormek is it supports numerous different "off book" ways of doing things.

I personally agree with you and don't polish the entire bevel.  In fact I pretty much never change the position of the universal support bar (USB) after sharpening, rather I hone the burr away by free handing.

To me, changing the USB and then re-setting it for the honing wheel is a complete faff I'm not prepared to suffer so I've learned to do it carefully by hand.  The trick is to avoid rounding over the newly sharpened edge by over tipping the blade against the honing wheel.  It doesn't take long to learn, particularly to someone like you who already has the feel for hand stones.

Just one point, you have oiled the leather of the honing wheel with 1 or 2 drops of light machine oil haven't you?

[mike40]

Thanks Rob, that sounds right to me. I haven't done anything except mounting the wheels. I know I have to paper the drive disk on the honing wheel before use. I plan to use lamp oil in a miserly fashion on the leather wheel. I'm looking forward to starting up soon depending on the weather. That is If it rains and I can't work outdoors. I'm too darned tired in the evening to go out to the shop and I want to feel half alive before I start so I can keep my wits about me. BTW, I've been wondering about how best to manage my use of the machine. Should I just prepare it with water every day in case I need to sharpen something or do I need to plan my sessions? I'm just thinking of the stone wheel in this context. Maybe sounds like a dumb question, but I hope I won't have to go through the whole routine of getting the machine ready every time some unplanned stone wheel work is needed. Another thing, should I leave the stone wheel out of the water when its not in use? I'm aware that the water should be changed frequently (after each session) and the trough cleaned out.

[Rob]

Thanks Rob, that sounds right to me. I haven't done anything except mounting the wheels. I know I have to paper the drive disk on the honing wheel before use. I plan to use lamp oil in a miserly fashion on the leather wheel. I'm looking forward to starting up soon depending on the weather. That is If it rains and I can't work outdoors. I'm too darned tired in the evening to go out to the shop and I want to feel half alive before I start so I can keep my wits about me. BTW, I've been wondering about how best to manage my use of the machine. Should I just prepare it with water every day in case I need to sharpen something or do I need to plan my sessions? I'm just thinking of the stone wheel in this context. Maybe sounds like a dumb question, but I hope I won't have to go through the whole routine of getting the machine ready every time some unplanned stone wheel work is needed. Another thing, should I leave the stone wheel out of the water when its not in use? I'm aware that the water should be changed frequently (after each session) and the trough cleaned out.

No worries Mike.  All you need do in terms of routine maintenance/prep is empty the tray at the end of each session and leave off the machine till you next use it.  If you leave the water tray both full and attached there was always the risk of rusting the axle.  Having said that, I think new machines now come shipped with a stainless steel axle so in theory yours wont rust anyway even if you don't detach it after each use.  Still....I would detach.

So each time you start have a fresh tray of clean water.  Also always refresh with new water and clean trough after you've true'd the wheel with the diamond dressing tool because that process sloughs off a lot of ceramic from the wheel which leaves a lot of sludge in your water.  You shouldn't need to true it that often, depending on your use.  Put it this way, last time I trued mine was a fortnight ago and I sharpen turning tools daily.

I put a small magnet in my water trough to catch the tool steel in the water but again I think the newer models have a magnet built in to the water trough plastic so you wont need to. The idea behind the water is to keep it clean enough to prevent metal and wheel debris reentering the spin....thus clogging your grinding and slowing down the cutting.  In my experience in practice, unless I'm doing a lot of grinding (or I true as above), I only empty the tray at the end of a session.

Now with you being at the beginning...you're probably gunna look in your tool pouch and see heaps of dinged chisels you've been using to prize putty off window sills....or nails out of reclaimed wood etc. After you've done your fine plane blades and your better chisels...these old faithfuls will inherit a new meaning, new life is now possible without your knuckles actually catching fire!  So when you have a long session and do a few chisels/plane blades....then you might want to dump and refill the water mid-session because you'll be filling that tray steadily.  Once everything is basically sharp.....its touching up the edge rather than longer re-grinds and that doesn't sully the water much.

You'll soon discover how much sludge ends up in the tray and intuitively empty or wait....not rocket science.

Also, use it indoors...its really not like a dry grinder....no sparks....so speed.  I use mine on a kitchen table in the winter all the time, just watch the surface for splashes...I lay it on an old towel.

[Rob]

when you're doing long grinds on entire bevels....you should expect to regrade the stone with the 220 grit side of the stone grader frequently to keep it cutting well...that also fills the water with rubbish quite quick.  When you grade...don't be afraid to give it some welly.....you cannot break the tormek axle or moving parts etc...it really is close to indestructible....rated for continuous use.

[mike40]

Thanks for that Rob. Talking about chipped chisels reminds me of story I read by an English master woodworker. He said that when he started his apprenticeship his chisel slipped from his grasp. He said the second it hit the shop floor everything went dead still in the shop. He said it made him feel like he had committed a mortal sin and he could hardly look his fourteen co-workers in the eye for awhile.

[grepper]

I've heard that leaving the wheel sitting in water can cause an out of balance condition when you first start using it again until the water distribution evens out.  Additionally the stone can be softer on the side that is sitting in water and may cause uneven wear.  It can also cause the stone to load up with deposits.  That would make a lot of sense at my house as we have crappy well water that leaves calcium deposits if allowed to sit and evaporate in a glass.

I always drop the bucket when I'm not going to use it for awhile, so I can't verify if the above it true, but it makes sense to me.

[CleanCut]

This thread has digressed to care of the grinding wheel and I'm glad I came upon it. Advice I received from my supplier was not to leave the grinding wheel soaking in water for long periods between use. He said he had seen the wheel ruined by such (ab)use. He informed me that the wheel absorbs water. Hence it can deform with uneven exposure to water. In another thread on the forum I followed the careful measurements of getting a square grind. This caused me to think about the need to get the wheel uniformly wet before starting to grind.

[grepper]

Going off on one aspect of the conversation...

I turn on the T7, and then fill it with water.  I'm always amazed by how thirsty the wheel is.  It drinks several cups of water before it's satisfied.

After it's done with it's gulping, drinking binge, I sharpen.

[Rob]

me too...I rather enjoy it's routine of drinking water....I take mine for walks too....It won't fetch a stick yet though.

[mike40]

Won't fetch sticks? And I thought this machine could do anything. Maybe ale instead of water would do the trick?

[Herman Trivilino]

The wheel absorbs and retains water for about a week.  If you use a grindstone that has been dry for over a week or so you'll notice that it absorbs a lot of water out of the trough in the first few minutes and you'll need to refill it.