The care and feeding of the stropping wheel

[jeffs55]

In Maine there is a saying that they have "ten months of winter and two months of rough sledding". 

Ken

Yeah and in Scotland at some island; "if you can't see the island, it is raining. If you can see it, it is going to rain."

[Ken S]

Good one, Jeff!

Ken

[Jan]

Well, the magnetic north pole moves around a bit.  So it is possible to live north of it.  The geographic north pole is pretty stationary.  Fortunately, I'm still a long way from either.   I am in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada.

Rem, it is a pleasure to have a member from the Klondike area here! 

Your comment about the movement of the north magnetic pole made me to think and google. In this year the north magnetic pole left the Canadian Arctic claim and is moving toward Russia with a speed circa 35 mi per year. 

Jan

[Rem]

Hey, Jan ...  and thanks for the welcome.   Holy Moly ....  I didn't know it moved that fast.  I know it tends to wander about but 35 miles per year ..  that's faster than I move.  A guy will have to update the declination frequently if he's a compass user.  I guess with GPS's being about as common as Starbucks (sorry ...  Tim Hortons), it's not really necessary anymore.   

Thanks for the info.   RR

[Jan]

You are correct, GPS is not dependent on geomagnetic field. 

The source of the Earth's magnetism is in the core which is believed to be composed of iron (80%) and nickel. Some scientists argue that the solid inner core may be a giant iron crystal ... a fairy-tale performance for a knife grinder. 

Jan

[Herman Trivilino]

Mine is pretty rough feeling.  Is this normal, or should it feel smooth to the touch?   

You do not want it smooth to the touch. The danger of having it over-oiled is that it's so smooth that it will not remove the burr on a knife blade. You can easily scrape away the excess oil and eventually get it back in shape. This may not be a problem for an experienced user, but it would frustrate a newbie who's trying to learn to sharpen knives on a Tormek.

You're better off with it rough, even if that's because it's under-oiled. There is oil in the honing compound that will eventually get embedded in the leather. Meanwhile you'll be cutting burrs well. You'll just have to keep adding compound to get a mirror finish on the bevel. Something you'll need to learn how to do anyway.

[Rem]

And that was exactly what I was looking for.    Thanks very much.   RR   

[WolfY]

Mine is pretty rough feeling.  Is this normal, or should it feel smooth to the touch?   

You do not want it smooth to the touch. The danger of having it over-oiled is that it's so smooth that it will not remove the burr on a knife blade. You can easily scrape away the excess oil and eventually get it back in shape. This may not be a problem for an experienced user, but it would frustrate a newbie who's trying to learn to sharpen knives on a Tormek.

You're better off with it rough, even if that's because it's under-oiled. There is oil in the honing compound that will eventually get embedded in the leather. Meanwhile you'll be cutting burrs well. You'll just have to keep adding compound to get a mirror finish on the bevel. Something you'll need to learn how to do anyway.

100%. Too much oil will make the piece you hone to slide without taking (grabbing) the burr off.

How often do you guys change the hone wheel for a new one?

[Ken S]

Wolfy,

You ask an excellent question! (I don't know the answer, but would like to know.)

One of the subtle and easily overlooked genuine improvements of the T8 is the included small tube of oil for the leather honing wheel. The tube holds 20ml of white oil. The recommendation is to use 14ml (1 ounce). For decades new Tormek users have had difficulty knowing how much to oil the leather honing wheel. The initial set up oiling problem is finally solved with this very simple, but brilliant, solution. A very workable substitute is to use the little measured cup which comes with most bottles of cough syrup or children's liquid pain medicine.

However, I have not found any mention of long term maintenance or recommended useful life for the leather honing wheel. I have seen a solid leather auxiliary honing wheel still in use, apparently with no problems. Tormek has been in production for over forty year. Over that time, Sweden must have developed a sense of how often, if at all, the leather honing wheel should be replaced and if any leather treatment might benefit it over the years.

We think of grinding wheels as being consumable over the long run. Over a much longer run, the nylon bushings may need replacement. Steve Bottorff post an observation that in his experience bushings needed to be replaced after six grinding wheels. As a very busy knife sharpener, Steve has worn out more than six grinding wheels. Most of us will be doing well to go through more than one or two grinding wheels in a lifetime. I clean and grease my bushings at least once a year. I expect my grandchildren will someday use the same bushings. Perhaps they will use the same leather honing wheel. It would be nice to know.

I hope Stig will post.

Thanks for asking, Wolfy.

Ken

[Stickan]

Hi,
The leatherwheel last for a long time, in some cases as long as the machine and other less. It depends of the user and environment but most often when someone buy a new honingwheel it's bacuse someone have used it towards the edge of a tool and cut it.

Best,
Stig

[Ken S]

Well stated, Stig. Surely you don't mean to imply that any of our members would use the leather honing wheel with the wheel turning into the edge? 

Ken

[WolfY]

Hi,
The leather wheel last for a long time, in some cases as long as the machine and other less. It depends of the user and environment but most often when someone buy a new honing wheel it's because someone have used it towards the edge of a tool and cut it.

Best,
Stig

Tack Stickan,

That's the answer I answered too to my clients. Although I wasn't sure it will last for the machine lifetime when used frequently.
Thanks for clarifying it.

WolfY

[Ken S]

WolfY,

I think we have two main types of trouble. The first group is minor problems which may occur, and are easily corrected. A slipping drive wheel in need of a little sanding is an example of this. So is a wheel which needs some truing. Anything easily remedied in five minutes at no cost is only a minor nuisance.

The second type of thouble is man made, usually from ignoring basic housekeeping. A rusty older (pre stainless shaft made before 2006) shaft, sometimes rusted to the grinding wheel, is an example of this. Annual inspection, cleaning and regreasing the shaft usually prevents this. A replacement EZYlock stainless steel shaft eliminates the problem.

I suspect most properly used and maintained leather honing wheels last the lifetime of the machine. If a user accidentally cuts into the leather from using the wrong honing direction, replacements are available and not expensive.

Regular light truing will extend the life of the grinding wheel, and make that wheel cut more accurately.

Ken

[pnwPat]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum, and have been browsing off and on for the last couple of days. Lots of useful information has been archived here - most appreciated. Even if not always ideally organized, the major categories help, and there is always search!

Background: I have had a SuperGrind 2000 for over 10 years, used undoubtedly fairly lightly compared to most users here (diameter of original wheel is now still 240 mm!), but I do intermittently sharpen, mostly kitchen knives, bench chisels, and planer blades. I am reasonably proficient but by no means an expert. Still, it is really enjoyable when a really sharp edge emerges, so even if it takes me relatively long (or even several re-starts) to get there, I persist and enjoy the process. Must admit, it got easier after retirement when I had more time to spend .

I recently decided to take the plunge and add the capability to do drill bits. I am mostly looking for quality of bit edges, because buying new standard bits would certainly be much cheaper! . The posts within the Drill Bit Sharpening section were most applicable and very illuminating. I've ordered the desired parts and am looking forward to receiving them soon, including the stainless shaft upgrade, an SB-250 wheel, the DBS-22 jig, and some miscellany.

With that said, my original manual has been my guide since purchase (ver 7.1). Page 128 of that manual says a honing compound application lasts for 5 to 10 tools (optimistic, in my experience); then (quote) "Then re-impregnate the honing wheel with a few drops of oil and apply fresh honing compound. ... Do not let the compound dry, apply more oil if necessary."

Wish I'd discovered this forum earlier. Silly me, following the manual's advice over the years I'd say my strop is no longer impregnated, but closer to saturated! Each time I fired up the SG2000 the wheel would seem dry. I'd add a few drops of oil, then honing compound, then (if there were many knives or chisels to do) more oil, etc.

So my question seems to fit this thread best, namely, what to do about a honing wheel that has been over oiled? Can the leather be rejuvenated if the leather itself is in good shape, with no gouges or rips, or should it just be replaced? One  suggestion earlier in this thread included "scraping" the old oil out. perhaps with a cabinet scraper? Or just a strip of wood that has been square cut?). Another suggestion said to use sandpaper (but I think this would end up a gummy mess with the current condition of my leather). Has anyone tried solvent (gas or acetone, perhaps, with adequate precautions for such highly flammable solvents) to clear out excess oil and start over?

Thanks,

Pat

[grepper]

Welcome to the forum Pat!

I think there is a tendency for folks to over-think the problem.  That said, I would be hesitant to use strong solvents because the leather is glued to the wheel surface, so I suppose depending on the solvent it could pose a problem.

One poster here ran his through the dishwasher with good results!  I would think that just running it under the faucet with some hot water, dish soap and a moderately stiff bristle brush would work fine.  I probably would not use a wire brush though.   

I'm sure others will chime in with their ideas too.

Also, don't be too over concerned if the compound dries on the wheel.  It will still work, but it won't stick as well and will create more dust and mess when you use it.  As you have found out, better that it is too dry than overly saturated with oil.

Let us know what you do and the results!