Wheel Runout?

[Kevin]

For some reason the grinding wheel is "off center" or wobbles up and down while spinning.  It is very easy to see the wheel moving up and down when sharpening.

Is there an easy way to correct this?

[Jeff Farris]

It is not that the wheel is "turning" out of round, it is no longer round itself.  It has worn unevenly, which could be caused by any number of factors.  It is easily corrected by truing the wheel with the ADV-50D Diamond Truing Tool.

[sominus]

Just went through this myself... Had a wobbly wheel side-to-side and top-to-bottom.  Adjustments in the 'rear' (toward motor) washer solved (mostly) the side-to-side, and I trued with the diamond hone... Took about 20 minutes and was just the ticket for the problem.  

Go slow, let the tool do its work and you'll be a happy camper.

-Michael

[Jeff Farris]

It shouldn't take 20 minutes.  Even with a slow feed rate across the stone and taking a considerable amount off, it should take about 2 to 3 minutes.

[sominus]

Jeff:

 20 minutes includes:

   - Getting tormek out of the shop into the house.
   - Shooing kids away.
   - Going back to the garage to get the wrench I forgot.
   - Getting a beer.
   - Going back to the garage to get the truing tool (and other jigs).
   - Shooing kids away.
   - Messing with washer, being an anally retentive perfectionist.
   - Shooing kids away.
   - Filling up tray.
   - Setting up truing jig.
   - Shooing kids away.
   - Starting to flatten the stone.
   - Answering phone.
   - Helping with home work, shooing kids away.
   - Continuing with the stone.
   - Answering the door.
   - Flipping the chicken on the Kamado (http://www.kamado.com )
   - continuing with the stone.
   - shooing the cat away.
   - finishing the stone.

I meant it more of as a "project could take this long" rather than "this step took me x minutes".

[Jeff Farris]

That was cute.

I've been using a "Big Green Egg" for about 8 years.  That Kamado looks really nice.  While I am a dyed in the wool charcoal fanatic, the idea of a gas starter has a certain appeal...as does a 25" cooking surface.

[sominus]

We can take this to private email after this one:

The Kamado is an amazing rig.  I won't bore you with the comparisons I made prior to purchase and my personal opinions, I'm sure you've heard/seen them all. (Personally I don't think you can go wrong either way..)

I use charcoal exclusively (coconut extruded), but do start it with gas -- its VERY nice to do so...

Believe it or not, the Kamado was what got me to purchase a Tormek, so that I could keep all my knives sharp for the food I was cooking.

I'd be happy to swap recipes/cooking ideas w/ you... I've cooked for up to 60 before on my Kamado with tremendous results.

-Michael

[tempstor]

FYI: for those newbies (myself included... grinding on the tormek for 2 weeks) out there you sould listen for an unevenly graded wheel. as mentioned elswwhere, uneven pressure contributes to a uneven wheel. well a unevenly graded wheels produces that wobble even faster. i was being lazy and let the fact that i heard a portion of the wheel grinding more rough than the rest and i watch the wobble form on the wheel right before my eyes. if i remember correctly the portion of the wheels that must have been at the 220 grit stage wore much faster than the 1000 grit portions. just something to keep in mind    

[Ed]

Jeff,
I can not imagine truing the stone and have it take less than 30 minutes (sometimes longer)   Including setup and clean up.  I guess I take longer than you because I do not operate the sharpener near as often as you do

Ed