Aligning shaft, stone, and washer

[Sharpco]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW49DKdOb_Y

I agree with this video.

In particular, this alignment is essential to using SJ.

But how about a washer?

Do we have to align washer too?

[wootz]

Sometimes - when the stone has a significant lateral wobbling.
The lateral wobbling matters for grinding knives near the bolster, as the side of the wheel will be hitting the bolster; doesn't  matter elsewhere.
In this case you can try rotating the washer by 1/4, till you find its position where the lateral wobbling is minimal, and mark the washer to put it the same way next time.

Other than that, only anally retentive Tormekers like myself will mark the washer before truing wheels, and will be putting it on the shaft the same way every time.

[cbwx34]

I think if a washer affected the wheel that much.... I'd be on the hunt for a new one. 

[RickKrung]

Have any of you looked at how the stones mount on the shaft?  I did, expecting to see a substantial steel hub against which the washer would mount.  Instead, I found a non-rotating plastic bearing surface against which the washer mounts and turns against as the wheel rotates. 


I measured the washer thickness.  One that came with my T8 was 6mm +- 0.0002mm in the four quadrants.  One that came with my JS-250 was 5mm, +-0.0006mm in the four quadrants.  At worst, that is two one hundred thousandths of an inch.  I do not think it is an issue with the washer. 

I think it is the plastic bearing surface against which the washer bears while rotating.  I am surprised by this design.  I don't know what to make of it.  I think the procedures described to use a standard approach to mounting each stone, based on first finding the best orientation is as good as we can expect to do. 

Rick

[Sharpco]

As Wootz said, it would be a good idea to align shaft, stone, and washer with a marker.

But some Tormekers like me, use one stone on two machines.

In this case, the stone may not be perfectly aligned on one machine which doesn't true it.

[Ken S]

Sharpco,

I am puzzled about your statement that you use one grinding wheel on two machines. I can certainly understand using multiple grinding wheels on one machine, however the reason for using one wheel on two machines escapes me. Would you please explain it for me?

I have tried a different method of alignment. I used the leather honing wheel as the reference point. I marked which pin went into which socket and also marked an arrow pointing up (twelve o'clock) on the outer circle of the honing wheel.

We have become accostumed to things in our lives needing very little routine maintenance. Before battery powered watches, we had to wind our watches (and clocks). The same careful Tormek user who careful aligns his machine and grinding wheel would probably establish the habit of winding his watch and clocks uniformly. Several of my grandfather's power toods use sleeve bearings which require regular oiling.

When setting the bevel angle on a chisel or plane blade for a one time sharpening, the quickest method is to set the Projection of the blade and then adjust the Distance from the support bar to the grinding wheel using the microadjust. I use the opposite method. I set the Distance using one of the two holes in the TTS-100 turning tool set up guide. I then use the Anglemaster to set the Projection. This is a clumsy method. However, I did this only once back in 2010. Ever since then, I have no measurement work in set up. I set the Distance uniformly with the TTS-100 and use the Projection slot of the TTS-100 by placing the edge of the tool with the mark I made for 25° years ago. The first set up took a little longer, however, every set up since has been faster and more consistent (by eliminating the posdibility of measurement error).

That's the beauty of going through an alignment procedure. The initial procedure is somewhat time consuming. Future checks require only a quick visual inspection for improved performance.

Ken

[Sharpco]

Sharpco,

I am puzzled about your statement that you use one grinding wheel on two machines. I can certainly understand using multiple grinding wheels on one machine, however the reason for using one wheel on two machines escapes me. Would you please explain it for me?

In my case, I have two Tormek. One is in the van and the other is in the house. But I didn't buy two SB and SJ.

[Jan]

Sharpeco, I understand your situation, but Ken has a good reason to wonder about one wheel on different machines.

The reason is, that the wheel is exactly true only for the machine and the USB whose were used for truing. On another machine or with different USB some minor deviations from trueness may occur.

Jan

[Ken S]

Sharpco,

Now I understand. When I visited Steve Bottorff, I noticed that Steve had his old work horse SuperGrind packed in his car for offsite duty. He had an SB with this Tormek for the larger volume. In his home based shop, where he taught, he had the latest model with an SG grinding wheel. He had worn out at least eight SG-250 wheels. While he prefers the SB, he is old friends with the SG. Based on that, I would suggest leaving your SB on the Tormek you use the most. Keep it well aligned. I would use one of your SG wheels on the Tormek which you use less.

If both are in heavy use, presumably your business revenue could support purchasing a second set of grinding wheels. The wear from use would be distributed between two wheels. You would also be better prepared if one of the wheels dropped and broke.

Ken

[Sharpco]

Sharpeco, I understand your situation, but Ken has a good reason to wonder about one wheel on different machines.

The reason is, that the wheel is exactly true only for the machine and the USB whose were used for truing. On another machine or with different USB some minor deviations from trueness may occur.

Jan

So far, I haven't had any trouble with it yet. But you're right, Jan.

As always, the perfect thing is good. In addition, having two stones will have the advantage of being able to procure immediately if one is destroyed.

[cbwx34]

Have any of you looked at how the stones mount on the shaft?  I did, expecting to see a substantial steel hub against which the washer would mount.  Instead, I found a non-rotating plastic bearing surface against which the washer mounts and turns against as the wheel rotates. 


I measured the washer thickness.  One that came with my T8 was 6mm +- 0.0002mm in the four quadrants.  One that came with my JS-250 was 5mm, +-0.0006mm in the four quadrants.  At worst, that is two one hundred thousandths of an inch.  I do not think it is an issue with the washer. 

I think it is the plastic bearing surface against which the washer bears while rotating.  I am surprised by this design.  I don't know what to make of it.  I think the procedures described to use a standard approach to mounting each stone, based on first finding the best orientation is as good as we can expect to do. 

Rick

Are you sure it's rubbing against the plastic?  It looks like there's a thin strip of metal mounted on the face of the plastic that the washer turns on? 

[RickKrung]

Are you sure it's rubbing against the plastic?  It looks like there's a thin strip of metal mounted on the face of the plastic that the washer turns on? 

I stand corrected. When I looked at the shaft shoulder and plastic ring, it appeared the ring was higher than the shoulder on the shaft.  And given the scratch marks on the backing washer, I "assumed" the washer was riding against the ring and not the shoulder.  My bad for not looking closer. 



On CB's question, I looked closer and found the ring to be about 0.150" above the housing.  The small shoulder on the shaft is about 0.020" higher than the ring.  And checking the washer's fit, it definitely mounts against the shaft shoulder, but also contacts the plastic ring at some point.  On thinking about it, I wonder if that plastic ring isn't the seal against water getting inside the machine. 

Thanks for the question, CB.

Rick