Newbie Help Needed

[Lrakoczy]

Hello Everyone,

I've just purchased a Tormek T-7 and have been reading the forums, watching videos and practicing with a relatively crappy set of Craftsmen (Sears) chisels.  I follow the procedure set by Jeff Farris and others on Youtube and get a sharper edge, but nothing to write home about, that cuts paper, etc.  I've done the course, then fine, then stropping bevel, then stropping the back.    I know this is a general question, but I was wondering if anyone had any new person tips beyond what is in the forum.

THANKS!!!!

[Herman Trivilino]

Start again with the grindstone graded coarse.  Keep grinding until you see and feel a burr forming on the back side of the chisel.  Good light is essential, and I find a magnifier helps a lot. 

If you're not grinding long enough to make a burr then you're not forming an edge on the tool.

Some of the harder steels don't form burrs that are easy to see or feel, but that's pretty rare.  I wouldn't think you'd encounter that with your Sears chisels.

I'm assuming the backs of your chisels are flat all the way to the cutting edge?

[RobinW]

I'm sure I have posted elsewhere, I now flatten and polish the backs of chisels and plane blades before starting to grind the bevel. Then I should have no need to touch the back of the chisel, as I found I was rounding off the edge and so not achieving the sharpness expected.

Mark the bevel side with a felt tip marker so that you can see the squareness of the grind. Keep applying felt tip to check progress. Alignment problems will show up quickly

When I get a burr as described by Hermann above, I remove the burr either by very lightly honing the back of the chisel on a very fine Japanese waterstone, or using a very light hand held touch on the honing wheel. I'm not flattening the back at this stage just lightly taking the burr off. Care not to round the edge is the most important point here.

Proceed with grinding the bevel using the stone graded to fine, and then hone the bevel. Throughout all this keep using a felt tip marker. Remove burrs as above.

[Herman Trivilino]

Another thought occurred to me.  It may be that your new grindstone has been glazed over and is not cutting.  You may need to use the truing tool, removing just a small amount of material from the surface.