T7 motor making screeching noise

[Richard A]

Hi All

I have a T7 that is about a 1.5 years old, which I have used every Saturday for the last year sharpening knives and tools at a supermarket plus a summer farmer's market. So it has had some use. The grindstone is down to about 220mm so maybe a few hundred hours of use.

It just started making a weird noise. The sound has various features.... it starts with a scraping noise, then goes to a buzzing sound that's like one of those nasty industrial alarms and then sometimes works it's way to a higher pitch, which sounds like an electronic cricket. I worked with it for 4 hours on Saturday and the machine performed normally despite the noise. I also pulled the motor away from the drive shaft but the sound remains.

Any ideas?? Possibly the motor going out?? If it is the motor is that something I can replace myself or does the whole machine have to go in for repair.

Thx - AR

[Herman Trivilino]

Try a couple of easy things first. Remove the main shaft and lubricate it where it passes through the nylon bearings. A small amount of grease is all you need. With the grindstone mounted remove the leather honing wheel. Turn on the machine and apply some sand paper to the leather drive wheel. Make sure the capstan (end of motor shaft that makes contact with rubber drive wheel) is clean.

[Richard A]

Thanks Herman - I tried that both those things. I didn't have any grease handy so I put a little oil on the nylon parts figuring that would give me an indication, but no luck.... still very noisy.

[Ken S]

Welcome, Richard A. You have an issue which is covered under warranty. If you live in the US, I would suggest telephoning Affinity Tool in Troy, Michigan. Affinity Tool is the US importer for Tormek. They also do almost all of the US repair work in house.

In your case, the real issue is getting the repair work done quickly. Affinity is a family business. I have met three members of the family. in fact, I have discussed warranty repair with all three of them. Turn around is quick, and they seem knowledgeable. I would telephone them rather than use email. Talk directly with someone involved with repair work.

If you live outside the US, I would contact your country's importer. You can get contact information from the where to but tab on the tormek website. Just look at the top right of a forom page for the link back to the main page. You will need to verify that the importer does actual repair work in house and talk with someone.

Tormek will repair or replace whatever is necessary for you. The only reason for the telephone call is to coordinate things to keep the turn around time short.

Keep us posted.

Ken

[Richard A]

Ken..... Thanks for the info. I will call them today. I also found a distributor about 60 miles from me (Woodworker's Supply). I'll call them as well to see if they do repairs.

[Stickan]

Good that you directed this.

Stig