Knife jigs?

[kaptain_zero]

Ok, I have a couple of questions/issues with the two knife jigs.

1. The regular jig (narrow one) has a problem with heavy knives, ones that have a 3/16th thick spine. No problem opening the clamp far enough but the clamping knob is not long enough to properly clamp the knife. Thin knives are not a problem, I can keep the two clamp halfs parallel and use the knob to tighten. If the back of the knife gets thicker I have to use the clamp in a splayed out manner which makes it hard to keep the knife straight and also it does not clamp that securely. The short term fix in this case was to use the wide knife jig which seemed to be able to handle thicker blades.
I'm thinking I need to put a small disk inside the hole in the clamp where the screw pushes against as there is quite a deep hole there. It appears cast and not drilled so I don't think it was a manufacturing defect unless the mold wasn't filled properly. Anyone have any ideas?

2. My wide knife clamp has a curve in the main body part where the blade is clamped. This causes the blades of filleting knives and the like to bend slightly when clamped. I don't think this is right?!?! I've placed a shim made from 4 layers of masking tape and that stops the blade bending which makes it easier to get a nice even bevel on both sides...

Unfortunatly I couldn't buy my Tormek from Jeff as I live in Canada and I assume there is a territory issue so I had to go through a Canadian dealer/distributor but it's hard to get tech questions answered and I have no idea how long it might take to get warranty parts. The local dealer I got the Tormek from does not do any repair/warranty work. I've got a call in to them but so far no answers.....

Regards

Christian

[Jeff Farris]

Three sixteenths sounds like a very, very thick knife blade. I have not run into the problem that you are describing, but I am not sure I have ever tried to mount a knife that thick, and I have had customers bring me some monsters. The knob is a standard metric thread. The simplest solution might be to go to the hardware store and get a slightly longer knob.

A curve in the body of the SVM-100 is definitely not within tolerance.  It is probably shipping damage (which is what I suspect is the problem with your drive wheel from the other thread).  I would contact your dealer for a replacement. They should then deal with the shipper for reimbursement of costs due to hidden damage.

[Ed]

It sounds like his dealer is not  going to be very helpful in doing anything but take his money.

Poor customer service ruins the reputation of many a great tool.

[kaptain_zero]

Ed, the dealer issue is not as bad as it sounds... they did give me a great deal on the Tormek, it's more an issue of importer support as it's hard to get hold of someone that can handle the tech questions. As for the dealer, they only sell a few Tormeks a year, most are shipped out to other provinces.. I think there's only 3 or 4 that were sold to people in our city, thus the lack of familiarity with the tool by my dealer who does not stock the item.

As for the Knife jig, it looks like the casting itself is warped, no apparent damage to the box it was packed in and the jig itself is quite hefty so it would have taken a big hit to bend it.... I've seen these kinds of warps before in cast alloys.... they aren't machined after casting so there's always a chance of one being slightly warped as this one is. I will send it to the Tormek distributor for replacment.

Thanks again for your help.

Regards

Christian