Newbie HELP with sharpening and Ezy Lock

[gwelsby]

Hi guys,
  after the initial euphoria here come the blues!  I have two, possibly related problems.  I tried sharpening a hard, Japanese knife TOWARD the edge.  At some point the knife edge dug into the grinding stone and pushed me back.  Thereafter I noticed a distinct "click" with every rotation of the wheel.  I stopped and saw a chunk gouged out of the right side of the wheel, with a groove from it crossing the wheel surface.  I think this may be causing my problem with the Ezy Lock wheel nut.  I can't get it off.  The book says to turn the wheel clockwise to release the nut.  Even with the nut held in a Mole grip I cannot get it off.  According to the book the torque of the nut is set automatically while grinding.  Might my stopping the wheel with the knife have momentarily increased the torque to where it is now?
Any help gratefully received,
Gerald.

[Stickan]

Hi,
Sharpening knives needs some practise and it´s a good idea to start with cheap knives to get the right technique.
Probably while sharpening you forgot to press the jig against the supportbar and the angle on the knife became to steep and it dug in to the stone.
I did it when I strated with Tormek too ;-) And I see that all the time at demos these days.
You can true the stone or use the stonegrader on the side of the stone and round it so you dont hear the sound of the gap.

Regarding Ezylock. Page 153 in the handbook will help you. Turn the stone clockwise by hand, holding the honingwheel also and it will loosen.

Stig

[Ken S]

Welcome to the forum, Gerald.

The EZYLock is a real improvement, once you figure out how to use it. I am speaking from personal experience. The problem is in our societal brain programming. We live in a right hand thread world. The magic of the EZYLock is in the use of a left hand thread. I confess to using visegrip pliers a couple of times with mine.

Here is my solution: Looking at your Tormek with the grinding wheel on the right side, place a label on the flat area of the plate with the horizontal support sleeves. Mine is just a piece of Scotch tape, although a light colored vinyl tape would be better. With a waterproof marker draw an arrow going away from you on the side of the label nearest the grinding wheel. Draw an arrow coming toward you on the label side nearest the leather honing wheel. In the middle of the label write the word OFF.
iio
When you push away on the grinding wheel and pull toward you with the leather honing wheel in your left hand, the EZYLock loosens effortlessly. No tools or big muscles required. The reminder label and just a couple minutes' practice and you will marvel at the ease of your EZYLock.

To tighten, just use light finger pressure. The motion of the motor does the rest.

This very simple mastery of the EZYLock shaft is one of the fundamental skills of using a Tormek. Make a label for yourself and loosen/tighten the shaft a few times. That very small learning project will serve you well for the many hours you spent with Tormek sharpened tools.

keep posting

Ken

[gwelsby]

Thanks Stig and Ken.  I'll ask around the family for cheap knives, or even buy some.  I don't possess any<g>.  I'm confident I'm right about the Ezylock though.  Yes, when it's working a gentle clockwise push on the wheel releases it.  I was fortunate in that I had a plumber round this morning on another job.  He is a big lad but it took him some serious effort with a huge pipe wrench to undo it.  If a gentle clockwise push releases the nut then stopping the stone dead is giving it a tremendous tightening torque - just ask my plumber!  I think that what I need is for the HK-50 to become available over here
Gerald.

[Stickan]

Gerald,
I had an interesting meeting last week with a very good and  famous woodturner who has a Tormek 2000 and with an updated Ezylock.
"If I have one thing to wish from Tormek, he said, it would be that you made it easier to remove the stone. I had to use a plumbers wrench when I changed stone last time."
So I went to his machine, took a solid grip on the honingwheel with my left hand and with my right hand I grabbed the stone with a firm grip and pushed it away from me and easily loosened the Ezylock. He had forgot how to do it and also, he tried to open it as a normal threaded shaft.
It´s designed to lock very hard and even with a wrench it can almost feel stuck. But doing it this way or just a bit more power, it will loosen.

Stig



 

[gwelsby]

Thanks again Stig.  When it happens again I'll trust your method....

** Update **

I trued my wheel today.  That's a millimetre of wheel I won't see again   I then used the stone to round off the last of the ding.  The manual says to traverse the wheel surface in 90 seconds.  All very well, but I had to go like a road-runner to cover those last 5mm!
  Then I did it again.  Dug in a chef's knife and carved another dint.  The knife went skyward...  It's because I'm trying to control the sharpening of the tip.  Lifting the handle seems to make the jig pull away from the bar.  I think I'll just sharpen away from Japanese edges until I'm more experienced.

[grepper]

Could you be lifting the handle before really reaching the tip?  That would cause the knife to pivot over the edge of the wheel and either hang the blade and/or mess up the bevel.

Start in @ 5:39:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYURcwkKGPs

Also notice how Jeff Is holding the jig, support the top of the jig at the control bar.

Per chance, are there any surface irregularities, or odd looking patches on the surface of the wheel?

[gwelsby]

Hi grepper, thanks for diving in!  Ironically this is one of the videos which convinced me to buy the Tormek.  I do see what you mean now, though.  Jeff has his thumb behind the jig and his fingers applying the pressure.  I recall feeling the jig rising above the control bar a couple of times while I tried to control the tip.  I'll try to copy Jeff's slight lift with a small rearward rotation of the handle.
Fortunately the only surface irregularities are the chunks I've taken from the edge of the wheel   If I could only work out how to embed an image I'd show you!
Thanks again,
Gerald.

[grepper]

Hi Gerald,

Check this out:
http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=2342.msg11402#msg11402



Mark

[Herman Trivilino]

I think that what I need is for the HK-50 to become available over here

It's a homemade jig, Gerald. If you have the scissors jig you just build a platform and attach it to the base of the scissors jig.

[gwelsby]

I know that Herman!  I just think that Tormek should adopt and distribute it   Btw, do you then sharpen freehand or do you still use a knife jig?
G.

[Herman Trivilino]

I rarely sharpen free hand. I occasionally use the knife jig. I almost always use the HK-50 when sharpening a knife.

Tormek doesn't seem interested in distributing a zero-clearance (or mini-clearance) jig of any kind. I suppose it goes against their philosophy.

[gwelsby]

Herman,
  what I meant was meaning was, when using the HK-50 do you just use your hands or do you use a jig too.  I then immediately thought that a jig would get in the way and dismissed the idea.  It does seem that Tormek are in the game mostly for turning tool sharpening rather than knives.  For me it is the other way round, with knives' being the priority.  i will occasionally sharpen axes and chisels for my father in law.
  I am very interested in the HK-50.  I have been doing some work with the geometry/trigonometry of it.  As I have no woodworking skills (at school the best I managed to fashion was a stick) I am thinking of using a 3D printer in ABS.  At least it will give me a good excuse to buy one   If I can come up with some general principles for production I'll get back to you.
All the best,
Gerald.

[Herman Trivilino]

Here's a video showing me using the first HK-50 prototype.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcWAkQmoU8c

Note that this video was made prior to Tormek's release of the SVM-00 small knife jig.

[gwelsby]

Herman,
  I hadn't seen the video before now.  It's the mutt's nuts.  It seems to do all we need it to.  Whence the idea for the wooden version with the arc following the curve of the grinding stone?  I have been applying my thoughts in my spare time over the last couple of days to producing a version which would let me set the precise angle and length of bevel, which would then let me apply a precise angle and length of a secondary bevel for my kitchen knives.  Looking at this, however, and applying the k.i.s.s principle, what more do we need than this prototype version?
Regards,
Gerald.