Just out of curiosity

[Jan]

The standard way to grind knives is towards the edge with the USB placed vertically. In some situations it may be advantageous to grind away from the edge with the USB placed horizontally.

Just out of curiosity I have tried to grind away from the edge with the USB in the vertical sleeves. 



To gain some clearance for sharpener's fingers I replaced the vertical sleeves locking screws with the ones from the horizontal base, because those are shorter.

Important: If the USB and knife jig setting remains the same for both towards the edge and away from the edge sharpening, than the edge angle is the same for both sharpening directions.

Jan

P.S.: For long knives a collision between jig knob and USB leg can occur.

[Ken S]

Jan,

Bravo! Your curiousity has rediscovered an ancient feature of the Tormek long forgotten in recent editions of the handbook. My "ur" (German for "ancestor") edition of the handbook describes using the Tormek in either direction using the vertical sleeves. (Horizontal sleeves were not available at the time.)

Good job, Jan. Stay curious!

Ken

[Jan]

Ken, thanks for your important comment.  I was not aware of it and it's good to know that it was Tormek procedure in the past. When I rediscovered it I was wondering about usefulness of this arrangement.

It works not only with the knife jig, but also with other Tormek jigs and the TTS-100.

Jan

[Ken S]

Jan,

Also out of curiousity, I tried the opposite way, using the horizontal position reversed to work in the incoming direction. Within a second I knew it was a mistake when water cascaded everywhere. Your discovery sounds more promising.

On a more philosophical level, this seems like rediscovering the potential of the path ignored. The new horizontal sleeves appeared on the scene, and the "other" vertical direction became yesterday's news. I hate to see potential be wasted.

Ken

[Jan]

You are correct, Ken, in the arrangement shown the water is not a problem.

Jan

[Ken S]

I believe the use of the horizontal/grinding away position became popular for at least two reasons:
1) It allowed less agressive grinding for smaller tools such as carving tools.
2) I believe most Tormeks are placed too high for optimum grinding in the vertical sleeve position. The handbook recommends a table height of 50 to 60cm. That is considerably lower than most workbenches. It is also lower than most dry grinders are placed.The horizontal position works more efficiently with a slightly higher table position.

The SB-250 blackstone is gradually becoming more popular. In my own case, I find myself using it more with knives due to Steve's recommendation. Part of that recommendation is to use it in the grinding away horizontal position. Due to the harder structure, the blackstone cuts better with less pressure, a lighter touch. In fact, Based on my own tests, I would say it hardly cuts at all with a heavy, high grinding pressure touch. I do not believe the blackstone will gain the recognition it deserves until users unlearn the high pressure SG regular thinking. This unlearning process is similar to having to get away from some dry grinding habits when using the Tormek.

Even the handbook is essentially written for the regular SG grinding wheel. Use of the blackstone will continue to be smaller and less satisfactory until the handbook is modified to incorporate its use.

So, "just out of curiousity", how many of us actually have our Tormeks on table surfaces 50 to 60cm high?

Ken

[WolfY]

The working hight is dependent on 2 Main factors as I see it.
Firstly your personal hight. I'm 183 cm 6.1" and use the TORMEK 100% for sharpening (secondly) against the Stone rotation.
I've found that 65cm is perfect for me.

Actualy I've bought another Swedish product from IKEA and modified it as working bench. I'll post pics when getting home.