EZYlock

[Ken S]

Tormek's EZYlock system generally works flawlessly, but occasionally there are posts about it jamming.  While rare, several of us have experienced it.  This has prompted me to examine possible causes and prevention.

I  believe most (not all) of the jamming is due to our right hand thread brain programming. Left hand threads do not compute naturally. This can be unlearned. I did that by placing a piece of tape on top of my Tormek with an arrow pointing in the correct direction to loosen the EZYlock nut as a visual reminder. A less forgetful person might just look at the small directional arrows on the EZYlock nut.

While not totally dismissing the possibility, I do not believe there is a design or manufacturing problem with the EZYlock itself. Tormek is very thorough in its design/engineering process. I am impressed with the machining of the EZYlock. With today's computerized machining, consistency and precision are the norm in quality products.

The next area of examination is operator techniques which might add to or help prevent jamming.

The technique used to mount the grinding wheel may have an influence. My clue in this happens around 4:30 on Alan Holtham's upgrades video. (tormek.com> upgrades> EZYlock> Alan Holtham video)  Alan places the grinding wheel on the shaft and loosely tightens the nut. He explains how just turning on the motor will cause the nut with left hand thread will automatically tighten the nut properly. He demonstrates this on the video.

I am not an engineer. I believe this information to be accurate. One of the ways motors are rated is in foot pounds of torque (or equivalent metric units). I would think using a motor to tighten a nut would seem to apply a quantifiable amount of torque, a much more standard amount of torque than having multiple users use their muscle power. Letting the motor handle tightening seems a very logical first line of defense. This combined with a memory system for left hand threads, in my opinion, would eliminate most of the jamming.

Can overtightening stress be cumulative? I use the EZYlock often, both to change grinding wheels and to remove the wheels at the end of each sharpening. I find this helps in cleaning/drying the Tormek. I hang my wheels on sturdy hooks. I lift up the wheelless Tormek and dry off the rubber mat. I place the rotating base vertically to dry. This may be overkill, but, I have not had a jam since starting this routine.

I do not believe this post is the final word on the subject. I hope the shared combined experience of the forum and some comments from Sweden will effectively eliminate jamming. I value your responses.

Ken

[jeffs55]

The technique used to mount the grinding wheel may have an influence. My clue in this happens around 4:30 on Alan Holtham's upgrades video. (tormek.com> upgrades> EZYlock> Alan Holtham video)  Alan places the grinding wheel on the shaft and loosely tightens the nut. He explains how just turning on the motor will cause the nut with left hand thread will automatically tighten the nut properly. He demonstrates this on the video.

Ken, I believe you are on to something because of the following. I have a string trimmer aka a weed eater. Whenever I replace the line and hand tighten the locking nut which is really a large plastic device with a screw in it and tighten it pretty good, the next time around it can be removed by hand. If I tighten it very little and let the machines energy tighten it, I sometimes have to use a large slip joint type plier.

[Hatchcanyon]

There is a helpful saying in German language:

"So wie ich lauf so geh ich auf!"

Crude translation: "They way I go I open too!" Sorry can't find a good rhyme in English.

One have to turn the wheel by hand in the same direction it runs powered by the motor.

Rolf

[Rem]

Turn it right to turn it loose
Turn it left and it's back in use

OK OK  so I'm not a POE(t).   There's no need to be rude.   Jeeze ...........   There is no charge for this.   R   

[Ken S]

Rem,

Cute poem.

Rolf,

I like the German saying (Es gefielt mir.) I could place a note with it next to my Tormek....with a reminder not to forget to sharpen.

Ken

[grepper]

I knew a guy who, each time he loosened or tightened a screw or nut he would mumble, "righty tighty, lefty loosey".  Cute, eh?

So, maybe it's easy to remember not to forget to remember not to forget that with a Tormek it's simply NOT(righty tighty, lefty loosey)?  Is that NOT(easier to remember) or !=(easier to remember)?

[Rem]

Yeah .... for sure !!!!    R   

[Janne]

Hello.
The main thing is to use the grind stone to loosen the nut and NOT try to loosen the nut itself due to the friction between grind stone and nut.
Janne.

[Ken S]

Janne,

I was thinking about you yesterday. I was helping our volunteer table and chair repairman at my grandchildren's school. Some of the legs on the round library tables have become loose over thirty years. The tables are rolled around for events at the school; they get hard use.

We were drilling holes for bolts. Because the tables are round, there is very little working room. A standard or right angle drill with a standard length bit will not fit to start the hole, and a standard 6mm bit is not quite long enough to completely drill the 115mm depth of the hole.

We ended up starting the hole with a small angle head. It has a hex chuck for interchangeable bits (typically stubby screw driver bits). I happened to have a short drill bit with a matching hex shank.

We had to switch to longer bits a few times, pushing the bits into the hole before installing the bits in a chuck. We did not have enough clearance to properly tighten either the small three jaw chuck which fit into the hex angle chuck or the chuck of the right angle drill. (The chucks are keyless, not the keyed Jacobs chucks I still prefer.) I regret that some of the shanks were damaged due to not being able to fully tighten the drill bits. The bits cut, but not without slipping.

I had no time to prepare for this job. If I had been given more time, I would have made some bits of different lengths. I have done this before by shortening long (300mm) "bell hanger" bits. Removing some of the twist and resharpening would work, too.

Mostly, I would have ground the shanks to properly fit in the hex chuck. Working as a telephone installer, I kept a hex adaptor almost permanently mounted in the Jacobs chuck of my battery drill. we used hex head (sheet metal) screws. The hex adaptor was very convenient and fast. I found and used adaptors to hold small masonry bits in the hex adaptor.

Today, some drill bits are ground with a hex shank. However, most drill bits are still round shanked. So many of the trades use cordless drill/drivers today. If a sharpener, like yourself could make up a simple jig to be able to grind round shaft bits to hex, they would work more quickly for a tradesman. Sometimes, like my table work yesterday, a sharpener who could adapt a bit to a custom length would be a very valuable person.

We had six tables to drill, each having four legs and two bolts in each of the four legs. (48 holes).
Given more time to prepare, I would have brought my T4 and DBS-22 in my bowling ball bag. It makes the T4 quite portable.

As a personal side note, my great great grandfather was listed in the 1819 Mecklenburg census for Rostock (now Germany) as a table refinisher.

Ken

[Ken S]

The EZYlock, in my opinion, is an example of a situation going well beyond Tormek and sharpening.

Knowing how to properly use the EZYlock is an essential skill for a Tormek user. I suspect mastering it involves a little more than just initially mounting the grinding wheel. Unfortunately, using the EZYlock, like so many other operations in life, is only done once or rarely enough not to become fluent with it. How many of us actually remove the grinding wheel at least annually to regrease the bushings? How many of us begin initial use of the Tormek by truing the grinding wheel, and how many of us regularly true that grinding wheel?

These basic skills become second nature and habit with regular use. They become forgotten and intimidating with disuse. Jeff Farris used to remove the grinding wheels from his Tormeks whenever he travelled, which was quite frequently. This was before the EZYlock, in the wrench days. I do not believe he ever thought about having a bent shaft because of this precaution.

Several times in the past, I noticed grinding inconsistencies, which were corrected by retruing the grinding wheel.

People may think my removing the grinding wheel at the end of a sharpening session is overkill. It may be, however, I feel quite comfortable with the EZYlock and, I prefer to have my grinding wheels dry out away from the Tormek. (which may require several days and is not a problem)

Ken

[Rem]

Due to an iatrogenic (operator error sort of .... don't panic, I looked it up) error, I ended up truing the grindstone.  It's easy peasy.  Don't hesitate to take it on.  Just don't be overly aggressive.   If I can do it, my dog can do it.  And it really works. 

As a little tip regarding EZYlock directional concerns, when I want to loosen the grindstone, I just rotate it in the direction of the on/off switch set.  Don't even have to think about it.  Mine is the T8, but based on pictures I've seen, that will work with the T7 as well.   Since the on/off switches don't move    it works every time.

There is no charge for this enlightening information.    R   

[Ken S]

Rem,

Your dog told me he thought that since he can do it, it was very possible that you could, too.

You are right on with very light truing cuts. I like to start where the diamond only lightly touches the highest spots if at all. Then I proceed in half number steps, slowly removing an increasingly larger higher high spot. Eventually you will remove a light cut from the entire circumference and the entire width of the grinding wheel. At that point, you are true and at peace with the universe.

Make sure you do not stray far from that point. That will protect you from many sharpening gremlins.

Eventually you can make heavier cutsif you need to.

Ken

[Herman Trivilino]

Crude translation: "They way I go I open too!" Sorry can't find a good rhyme in English.

The way I goo, I open too. (Sorry, I just couldn't resist!)

Seriously, though, this is the reason my table saw shaft has left-handed threads. The teeth on the upper side of the blade rotate towards me, the operator, so that is also the direction in which I rotate the wrench handle when I want to remove the blade.

The EzyLock is a bit more complicated, though, because in addition to having the left-handed threads it is designed to be removed by rotating the grindstone itself rather than the nut. You are essentially using the grindstone itself as the "wrench" and relying on friction between the grindstone and the EzyLock knob to make the EzyLock knob rotate relative to the shaft. When this fails, for whatever reason, I have to get the channel lock pliers out and apply them directly to the EzyLock knob.

[RichColvin]

I knew a guy who, each time he loosened or tightened a screw or nut he would mumble, "righty tighty, lefty loosey".

I didn't know we had met in person.   I do that, even today at 52 yrs old ...

[Ken S]

I wonder if the left hand threads might be just the smallest bit cut too short, allowing the nut to occasionally engage with the partially cut and slightly thicker part of the shaft? I will check this later when I can access my workshop.

If that might be the case, a thicker washer would prevent possible problems. Even just adding a standard 14mm stainless fender washer on the grinding wheel side between the housing and the grinding wheel.

I have used an assortment of spacer washers to fill in when using the 25mm (1") thick 3X wheels. There is some small range in the required extension of the threaded shaft.

I submit this only as a possibility. Hopefully Sweden will post with a more researched post.

Ken