Badass Blades INC. Sharpening Staion

[Badassblades]

Here is my new sharpening station,

[Badassblades]

I just sharpened my complete set of Kitchen knives with the T8

Observations?

I absolutely love this machine! I will be buying both the Black Grapite and the Japanese stones as soon as I can

[RichColvin]

Both are awesome & you'll love them also..

Kind regards,
Rich

[Badassblades]

So I did all of my high end pocket knives, this system gets them as Sharp as my Wicked Edge,
I have ordered both the Black stone and the Japenese stone, I can't wait to get them

[peterpig]

Black stones are cheapest in Canada - Elite Tools - - -
Blackstone silicon stone - Tormek SB-250

$249.95 CAD


Item # : SB-250

Availability : out of stock
Notify me when the product is back in stock

FREE SHIPPING*
Got the LAST ONE last week !
The Jap wet stone was from Germany  . . . .


        mailorder@feinewerkzeuge.de
        15 Mar at 9:28 PM

To

        locksmith@y7mail.com

Message body
Thank you very much for your order!


Date   :     15.03.2017/11:28 Uhr
Order nr.   :     623437
Service/Payment   :     DHL/PayPal
   Dieter Schmid - Fine Tools


Quantity   Item nr.   Description   Price   Total
1    313621    Japanese  Grinding Wheel for Tormek T7 Size 253-257 x 45-47 x 12 mm Grain Size 4000     175,63 EUR   175,63 EUR
Subtotal :   175,63 EUR
+ Shipping Costs :   90,00 EUR
Total Price incl. Sales Tax (VAT) :   265,63 EUR
incl. Sales Tax (VAT) 19% :   0,00 EUR
incl. Sales Tax (VAT) 7% :   0,00 EUR
WITH SHIPPING the TOTAL was 265 Euros  -  here in Sydney the buggers want over $500 for it !
When the going gets tough, the tough goes shopping .
Shop till you drop !

[Badassblades]

I am thinking of adding a T7 to my sharpening station, I could keep the Black stone on the T8 and keep the Japanese stone on the T7 and keep them running at gun and knife shows

[Ken S]

Steven,

Your two Tormek idea has potential, especially if you also have a second skilled operator. Based on my very limited experience at woodworking shows, while you are sharpening a knife for one person, you may have several people waiting, some of whom may have more than one knife. Some of those knives may not fit well in the knife jigs.

I do not mean to rain on any parades, merely to point out that you have to be prepared to work very efficiently. You do not have the luxury of working quietly at shows. You are also competing with reps demonstrating their sharpening systems by sharpening knives at no cost. I do believe that some pocket knives are only sharpened at shows.

You may be able to put a noticeably better edge on a knife with your dual Tormek set up. That does not guarantee that the show goers will be willing to pay accordingly, especially when the next three guys will provide a free sharpening.

Some suggestions?

You need to be super organized. Your grinding wheels must be in tip top condition before setting up. That includes being trued and graded. Bring plenty of water; you don't want to have to walk across the show floor looking for water, or a place to dump your water.

Research the kenjig postings on this forum. You will not want to waste time with a lot of unnecessary jig setting time. Make sure you have enough jigs to work efficiently.

Become very skilled with the stone grader. You defeat the purpose of the SJ, a polishing stone, if you do not first prepare the edge with the regular wheel graded fine. The scratches must be very fine in order for the SJ to do its mirror magic.

If you do a paper sharpening test, choose your paper well and have plenty on hand. A well known Tormek showman used Tormek brochures. This looked flashy; the brochures also cut easily, even under less than perfect "battlefield" conditions.

Unless you are very skilled and experienced, I think getting Steve Bottorff's DVD Sharpening School is an excellent investment. (sharpeningmadeeasy.com) Steve is a veteran Tormeker who has condensed his many years of farmers market sharpening and teaching into a very solid DVD. I spent a day with Steve in his shop where he essentially walked me through much of the class he taught before retiring. I have watched his DVD at least a dozen times, and learn more each time. The training from Steve's DVD will be invaluable for a professional sharpener. Study it before doing showwork.

Best of luck and do keep us posted.

Ken

[OBR]

Steven,

I'll second Ken's suggestion to watch that Sharpening Made Easy DVD. I watched it after two years of sharpening at our farmers' market and learned how important it was to check the burr all along the ground edge. He had lots of other tips that I have integrated into my system during my third season. I'll watch it again, but first I need to decide on a CBN wheel for my T7.

Curt

[Badassblades]

Thank you all for the suggestions, the Knife show I just worked had only one other Sharpening guy who was charging $8.00 and using a belt grinder, I watched him ruin the temper of at least 5 knives before I set up,

I immediately took his  customers after a small crowd watched me sharpen the first customers knife,
You all should know that I have sharpened literally hundreds of knifes with my Wicked Edge, this has made me very aware of all sharpening what to do and what. Not to do,

I sharpened a total of 32 knives and everyone was more than happy


Next time I may have a T7 with me and use the Japanese stone

[Ken S]

Steven,

As the facts gradually drift in, I must say that I am pleased that your knife shows are more friendly to a competent sharpener making an honest fee for good work.

Best of luck to you in this endeavor. Keep us posted.

Ken

[Badassblades]

Update,

I totally forgot to update this, I had a small issue with my T8 the motor made some funny sounds, I contacted Tormek who put me in touch with Affinity tool. I shipped them my T8 and explained that I had a show to do 3 days later. The motor had to be shipped from Sweden, so they overnighted me a new T7 to use.

After using the T7 I decided I would like to buy it, so I asked what they would charge me for the unit without the stone as I did not need it, they let me keep the T7 and my T8 came back as good as new,
I now have both systems and my Gen3 Wicked Edge is being replaced by a 2017 Commercial Wicked Edge system I will post pics when I get it all set up, I cannot say enough about how good the service was from Affinity tool, and they were truly awesome giving me the T7

[Ken S]

Steven,

I am pleased and not at all surprised that you had a very good experience with Affinity Tool. I have met several family members over the years. (Affinity is a family business.) They are a good group of people; I have never been disappointed with them. I have asked both the Affinity people and Stig some very direct questions about Tormek's warranty service. Their answers were always positive and these words have been supported with solid reports. I wish more companies operated that way.

Please keep us updated with your show experiences. Having two operating Tormeks would also be a very efficient alternative to using the stone grader midstream. With some initial care in set up, all you would need to do would be slide the knife off of the support bar on the coarsely graded machine and onto the support bar of the fine graded machine.

Grepper made some microscope photos of Stig's suggestion to end with very light passes. It really showed a smoother edge. That might serve you well for a lot of your work. Finishing with the SJ-250 could be an optional (and higher priced) extra. Keep a knife sharpened with one side SG graded fine and the other bevel finished with the SJ for the customers to examine.

Best of luck!

Ken

[SharpenADullWitt]

Truly cheap advertising for them.  By now, the T7's are the "old model" so less people are wanting them who are new to Tormek. (don't yet understand the value)
They get to write it off.
They get your word of mouth, and future sales from those who ask you what and where to buy. (and you)
They both prove that they honor Tormek, as well as following the golden rule (treat others like you expect to be treated).
JF was very much the same, when he was "the man" for Tormek stuff in this country.
A win win all around.
Can't wait for pictures.

[Badassblades]

I am in Brazil for two more weeks, when I get Stateside I have a 2017 Wicked Edge Commercial system and all the trimmings that I ordered at Blade Show waiting for me, when I get this setup I'll take pictures of my station with it and the two Tormek machines

[Rem]

Here is my new sharpening station,

That's bad ass, Badass ......  lookin' good.   R