Honing Wheel Wobble?

[Ken S]

Komidadjie, please post the rest of the story after all is resolved. I have no doubt that Tormek will give you solid service; I am just curious to learn the cause.

Ken

[Komitadjie]

Definitely will!  They're sending me a new drive wheel, since that seems to be the culprit here.  It would take very, VERY little variation in the boring of that central hole in the casting to cause the wobble, just a fraction of a degree would be enough with that amount of lever arm for it to act over.  It will be interesting to see how the new wheel does.  I'd put money on it being a total solution.

[Ken S]

Komitadgie,

Any company may have an occasional problem with one of its products. I believe the true measure of a company is how it handles that problem. Tormek has once again stepped up to the plate and done the right thing. I expected nothing less. Your videos clearly showed a wobbly drive wheel, and your posts indicated that you have mechanical skills. I think sending you a new drive wheel was the logical choice. It will restore service more quickly than having you ship your Tormek back and, you have remained in service, wobbling along, but still functioning, during repairs.

When the redesigned zinc drive wheels became available, I purchased one (as a spare part) for my T7. There was nothing wrong with my older drive wheel; I just like to keep current with Tormek improvements. While the older plastic drive wheel worked very well, the new zinc drive wheel is really impressive. It looks very solid!

I look forward to your future posts as you become a happy Tormeker.

Ken

[RichColvin]

Ken,

Does the zinc wheel work on the T-2000?

Kind regards,
Rich

[Ken S]

Yes. It will fit all Tormek models with 250mm diameter grinding wheels.

Ken

[Herman Trivilino]

It looks to me like the drive wheel itself is the problem. Remove it and lay it on a flat surface such as the top of a table saw. I bet it doesn't lie flat, but instead rocks on the surface like a bent coin would. This then causes the honing wheel to wobble because it mounts to the face of that bent drive wheel.

My guess is that the machine was dropped and landed on the drive wheel, bending it. But if it was doing that when it came new out of the box then it must have been bent somewhere during manufacturing, packaging, or shipping.

I have had two items (a dishwasher and a compressor) damaged in shipping. Now, if I receive a delivered item with any damage to the shipping box I don't even bother opening the box. I just return it for a replacement.

[Ken S]

Excellent point, Herman.

My Tormek Work Station arrived with a damaged (probably dropped) box. I noticed it even before it was off the truck. I should have refused it. My work station has a dented top lip. I pounded it out with a hammer ans a block of wood. It is functional. If it was a scratch and dent special at a reduced price, it would have been fine. For a brand new purchased item, it should not have been damaged. My failt for accepting the package.

Do not accept delivery of damaged boxes.

Ken

[Herman Trivilino]

I should have refused it.

I don't know if that's an option. I suspect the deliverer would just tell you that you need to contact the vendor to schedule a return.

[Ken S]

I should have overcome my resistance due to the size and weight of the package and insisted on an undamaged package.

Ken

[Komitadjie]

HAH.  If I refused delivery of all damaged boxes, I'd never get *anything* I ordered online. 

[Ken S]

Point well taken. I do think we would have fewer damaged products if manufacturers believed we were willing to do more assembly. Primarily, I think more careful packaging would help. Free shipping should not mean cheaper, inadequate packaging.

Ken

[Komitadjie]

Agreed.  It seems that shipping companies have been becoming more and more carelessly rough with packages, to the tune that conventional cardboard boxes and styrofoam, unless VERY carefully designed, simply aren't enough to protect something with any weight.  I've had a number of things delivered in totally unusable condition that I've had to deal with shipping back.  The packaging was entirely suitable for handling, it's the same packaging you'd find in Lowes, etc, that survived being trucked to their store just fine.  But give it to USPS/UPS?  Wrecked. 

[Ken S]

How does your new drive wheel work? (Quite well, I hope.)

Decades ago in the film camera era, the owner of my favorite photo shop offered three film and print processing choices. Some customers preferred the cheapest cost; some wanted the fastest; and a few, like me, wanted quality. (Eastman Kodak back then) I do not see the shipping situation getting better until we customers get over the market created "free shipping" fetish and demand quality.

Ken

[Komitadjie]

Hasn't showed up yet, if FedEx is to be believed, it'll be mid-next-week some time. 

I think the biggest problem there is that the major shippers have reached a parity of incompetence.  They *all* smash your packages, lie about delivery dates, leave notes when there ARE people home, etc.  There's really no competition, because hey, that guy can get away with it, so why can't we? 

[Ken S]

I think the real lesson of this topic is to contact Tormek support (support.tormek.se) right away when you notice or suspect a machine problem. By all means, post on the forum, also. We always try to be helpful, however, it is Tormek support which actually starts the repair process. In this case, your Tormek would already working properly.

Ken