Chisel Edge not square to side

[hedgelayer]

I know this has been raised before. I'm a Tormek newbie.

I purchased a Supergrind 2000 from Ebay that produces a superb edge on my chisels. The stone is quite worn (180 mm diameter) but otherwise looks OK. But the ground edge is not square to the side of the chisel - despite the fact that I have used the truing tool to dress the stone. It almost seems like the tool rest is not square to the stone. (I have seen discussions elsewhere on this topic on this site). The degree of skew is quite pronounced - to the extent that I have reverted to manual sharpening.

What am I doing wrong ? Or could there be something amiss with the machine I have bought ?

Many thanks for all suggestions.

James

[Ken S]

Welcome to the forum, James.

If you have not already registered your Tormek online (tormek.com), I suggest doing so. Your Tormek is out of warranty period, however, once you are registered you may download the latest version of the handbook. The handbook is a solid reference; I use it often.

Adjust the universal support bar very close to the grinding wheel. In very good light, look at the opening between the support bar and the grinding wheel. The opening should look parallel. If it is not parallel, I suggest you email Tormek support in Sweden. (support@tormek.se)

I believe we have a natural tendency to want to sharpen a set of chisels in order, beginning with the most narrow. This is a difficult path. Begin with your 3/4" (19mm) chisel. It is wide enough to provide a well supported flat area and not excessively wide. (Be sure to read the first frozen topic on Tips)

The black marker is useful. Blacken the bevel and turn the grinding wheel just a little by hand. Examine the shiny metal the wheel has removed. It should be even across and square. If not, you may have to tweak your chisel setting in the jig. A small square is essential gor checking. Be sure to test your square for squareness. Scribe a line, flip the square, and draw a second line. If the two lines are parallel, your square is true.

I suggest you start with light grinding pressure. There is an English language idiom (at least in the US), "putting some English on it", meaning to vary the pressure to favor the longer side. My mind tells me this should not be necessary in theory. In the real world, varying finger pressure corrects a lot of minor problems. With practice, this should become intuitive.

You will need to replace your worn grinding wheel soon. 180mm diameter is just about the minimum generally useful size. You may also wish to upgrade your truing tool, universal support, and square edge jig at some point. I suggest you work through your squareness problem before replacing anything. The troubleshooting experience will stand by you well.

By all means, do keep posting, both your successes and frustrations.

I started the Tips topic because your frustration is common. Tormek recently added a video studio at the factory. I am hoping one of the first videos  will be a much needed video covering the Tips topic. The Tormek is a fine machine, once the learning curve is mastered. Time spend learning the basics will be well rewarded.

Ken

[Herman Trivilino]

It almost seems like the tool rest is not square to the stone.

The horizontal rod that's part of the tool rest (the Universal Support) must be parallel to the axis of rotation of the grindstone. Otherwise you will never be able to produce square ends on your chisels. Check that the freshly trued surface of the grindstone is square to the edge of the grindstone. Easy to do with a carpenter's square or the like.

Or could there be something amiss with the machine I have bought ?

Look and see if the Universal Support is bent. Also, check that the two sleeves that hold the Universal Support are properly seated in the housing. If the Universal Support is bent, you can replace it. If the housing is bent such that the two sleeves are no longer holding the Universal support rod parallel to the grindstone axis then you are probably out of luck.

In the newest designs (T4 and T8) Tormek has made those sleeves an integral part of the housing, which leads me to suspect there were in at least some cases alignment problems with the sleeves in the older designs.

I also have the SuperGrind 2000, purchased back in 2002 and still going strong on its third grindstone.

By the way, a 180 mm diameter grindstone is too small. You will find that in many cases the machine's housing gets in the way of the tool or knife you're trying to sharpen, or the jig you're using.

[Ken S]

Good post, Herman

Ken