New owner of used 2000, couple of questions

[RichColvin]

I upgraded my truing tool and can tell you the new one works quite a bit better. 

[Herman Trivilino]

I upgraded my truing tool and can tell you the new one works quite a bit better.

I think I remember you mentioning this before. Ever since then I've really wanted to upgrade, but it's hard for me to justify the cost. It's not that I don't have the money, it's just the cheapskate in me! 

[Kavik]

The truing tool is one thing I'm still getting frustrated with.... I'll get half way through the wheel with no problem, then the other half chatters so much it leaves patterns in the wheel, forcing me to take another pass and waste more stone 

I've tried going lighter passes, deeper passes, faster, slower.... Can't figure out what the common denominator is when it decides to do it and when it decides to work fine

[cbwx34]

The truing tool is one thing I'm still getting frustrated with.... I'll get half way through the wheel with no problem, then the other half chatters so much it leaves patterns in the wheel, forcing me to take another pass and waste more stone 

I've tried going lighter passes, deeper passes, faster, slower.... Can't figure out what the common denominator is when it decides to do it and when it decides to work fine

You might take a look at this thread... has some tips that could help.

https://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=1353.0

[Kavik]

Thanks cb... Unfortunately that thread kinda died out, but I'll try the suggestion about rotating the cutting rod next time I use it

[Ken S]

Thanks for posting the link, CB. That thread is typical of Jeff Farris' experienced advice. I had not remembered his suggestion of grinding from the outside inward with the truing tool. It makes sense. I will true that direction in the future.

I believe the goal should be a very smooth grinding surface while learning. I generally move the tool at the recommended very slow rate. I also make the first few passes light enough to just touch the highest spot on the wheel, lowering only a fraction of a microadjust number with succeeding passes until the last pass lightly touches the entire wheel circumference the entire width.

Do this slowly. Speed will soon arrive with practice.

Keep posting until you have mastered this. I suspect modt of the silent majority of our members and guests are not comfortable with truing. This is unfortunate. Truing is a skill readily mastered with some focused practice. Your learning time will make every sharpening session time better. Fortune favors those brave enough to learn.

Ken

[RichColvin]

The older truing tool seemed to me to be more difficult to control.   Before moving to the new tool, I was reluctant to true the wheel mainly as I was never able to master the old tool, and thusly the grinding wheel never got a smooth finish.  I disliked the old one so much that I gave it to the Tormek historian (Ken Schroeder).  Haven't heard if he has tried it or not.

With the new one (TT-50), it is very easy to take controlled, light, and even strokes.  It leaves the stone flat with very light truing ridges that can easily be cleaned up with the stone grader.  But I didn't realize the difference until I got the new one. 

If you have an older truing tool and want to upgrade, you can get the new one without the diamond tip (TT-50U vs. TT-50), and transfer the diamond tip from the older tool.  That will save you $20-25.  (And indeed, it is the route I took).

Oh, and by the way, I can't imagine truing my Japanese wheel with the older tool !!

Good luck,
Rich

[Kavik]

I do have the new version (tt-50), and while looking at this design over the old one it seems a million times better of a design...  but I've noticed a few things while working on it tonight that seem to make it less than consistent sometimes

The first (worst) being the amount of play between the top plate and the box the cutter sits in, for lack of a better term.  I assume this is too allow a very minor angle change so that the diamond bit will rest correctly on the curved wheel... But in practice it seems to be this slop that allows the tool to jump so much when the vibrations start.
The second is that the "fork" on the side that locks it in place against the vertical rod on the USB isn't a very snug fit. This may very well be nothing at all, but it does change the angle by a degree or two depending how you set it. So I've just taken to setting it so that it's set tight to the rod in the direction the wheel turns, so it relies less on the locking screw to hold tight
And lastly, the threaded rod itself is not the heaviest duty rod in the world, and doesn't take a whole lot of pressure to flex. This one is most likely insignificant during a "good cut", but i imagine it doesn't help once vibrations start

Based on the advice in the other thread i tried rotating the cutter head a bit... Helped some, but not completely.

But then I remembered I read somewhere someone suggested taking out the slop I mentioned in the first issue above. So I grabbed what was handy, a thin cardstock tag from a pair of shoes I just bought, folded it in half, and slid it in between the top plate and the box that holds the cutter, placed horizontally along the whole  length on the side side the threaded rod, and tested the movement. Side to side still moved good, with just a little more resistance, but up and down movement was eliminated, unless I put excessive pressure on it.

Put it all together and took 3 real light cuts at a speed around 90 seconds (moving from the outside of the wheel to the inside) and it cut flawlessly! Never even hinted that it was tempted to chatter 

I'll be looking for a more permanent fix for something to insert there and eliminate that gap now....was a world of difference, i'd suggest it to anyone with similarly bad experiences

[Ken S]

I upgraded my truing tool and can tell you the new one works quite a bit better.

I think I remember you mentioning this before. Ever since then I've really wanted to upgrade, but it's hard for me to justify the cost. It's not that I don't have the money, it's just the cheapskate in me! 

Herman,

I believe there is some inner cheapskate in all of us. There certainly is in me. I may sound like a broken record Tormek cheerleader in recommend that beginners purchase a new Tormek, generally of the latest model. The issue is not money. The problem is that most beginners do not have a friend or family member to serve as their coach. If I had had such a coach, I would most probably be happily buzzing along with a well tuned ancient SuperGrind Lacking such a coach, I purchased a new T7, the flagship at the time, and essentially taught myself how to use it, with help from the forum.

Based on my own learning experience and the posts of many new users, I have become convinced that having a new, under warranty Tormek eliminates many bumps along the kearning curve. There are enough skills to learn to bevome a proficient Tormek sharpener without the gremlins of an older machine.

Sooner or later, we must face most of these gremlins. However, I believe we are better prepared to meet them if we have first mastered the Tormek basics. I would argue that this train of thought also works with both your small platform and my kenjig. Using your small platform reduces the stress of sharpening small knives. (It is certainly not limited to small knives.) We still have to learn to hold the knife and grind. Your small platform jig eliminates the tedium of trying to set up small knives. In the case of my kenjig, we still have to grind properly. What we can bypass is the tedium of using the Anglemaster with knives.

The moral of this story for beginners is to ask lots of questions. If you have an experienced relative or neighbor, you are indeed fortunate. If not, by all means ask questions on the forum. We are here to help, and we have all been beginners. Whether you choose to go new or used, do so well informed. Know the proper price. Know which jigs are improved. Know how critical or not so critical some of the new models are. There is a lot of overpriced stuff for sale, both new and older, online. Beware, but, more importantly, be smart and informed.

Ken

[cbwx34]

With all this "truing" talk  ... it made me take a close look at my stone.  I keep it in pretty good shape using a DMT XXC stone (braced against a USB... works pretty good, at least for knife sharpening), but had a couple of spots a bit out of whack... so decided to use the Truing Tool (old version), and clean it up a bit.

Worked fine, but wanted to point out that after truing and grading the stone fine, I remarked the stone with the angle markings... but noted that the old markings were still faintly visible (see attached pic... also made the marks a bit more accurate).  Thought it was a good indicator that if the stone is kept in decent shape... very little material is actually removed in the truing/grading process... (it seems like a lot in the water  ).  (I'm sure a bit of Sharpie soaks in... but doubt it's very much).  Just thought it was an interesting observation.

[Herman Trivilino]

Can't figure out what the common denominator is when it decides to do it and when it decides to work fine

The Universal Support is held in place by two sleeves that are mounted in the body of the machine. Are those sleeves securely mounted? The reason I ask is because it sounds like you have an alignment problem that is intermittent.

[Ken S]

Interesting point, Herman.

I do not believe I have encountered any sleeve alignment problems with my T7. However, Tormek eliminated that possibility when they redesigned the cast and machined zinc housing on the T4 and, later, the T8. Was there an alignment problem, or did the Tormek design team just decide to tighten up the alignment? I don't know, but I have a gut feeling that the machined zinc top may actually be a more major advancement than the new water trough.

Ken

[Herman Trivilino]

I do not believe I have encountered any sleeve alignment problems with my T7.

Me, either. But we didn't buy our machines used. There's no way to know if that machine had ever been dropped or had something heavy land on it.

[Kavik]

You make a good point there Herman, but yes, both the vertical and horizontal more both seem rock solid. And i see no indication of damage to the mounts, or anywhere else on the body of the machine

I actually ended up using the tt50 a couple of times again today while reprofiling another skew chisel (the bgm100 is on order, so i can start doing this on the other grinder soon), and I'm happy to report that the fix i mentioned above, of closing the gap above the cutter head, has continued to work for me 

[Ken S]

Several years ago, Ionut, a very experienced forum member, posted about the gap. His solution was to place an electrical cable tie through the hole in the TT-50. He posted a lengthy explanation.

I had not experienced this difficulty, however, as I regard Ionut highly, I placed a cable tie on my TT-50. It eliminated the gap. I had the tie on for several years before removing it. For me, the TT-50 seems to work with or without the tie. If I ever encounter the difficulty, my first line of defense will be to place a tie.

Ken