Shaft thread wears bushing

[Ken S]

SADW,

I used to live about an hour and a half from Steve, and regretted not having met him before he retired. (I had ordered his book from him.) I had the good fortune of spending a day with him at his home. He essentially walked me through his course, including a very pleasant walk to his favorite diner for a delightful lunch.

At the time, I had already reviewed his DVD and watched it numerous times. We have debated teacher vs DVD on the forum. I had the best of all options, all of the above. I can tell you from personal experience that his Sharpening School DVD and package is just like studying with him. (Alas, without the lunch at Joe's. Check it out on his website (sharpeningmadeeasy.com)  I consider it a bargain for training from a real deal knife and scissors man. In addition to having years of "in the trenches" sharpening experience, Steve brings the expertise of both a trained engineer and a love for the subject. I consider it must have training for anyone starting a sharpening business or, like me, an enthusiastic amateur.

Ken

[cbwx34]

Stig has told me about an American knife sharpener named Terry. I forget the vast number of knives Terry has sharpened over the years. What is even more amazing is that Terry bought his Tormek used, several years used. His venerable SuperGrind is still going strong! My grandfather's 1891 Stanley jack plane still works great, even with a broken frog, however, that is with very light use. Terry's SuperGrind gets day in day out commercial use.

Terry is in this video...

Tormek Sharpens 30,000 knives

Since Steve has retired, I would love to meet this guy and take some training from him.  I can see this as a retirement gig.

Pretty sure this is the same Terry... and he does offer training...

SharpQuick

Steve's "Sharpening Package" is a good option also.

[SharpenADullWitt]

I have the course, ordered it pretty close to when he announced retirement.

I still see benefit from having someone with experience, watch the student as they may catch things that you don't realize your doing, to cause issues.

[Ken S]

Excellent point, SADW. In this case, I have been fortunate enough to spend time with Steve. Spending a day with Steve at his home and shop, he generously gave me the essence of the class he had taught for many years. That is how I know that his DVD closely resembles his class. Steve made the DVD wanting future students to benefit from his training after he retired.

Ideally, I would have both the mentor and friend looking over my shoulder, and the DVD for periodic refreshment of my knowledge. Every time I watch Steve's DVD I pick up new knowledge. I can't speak for others, however, with me, I learn by stages. I usually pick up a basic understanding initially. As I work with the subject matter and continue to explore, my understanding gradually deepens. During my telephone career, I always welcomed the rare opportunity to have a class a second time, after a few years of field work. The second class gave me the chance to really hone my knowledge, picking up fine points.

I agree that a DVD is not quite the same as personal mentoring, however, when a dedicated expert teacher puts the amount of work into a project like Steve did, it comes very close.

When I was younger, I bought a lot of equipment. As I finally matured, I have come to realize that equipment is of secondary importance when compated to knowledge.

Ken