New to Tormek but not new to sharpening

[Y-Not]

I think you have a good chance at success, if you stay focused and simple. Stick with basic knife sharpening. With a Saturday morming busy routine you don't have the luxury of spending a lot of time with one knife. Spend your learning time mastering the basic machine and knife sharpening.

If a knife needs more than sharpening, suggest that the customer pick it up next week or decline the work.

I would start out with the Tormek knife jigs and standard technique. You can always get fancy later if you want to. Many of us have developed our technique, which we will be more than glad to share, however, I highly recommend you begin with standard Tormek doctrine.

I recommend that you return the turning kit. You need to focus your spending on what you are actually using. It seems odd to me that your dealer did not have the handtool jigs.

Practice.......

Ken

Indeed.  Basics first.
I fully intend to return the turning kit.  The thing with that is that it came as part of the packaged deal
The hand tool kit and the wood turning kit both came with the package.

The original package I was looking at just had the hand tool kit.  And that's really all I think I'll ever use. But again, when I finally decided to pull the trigger and place the order, that packaged deal was sold out.  So I had to step up to the wood turning package to get the hand tool kit.

Either way, I've got the basic gear that I'll need to get started.

My wife wants to be involved which is good.  She'll receive everything and make the calls to everyone when each job is complete.  My only task while at the market is sharpening. Of course, I get to set everything up and break it down. But during the market hours, it'll be me, in my zone. Doing what I do.

[Y-Not]

It arrive and it's beautiful.  Sweet looking machine.  I powered it on just to hear how much noise it makes.  Nice a quite.  After dinner, I'll start putting it together, oiling the leather and see what damage I can do to my cheap chisels.

[Grizz]

I am sure you will enjoy your machine as much as I do mine ! it is really a small learning curve to operate. just remember to use light pressure on the LOC (line of contact) of the blade and the wheel. you will be amazed at the level of sharpness the T-8 will produce. Good luck with your new business !

[Y-Not]

I am sure you will enjoy your machine as much as I do mine ! it is really a small learning curve to operate. just remember to use light pressure on the LOC (line of contact) of the blade and the wheel. you will be amazed at the level of sharpness the T-8 will produce. Good luck with your new business !

So far, so good.  I contribute the success I've had already to watching all the videos and reading the reviews. I had an abundance of time to kill while waiting for it to arrive.

Once I had it out and on my bench, I felt as if I'd already done this before. 

I appreciate the speed/turn around it offers. Doing it by hand on stones certainly gets the job done but it can take time if the edges are neglected or abused. I've yet to put a knife on the T8.  Still going through all of my (my father-in-laws) old rusty chisels. Just trying to find my rhythm and get into a sharpening groove.

I've no doubt that the T8 will produce an impressive edge.  Looking forward to comparing it to my freehand sharpening.  It should be fun regardless. It'll most certainly be faster than freehand.

[SharpenADullWitt]

One reason for the thrift store recommendation is to learn/practice Steve's by hand technique.
One other thing that I think would be a good item to have is a ceramic hone.  I was asked to sharpen some knives by my friends restaurant recently.  I took them home, cleaned them and ran them over the leather wheel then the hone.  That was all they needed and my friend found out the hard way, how sharp they were. (cut himself without noticing)

Now I bought them the T4 and for their uses, they are excited at how easy it is and it saves me some time. (and I get to play with it)
Enjoy your time with the new toy.

[Y-Not]

One reason for the thrift store recommendation is to learn/practice Steve's by hand technique.
One other thing that I think would be a good item to have is a ceramic hone.  I was asked to sharpen some knives by my friends restaurant recently.  I took them home, cleaned them and ran them over the leather wheel then the hone.  That was all they needed and my friend found out the hard way, how sharp they were. (cut himself without noticing)

Now I bought them the T4 and for their uses, they are excited at how easy it is and it saves me some time. (and I get to play with it)
Enjoy your time with the new toy.

I'll hitting up the thrift store and Goodwill this evening. I need some more things to practice with.  I'll be bringing my other sharpening systems with me to the market. Yesterday I did about 6 more chisels. Those are a cakewalk. Just need to be sure everything is squared up.

I then grabbed every pair of scissors in the house.  I started with the really cheap (the Bic lighters of scissors) just in case that went sideways.
Turns out, the scissors were even easier than the chisels.

I then moved on to my axes.  I had one that looked as if it were used to break up concrete. It was all messed up.
Those came out beautiful as well. I'm rather sure they've never had a edge like this before.

Then...I tried some small disposable knifes....And here is when and where I learned that the Tormek can chew up a knife if everything is not setup correctly.
The first and cheapest of the knives was a 4 inch folding pocket knife. Manufacture unknown. I suspect that they may have been too embarrassed to put their name on it. It's now about 1/4 of the knife it once was.   

The next 4 pocket knifes I did turned out beautiful. I'm going to clean them up and put them out for sale at the market.
This afternoon, I'll have a go at some fixed blade knifes.  We'll see how that goes.

My goal is to become familiar enough with sharpening most everything that someone might bring me at the Farmers Market, that I'm not constantly referring back to my manual.

After jacking up that first knife, I'll have to be triple sure that everything is set up correctly each and every time. That was a lesson well learned.

The another issue I ran into yesterday was a  horrible howling sound that started happening within a few minutes of starting the machine.
After isolating the location, I applied some wheel bearing grease to the stone/honing wheel shaft and it was quite once again.  Not sure why that happened. At that point it had only been in used, since taking it out of the box, for maybe an hour. The manual mentioned having to grease the shaft once in a while.  I was not expecting to have to do it so soon. Oh well....I'll add some axle shaft lube to my list of things to take with me to the market.  That would have made me NUTS if I had to live with that for 4 hours at the market. These are the sort of things that I need to learn about and be prepared for.

I'm looking forward to seeing what I can find at the thrift store and Goodwill this afternoon.  So far, the Tormek has been a pleasure to use. It appears to be very well thought out, designed and engineered. EVERYTHING works as designed. There have been a few little quirks here and there but nothing surprising and certainly not show stopping.

I suspect that I'm going to run out of items to practice on well before the weekend is over.   

Thanks for the tips and suggestions, please keep them coming.

[cbwx34]

...
Then...I tried some small disposable knifes....And here is when and where I learned that the Tormek can chew up a knife if everything is not setup correctly.
The first and cheapest of the knives was a 4 inch folding pocket knife. Manufacture unknown. I suspect that they may have been too embarrassed to put their name on it.It's now about 1/4 if of the knife it once was.   

The next 4 pocket knifes I did turned out beautiful. I'm going to clean them up and put them out for sale at the market.
This afternoon, I have a go at some fixed blade knifes.  We'll see how that goes.
...

I would be interested in the setup issue you had with the knife (especially since nothing else has caused any issues)... and what you did to solve it?

Thanks.

[Y-Not]

I would be interested in the setup issue you had with the knife (especially since nothing else has caused any issues)... and what you did to solve it?

Thanks.

My nature is to experiment and try "out of the box" things.  I was dorking with the small tool jig that mounts into the regular knife jig. Obviously that was the wrong set up.  When I used the just the regular knife jig, everything worked as designed and expected.

The reason that knife got all jacked up is completely my doing. Using the wrong combination of jigs.

The more I use the Tormek the more I realize that not only is the tool it's self well thought out, so are the instructions.  Follow the instructions and things work just like you'd want them to.  Stray outside the lines and things can go wrong in a hurry.

Right now, if I had to go to the market tomorrow morning, I think I'd be okay.  I'm still looking forward to more time with the Tormek as well as learning more about sharpening and sharpening as a business.

So far, so good.   

[cbwx34]

My nature is to experiment and try "out of the box" things.  I was dorking with the small tool jig that mounts into the regular knife jig. Obviously that was the wrong set up.  When I used the just the regular knife jig, everything worked as designed and expected.

The reason that knife got all jacked up is completely my doing. Using the wrong combination of jigs.

The more I use the Tormek the more I realize that not only is the tool it's self well thought out, so are the instructions.  Follow the instructions and things work just like you'd want them to.  Stray outside the lines and things can go wrong in a hurry.

Right now, if I had to go to the market tomorrow morning, I think I'd be okay.  I'm still looking forward to more time with the Tormek as well as learning more about sharpening and sharpening as a business.

So far, so good.   

Ah.  I do that to.  I assume you mean the "Small Knife Holder"?  If so, should be able to get it to work... but does take a bit of practice to learn the setup.

Thanks for the info. 

[SharpenADullWitt]

I would be interested in seeing axes done.  I have had success with hatchets, but not with axes and those two to three foot handles.

I use superlube and there should be an initial greasing of the shaft as well as oil the leather wheel before the first use.  This is where the older Jeff Farris video's shined, as he originally included a bit of oil and grease years ago, with his units as a setup kit.  I haven't seen the current T8 setup video, so I don't know what they include.
As a home user, I have to grease mine once a year.  Maybe Steve will chime in with how often he had to grease his portable units.

[Y-Not]

Ah.  I do that to.  I assume you mean the "Small Knife Holder"?  If so, should be able to get it to work... but does take a bit of practice to learn the setup.

Thanks for the info. 

Yeah, that's the one.  The small knife jig.


It really wasn't the right jig for the task.  Just experimenting to see what I could/could not do.  Now I know. 

[Y-Not]

I would be interested in seeing axes done.  I have had success with hatchets, but not with axes and those two to three foot handles.

I use superlube and there should be an initial greasing of the shaft as well as oil the leather wheel before the first use.  This is where the older Jeff Farris video's shined, as he originally included a bit of oil and grease years ago, with his units as a setup kit.  I haven't seen the current T8 setup video, so I don't know what they include.
As a home user, I have to grease mine once a year.  Maybe Steve will chime in with how often he had to grease his portable units.

I have the axe jig.  I tried using it.  Not real comfortable with it. It felt like I was restricted as to how I could move the axe around on the stone.  Hours later I placed the tool rest onto the tool support arm. I then wondered if that would work for the axe.

Much to my pleasure, the tool rest worked perfectly for me.  I set my grind angle. Placed the axe on the rest.  Held the axe head with one hand and the handle with the other.  Super easy and it allow me to pivot the axe head without feeling bound up like I did with the axe jig.

In reference to the longer handles of axes, I removed the leather wheel. It was getting in the way.  Once it was removed, I had all the space I needed.

[cbwx34]

I have the axe jig.  I tried using it.  Not real comfortable with it. It felt like I was restricted as to how I could move the axe around on the stone.  Hours later I placed the tool rest onto the tool support arm. I then wondered if that would work for the axe.

Much to my pleasure, the tool rest worked perfectly for me.  I set my grind angle. Placed the axe on the rest.  Held the axe head with one hand and the handle with the other.  Super easy and it allow me to pivot the axe head without feeling bound up like I did with the axe jig.

In reference to the longer handles of axes, I removed the leather wheel. It was getting in the way.  Once it was removed, I had all the space I needed.

If you like using the tool rest, you might take a look at Herman Trivilino's "Homemade Knife Rest" thread.

[Y-Not]

If you like using the tool rest, you might take a look at Herman Trivilino's "Homemade Knife Rest" thread.

Yeah man!  I'll think about that. The idea looks simple enough. 

Thanks!