The learning curve...

[Y-Not]

I've had my Tormek T8 for a week now. So far, so good.  I'm getting geared up to sharpen knives and tools at a local (to me) Farmers Market and needed something with precision and something faster than using stones and elbow grease.

I bought about a dozen cheap, disposable knives from Goodwill and started seeing what damage I could do.
They all turned out rather nice. Very sharp. Except the tips were sort of wonky. This was from my lack of proper technique.
The more I dorked with it, the better I was getting.

Then I re-read the thread regarding the Homemade Knife Rest (HK-50) by Herman Trivilino.
That got my gears spinning again.

So I recreated Herman's design and thus far, I'm liking it.  It's almost the perfect marriage between using a jig and free handing.
And it shaves a few seconds or minutes off the sharpening time because I don't have to mess around with putting the knifes in the jigs.

Just set the sharpening angle and go.

So I'm sending a shout out to Herman for creating and sharing the idea.  It's working out well for me.

[Ken S]

Great progress, Y-Not!

For any of you new enough to the forum who might not be familiar with Herman's Homemade Knife Rest, it uses the platform from the scissors jig and is similar to a narrower version of the Tormek platform jig. Being narrow, just the width of the grinding wheel, it allows the user to grind the full length of both bevels without having to reposition the jig. It works with any size knife. Herman has even sharpened a machete with it. Every knife sharpener should have one, including those who normally use the Tormek knife jigs.

I have another suggestion which may help your set up. It is essentially half of the kenjig. Cut a piece of cardboard (rectangular) to approximately 6" by 1 1/4". Set up your HK-50. Cut a half inch wide groove along one side. The length of the groove should be from the grinding wheel to the top of the support bar. This will allow you to quickly duplicate your support bar setting without having to measure anything. Hopefully, once you set up at the farmers market, you will not have to adjust your support bar setting. If you do, this gets you back on target.

There is a little more to this. Try making one. If you like it, post again and I will fill you in.

Keep up the good work!

Ken

[Y-Not]

Great progress, Y-Not!

For any of you new enough to the forum who might not be familiar with Herman's Homemade Knife Rest, it uses the platform from the scissors jig and is similar to a narrower version of the Tormek platform jig. Being narrow, just the width of the grinding wheel, it allows the user to grind the full length of both bevels without having to reposition the jig. It works with any size knife. Herman has even sharpened a machete with it. Every knife sharpener should have one, including those who normally use the Tormek knife jigs.

I have another suggestion which may help your set up. It is essentially half of the kenjig. Cut a piece of cardboard (rectangular) to approximately 6" by 1 1/4". Set up your HK-50. Cut a half inch wide groove along one side. The length of the groove should be from the grinding wheel to the top of the support bar. This will allow you to quickly duplicate your support bar setting without having to measure anything. Hopefully, once you set up at the farmers market, you will not have to adjust your support bar setting. If you do, this gets you back on target.

There is a little more to this. Try making one. If you like it, post again and I will fill you in.

Keep up the good work!

Ken

I'll certainly look it up.
Right now, I don't think I could find it if it were in my lap.  I've been working the graveyard shift which is not my normal shift.  Perhaps once I wake up, I'll see what I can find.

Thanks again!

[Ken S]

Here is a link to where it is posted on Rich Colvin's Sharpening Handbook, a useful reference:

http://www.sharpeninghandbook.info/Tool-Jig-KenJig.pdf

Rich's handbook also has Dutchman's tables, the inspiration and trig support I used for the kenjig.
Dutchman first posted his very useful tables on the forum in 2013. We are indebted to him for sharing his essential work.

Ken

[cbwx34]

I've had my Tormek T8 for a week now. So far, so good.  I'm getting geared up to sharpen knives and tools at a local (to me) Farmers Market and needed something with precision and something faster than using stones and elbow grease.

I bought about a dozen cheap, disposable knives from Goodwill and started seeing what damage I could do.
They all turned out rather nice. Very sharp. Except the tips were sort of wonky. This was from my lack of proper technique.
The more I dorked with it, the better I was getting.

Then I re-read the thread regarding the Homemade Knife Rest (HK-50) by Herman Trivilino.
That got my gears spinning again.

So I recreated Herman's design and thus far, I'm liking it.  It's almost the perfect marriage between using a jig and free handing.
And it shaves a few seconds or minutes off the sharpening time because I don't have to mess around with putting the knifes in the jigs.

Just set the sharpening angle and go.

So I'm sending a shout out to Herman for creating and sharing the idea.  It's working out well for me.

I call it "guided freehand".

Any issue with scratching the side of the blade?  (Most common problem).

Also, post like this require at least one picture.   

[Y-Not]

I call it "guided freehand".

Any issue with scratching the side of the blade?  (Most common problem).

Also, post like this require at least one picture.   

I'm digging the "guided freehand" term.  It works for me.

Not sure yet about the scratching. Thus far, I've only been using my disposable blades from the local Goodwill.  Don't care if they get screwed up.
Again, I'm saving my good knives until I'm feeling 100% sure that my results are going to be what I expect them to be.

And of course, photos or it didn't happen.  Right?

This is my first setup.  Still refining it.  Need to recess the bolt heads.
I'm using a different type of bolt/screw than Herman did. Not to be different. Just because it's what I had quick access to.
And instead of tapping my scissor rest, I'll be using two carriage bolts and wing nuts.
The carriage bolts might need to be ground flush with the metal plate.  Speaking of which, first one to ID what that plate comes from, wins....  I don't know.  Whatever is in your pocket at the moment.   

Quick, tool free attachment/release. 

[cbwx34]

I'm digging the "guided freehand" term.  It works for me.

Not sure yet about the scratching. Thus far, I've only been using my disposable blades from the local Goodwill.  Don't care if they get screwed up.
Again, I'm saving my good knives until I'm feeling 100% sure that my results are going to be what I expect them to be.

And of course, photos or it didn't happen.  Right?

This is my first setup.  Still refining it.  Need to recess the bolt heads.
I'm using a different type of bolt/screw than Herman did. Not to be different. Just because it's what I had quick access to.
And instead of tapping my scissor rest, I'll be using two carriage bolts and wing nuts.
The carriage bolts might need to be ground flush with the metal plate.  Speaking of which, first one to ID what that plate comes from, wins....  I don't know.  Whatever is in your pocket at the moment.   

Quick, tool free attachment/release.

Lookin' good! 👍

Scratching the side of the blade is common with just about any sharpener that has the blade move across a flat platform.

Thanks!

[Y-Not]

Lookin' good! 👍

Scratching the side of the blade is common with just about any sharpener that has the blade move across a flat platform.

Thanks!

Thanks!

And yeah, I've read about the possible scratching issues. If that becomes an issue, I've got plans on how to deal with it.

Last night, I took a couple of my disposable knives. Dulled them with a file. Started sharpening them again with the modified jig.
I think this is going to work out well.  The bevel was constant from heel to tip.  The tips were not oddly ground. 

A few more test runs and I think I'll try sharpening one of my kitchen knives. They just need a quick touch up but it should be an quick and easy task.

Fingers crossed...

[Ken S]

"Mr. Low Tech" here.

How about putting a layer of electrical tape on the blade to prevent scratching. 3M makes a high quality tape, which should be available in a good hardware store. I believe it is called T88. Also, i remember two inch wide electrical tape from my working days at the telephone company.

I would start with the more readily available standard width T88 first.

Ken

See correction in my next reply.

[cbwx34]

"Mr. Low Tech" here.

How about putting a layer of electrical tape on the blade to prevent scratching. 3M makes a high quality tape, which should be available in a good hardware store. I believe it is called T88. Also, i remember two inch wide electrical tape from my working days at the telephone company.

I would start with the more readily available standard width T88 first.

Ken

Blue painter's tape is the typical solution... (I would think cost will play a role... especially in volume).

Taping the blade is the common answer, but with the Tormek, it might be possible to put something on the platform, since most of the debris goes into the water trough.  (With other platform sharpeners, it doesn't always work, since the platform becomes contaminated from the sharpening).

It'll be interesting to see what Y-not's plans are, (if needed).

[Y-Not]

I was thinking of the painters tape as well as Duct tape.  Sometimes called 200 MPH tape.
It holds up very well in moist conditions.

First I think I'll try giving the piece of metal a coat of Plasti Dip.
Plasti Dip is an air-dry, specialty rubber coating...

If it's too tacky, I can add some bees wax that'll give it the lubrication without mixing into the water or sticking to the stone.

https://plastidip.com/our-products/plasti-dip/

[kwakster]

Try one layer of thin plastic packing tape on the knife rest.
So far it works well for me, and it's also easily exchangeable once it wears and/or fouls.

[Ken S]

My word choice was poor in my last reply. By "blade" I actually meant the extension of the platform. I can understand why people interpreted it to mean the knife blade. I did not mean to recommend putting tape on the knife. My thought was to use the tape as a softer, perhaps more slippery surface for the platform.

With the waterbath of the Tormek, grinding debris would be carried away by the water. The tape would just provide a softer contact surface.

Ken

[Y-Not]

My word choice was poor in my last reply. By "blade" I actually meant the extension of the platform. I can understand why people interpreted it to mean the knife blade. I did not mean to recommend putting tape on the knife. My thought was to use the tape as a softer, perhaps more slippery surface for the platform.

With the waterbath of the Tormek, grinding debris would be carried away by the water. The tape would just provide a softer contact surface.

Ken

No worries.  I understood what you meant.

I'm finally comfortable with knives.  It took, as expected, a bit longer to figure out all the proper jig placement and the right technique (lift and pivot).
Now my bevels are even from tip to heal.   I'm really glad that I bought a bunch of cheap knives to practice on. I've jacked up a few of them just trying to even out the bevels.   

I'm now comfortable enough with the Tormek that if needed, I could go to the Farmers Market this weekend and do okay.  Still need more time behind the wheel but it's so much better today that it was a week ago.

Regarding the knife rest jig, it does scratch up the blades.  Again, glad to have disposables to test it with.  I'm in the process of coating the metal with a soft, rubbery like plastic.  We'll see how that works out.

Thanks again to everyone for the support.  It's getting better every day. 

[Y-Not]

Okay...
After three coats of plastic dip, I tried the platform again.
As expected, it was a bit tacky and would not allow the blade to slide.

I rubbed one drop of mineral oil onto the now covered platform and rubbed one drop on each side of the blade.
NOW is slips and slides on the platform. No problem.

To check for scratching, I completely colored 6 of my test blades and started sharpening.
None showed any signs of scratching.
And as an added bonus, the oil allows me to press the blade onto the platform and still slip/slide while my hand remains stationary.

And...if that were not enough, my bevels are beautiful!
Even from tip to heel.  Maybe not absolutely perfectly even but even enough that the naked eye would not notice.

I zipped through 8 knives in less than 20 minutes. Everything from cleavers, chiefs, paring, carvers to small pocket knives.
All are razor sharp with near perfect bevels.

I'm a happy camper finally.

Tomorrow afternoon, I'm doing my kitchen knives that I've been waiting to do. Finally have enough confidence with the Tormek to give my good knives a go. Stay tuned for photos. Good or bad.   

I was getting really concerned. If I did not feel good enough to do my own kitchen knives, how would I be able to sharpen a complete stranger's knives at the Farmers Market in 4 weeks?

Fingers, toes and eyes crossed I don't screw them up.