T2 video and questions

[Ken S]

I found this you tube. I felt it was basically well done, however, it left me with some questions.

https://youtu.be/7U-3Rxq7rvI

As intended, the knife edge had been damaged beyond normal wear and tear. That makes good showmanship. The main theme seemed to be that this knife could be sharpened with the T2 in four minutes, which it did, mostly. The demonstrator showed some impressive tests with orange skin and a cherry tomato. He also stated that he could make the knife sharper by spending some more time with it.

That statement bothered me. How close to maximum sharpness was the knife after four minutes? The title was not "Bringing a damaged knife to 85% sharpness in four minutes". Why stop partway through the job? (I have seen this with paper cutting tests in other you tubes. Often the paper cuts almost well. The presenter realizes that both he and the viewers know that this is not quite sharp, so he comments that this will need more work. In my humble opinion, these you tubes are not quite complete.)

I always compare knife videos to those by Steve Bottorff and KnifeGrinders (our own Wootz). Wootz' motions are slower and very controlled. He glides the knife slowly and precisely over the grinding wheel. In this you tube, as in so many, the knife is drawn across the grinding wheel quickly and in a cavalier fashion. While this may possibly work as well as Wootz' more controlled technique, it does not leave me with as confident a feeling.

I realize the video was designed to showcase the T2 right out of the box, which is fine. It did not mention the DWC-200 coarse grit accessory wheel. This coarser wheel would have quickly restored the edge. With the T2's EZYlock, changing wheels takes only seconds. The edge could easily have been restored to 100% sharpness in four minutes.

All in all, I would give this video thumbs up, but with room to grow.

Ken

[AKMike]

Has anyone tried the T2 knife holder on a T7 or T8?

Mike

[Ken S]

Mike,

I recall trying that when my T2 first arrived. As I recall, it did not work. Incidentally, the parts for the T2 knife jig, sold only as a package, cost around ninety dollars US. That's considerably more than the regular knife jigs. It is also unfortunate, because parts of the T2 knife jig could be modified into a very good small platform.

I will double check the T2 knife jig and get back to you.

Ken