TT-50 truing tool video

[Ken S]

I recently found this TT-50 you tube. I would classify it as somewhere in the middle of the pack. It is not terrible, nor is it very good in my opinion.

https://youtu.be/gZj_jZEwNCQ

As is typical of so many you tubes about the Tormek, fact checking seems lean. The cutter is diamond, not tungsten carbide. This should have been checked beforehand.

I am not a fan of a lot of background in technical you tubes. In this case, the background music obscured the sound of the wheel grinding. Listening to the grind sound is a key element in judging if the depth of cut is correct. I found the technique a bit rough for my taste. I prefer the extra control obtained by using both hands to advance the cutter. Unless I specifically want a rougher stone surface, I use a slower pass for a smoother surface.

The depth difference between the first pass and second pass looked excessive. I would have made several shallow passes and achieved the same result with less stone removed.

I do not mean to single out this you tube. As I stated in the beginning, I consider it in the middle of the pack, not the bottom.

Ken

[Thymen]

Recipe for posing as an expert:

• Get a Tormek, preferably used or with lots of grime on it so it looks as if you've been doing this a long time
• Get a video camera, or a decent phone
• Read (parts of) the manual, or watch some other YouTube videos
• Get a YouTube account
• Record your trials and tribulations, and make sure to add a significant degree
  of certainty in your voice when you 'explain' what you are doing.
  Don't be brief, just keep on rambling
• Put your recordings on YouTube, with annoying music in the background.

Et voila!

[Darrell C]

Thanks for the post, I just did my SG250 an hou ago, a blade caught a big gouge on it, it trued up fine..........up and running.

[Ken S]

Darrell,

I'm glad the post helped you. In my opinion, frequent light truing cuts have several advantages. Your grinding wheel stays either true or close to true. This is your best defense against the gremlins which can plague you with out of true wheels. It helps eliminate variables when troubleshooting. It keeps that part of your skill set fresh. I just changed the toner in my printer. This job should take only a few seconds. My problem is that I don't do it often enough to remember how to do it. Once you become fluent with truing and dressing your wheel, it is very fast to do.

Thymen,

I remember a roadside billboard from many years ago for a Pennsylvania Dutch (Amish) restaurant. It read, "Get to Know what Good Is." The same applies to Tormek videos. If you watch the videos by Tormek, Alan Holtham, Jeff Farris, and forum members Steve Bottorff, Knife Grinders Australia, and Sharpco for a good start, you will "get to know what good is". In the same line of thinking, I have downloaded the handbook into ibooks of my ipad. It makes a useful time filler when I am reluctant to trust iffy public wifi.

Once you know what good is, you can easily detect what not so good is.

Ken

[Thymen]

Once you know what good is, you can easily detect what not so good is.

Yes, it just takes a while to sort out the good from the bad. But that is part op the fun, actually.

I am looking for a good demo on how to get plane blades square and straight with the square edge jig, because in my case they're neither. The manual actually tells that if you move the blade across the stone on an even speed, you'll get a somewhat hollow edge (page 125). Now, a slightly cambered edge would be great, but a hollow edge is undesirable. I must have watched more then a dozen YouTube video until I found one that deals with this problem. I am going to try out tomorrow....

[Ken S]

Ah ha! This is a problem for our old friend the small square. Edges get out of square or curved because too much grinding occurs before checking.Check the edge. If the edge is not square, grind the high portion. Check frequently.

Cambering is easy with the SE-77 square edge jig. You set the two camber adjustment knobs for the amount of camber you want. You can vary the amount of camber to suit the function of your plane. David Charlesworth has done a good you tube demonstrating this. As I recall, it may be on the Tormek website SE-77 tab. If not, a "charlesworth camber youtube" search should locate it. Allow several practice sharpenings.

A small square and a sharpie are essential accessories for sharpening.

Ken

[RickKrung]

...snip...
David Charlesworth has done a good you tube demonstrating this. As I recall, it may be on the Tormek website SE-77 tab. If not, a "charlesworth camber youtube" search should locate it. ...snip...

Ken

"David Charlesworth tormek video"=
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bfd-xzOF5sc

[Thymen]

I have a (good) square, I've seen David's cambering video, I've seen many videos of plane blades being sharpened. I also understand that if you grind too much on the center of the blade, you get a concave edge.

Even after carefully trueing the stone I still get a slightly lopsided, concave edge. The being out of square is not the main issue, it is easily compensated by the lateral adjustment of the plane. But the concave edge troubles me more. I read what's in the manual, extended the blade further from the jig and tried putting more pressure on the sides of the blade. Does not really work consistently.

I prefer not to tamper with the cambering knobs for adding a slight camber, it's a pain to get the edge square again. Even a minute adjustment has quite an impact.

Watching videos I see one guy moving the blade across the stone so fast it's almost a blur. Another guy moves three quarters of the blade out of the stone on both sides. Yet I also see that they move slowly, and keep 90% of the blade on the stone. And all claim a perfectly square, straight and sharp edge. Monkey See, Monkey Do, but this monkey does not not know what is the best See to Do.

Which brings us back to what Ken said in the start of this topic: lots of videos available, but not all of these show a consistent high level of craftsmanship.

I'll see what the Tormek guy can show us in the demo in March...

[Ken S]

This would be easier to see if this Monkey was looking over your shoulder.

Let's start by making sure your grinding wheel is true and parallel with your support bar. That's an easy variable to eliminate from the equation.

You can find an excellent resource in past posts on this forum. I usually start by going to member page, Jeff Farris, show posts. Jeff was the founder and first moderator of this forum. He traveled the US demonstrating and selling Tormeks for many years. He handled repairs and answered countless questions. (Unfortunately, Tormek and Jeff went different ways several years ago.)

Jeff left around 1300 posts. Since Jeff no longer posts, his post numbers have remained static. That simplifies the search.

Jeff mentioned the importance of finger pressure in square grinding. Accurate chisel and plane grinding is a combination of setting up a jig, finger pressure, and checking. When all elements of this equation are in harmony, a Tormeker can produce outstanding results. The process is not instant, however, it is worth the effort.

Once you know your grinding wheel is true and parallel, blacken the bevel with your marker. Make only one light pass and, using your square, check where the marker is removed. If it is not on the high spot or the entire surface, adjust the tool until it does. Don't do much grinding until the marker removing shows you are on the right path.

I suggest you forego cambering until you are very comfortable with straight grinding. The flexibility of the SE-77 also means that there is no factory fixed square setting. Acquire the rest of the skills before attempting cambering.

Make the effort and do not lose patience.

Ken