SG wheel glazing with certain knives

[SteveHarbour]

Would appreciate your feedback. 

Over the last 18 months of using my T8 professionally, I find that the SG wheel glazes fairly fast when using the stone grader to knock the wheel down to a finer grit.  Of course it depends on the type of knife steel. Softer steels glaze more quickly and using the coarse side of the stone grader to clean it up doesn't help much. 

  I get the best results when I use the wheel after after trueing and leaving it coarse.  I simply spend a little more time honing but I get a nice edge and the wheel doesn't glaze.  What are all of you finding?  Am I doing something wrong? Or are you having the same results?  I guess I'm just not thrilled with the stone grader.  And I'm certainly not going to switch back and forth in coarseness when I've got 20 knives in front of me and customers waiting. 

[Sharpco]

Me too. When I used SG-250, I didn't use Stone Grader. Truing, sharpening, truing, sharpening.......

How about using two SG-250?

1) Very coarse with truing.
2) Fine with fine side of Stone Grader.

[cbwx34]

Would appreciate your feedback. 

Over the last 18 months of using my T8 professionally, I find that the SG wheel glazes fairly fast when using the stone grader to knock the wheel down to a finer grit.  Of course it depends on the type of knife steel. Softer steels glaze more quickly and using the coarse side of the stone grader to clean it up doesn't help much. 

  I get the best results when I use the wheel after after trueing and leaving it coarse.  I simply spend a little more time honing but I get a nice edge and the wheel doesn't glaze.  What are all of you finding?  Am I doing something wrong? Or are you having the same results?  I guess I'm just not thrilled with the stone grader.  And I'm certainly not going to switch back and forth in coarseness when I've got 20 knives in front of me and customers waiting.

For the longest time (years), I didn't use the Grading Stone and seldom the Truing Tool... I used a DMT-XXC to both grade and true the wheel.  I found this kept the stone cutting well, and decently trued (at least relative to the USB... the stone would occasionally start to get "out of round", and required the actual truing tool).  I used the DMT by bracing it against the bottom of the USB, and then tipping it into the stone.  (The only problem I had, once I made the gap between the stone and USB too small, and it jerked the DMT right out of my hand).

I think even the coarse side of the Grading Stone can "glaze over" a bit... whereas the XXC always cuts well.  (And as for wear, well, I still have and use that same XXC). 

I try and recommend solutions without saying "go buy something else", but in this case, I think you may find it worth the investment.

[SteveHarbour]

Great idea on the extra extra coarse diamond plate for 'stone maintenance'. I'm going to give it a try.  Thanks!

[Ken S]

Taking a clue from Wootz' Tormek sharpening video, I purchased an inexpensive diamond plate (1000 grit). I clamped it in place with a plane blade and the square edge jig. It did a very nice job of dressing my SG and grading it very fine.

I moved on to a set of three DMT credit card size diamond files, each a different grit. I cut a piece of 1/8" x 2" x 24" in three pieces and epoxied one of the diamond files on each one. The three diamond files and the piece of metal are comparably priced with a stone grader.

If you set the Distance between the grinding wheel and the support bar and the Projection of the knife in the jig first, then set the mounted diamond file in the square edge jig, you may not have to make adjustments for additional knives.

Sometimes we feel compelled to go beyond the Tormek product line to maximize the versatility of the Tormek.

Ken