Mobile knife sharpening using the Tormek

[mat450]

Hi All

I just wanted to share my mobile sharpening setup using the Tormek and Razor sharp paper wheel.

I have only been established a couple of months and all of my customers have been exceptionally happy with the sharpeness I can achieve and how long their knives stay sharp.  A lot of clients I have met have only experienced belt sharpening methods, with some scarred for life.

As we all know, the Tormek isn't a fast means of sharpening a knife but I have been able to get my times between 5 to 8min per knife which includes grinding, sharpening and honing once I am set up. I am pretty good at changing my stones (SB and SG) as quick as a pit stop at the GP!

I use a lot of Wootz's methodolgy in sharpening and I'm greatful on the research and information he shares.  I am currenty running knifegrinders; software, pivot collar and FVB, all which compliment the Tormek way

I have attached a couple of pictures of my setup on site, along with pics of my extended knife jig rests I have recently made.

I am running a 240V 2500W invertor with twin 100aH batteries to power the machines and my paper wheel is mounted to a 1HP 1/2 speed grinder with my home made tool rest.

I also thank everyone else who shares there knowledge and experience

Cheers

Mat's Sharpening Services

[Al]

Nice set up Mat!

[Antz]

Very nice Mat! I too am using Wootz methods. Pretty much exactly what you're doing. You made that extended jig rests yourself? Very nice.

Antz

[Jan]

Really nice set up, Mat, thanks for sharing! You have a huge grinder! 

Jan

[Ken S]

Mat,
Another "nice set up" vote!
Ken

[Jan]

Mat, when I saw your set up, I remembered that there exist a compact sharpening station SM-111 manufactured by knife producer company F.D.Dick in Germany.

It is a water cooled machine with very small power consumption (only 130 Watt). The knife is guided but not mounted in a jig. It has a pair of deburring wheels. It is not as versatile as Tormek and more expensive than Tormek.

Jan

[mat450]

Mat, when I saw your set up, I remembered that there exist a compact sharpening station SM-111 manufactured by knife producer company F.D.Dick in Germany.

It is a water cooled machine with very small power consumption (only 130 Watt). The knife is guided but not mounted in a jig. It has a pair of deburring wheels. It is not as versatile as Tormek and more expensive than Tormek.

Jan

Hi Jan,

I have witnessed a mobile sharpener using the Fdick and it didn't impress me the way it appear to fuction.  There was a lot of variance (play) with the angle guides and you are unable to sharpen right up to the handle.

I have found that the Tormek doesn't consume a great deal of power either, even at start up.  My paper wheel grinder is the most taxing with 750W to drive machine and what ever start up wattage is.

[Jan]

Yes, Mat. The F.Dick SM-111 is commercial knife sharpener with a capacity 400 knives per day. It means one knife during 60 seconds. It is shorter time than I need to mount a blade in the Tormek knife jig and set the USB height.   

Jan

[Ken S]

Mat,

I recommend you consider using the kenjig, not just the jig itself, but the whole concept. Used as I designed it, for the majority of kitchen knives, you only need to set the Distance between the grinding wheel and the support bar once, at the start of the day. As this does not change day to day, the microadjust is probably already correctly set. This part of the setup should take no more than a few seconds. ((This speed assumes a standard bevel angle. I use 15°.)

I chose a Projection of 139mm. My paring, slicing, and chef's knives all work with that. I use the 140mm long knife jig for the chef's knives. I can almost always align them with the 139mm pencil mark on the jig without needing to adjust the jigs. I preset my 100mm knife jig (no longer in production, but readily available used) for my slicing knives and the same 139mm. Again, I rarely need toadjust this jig. I use the 45mm regular knife jig with the small blade tool for paring knives. Including the small blade tool keeps the paring knife Projection at the uniform 139mm with little or no adjustment.

I don't use the Anglemaster for this, nor do I use the black marker. This method is very fast and repeatable.

If you spend more than thirty seconds setting up the knife in the jig, you are spending too much time.

Rich Colvin has included my Knife Setting Tool (kenjig) in his sharpening handbook, or do a google search.

Ken

ps If you are sharpening 400 knives in a day, you might consider a second Tormek and a helper.

[John_B]

I second the use of a setup jig(s). I have also added a guide for setting the FVB at 1.5° greater angle than sharpening for honing on the leather wheel (See Wootz's book on deburring). I have a smaller group of customers that have special requests for their knives. For them I keep a log book with their DPS request along with the length and height settings from the software.

My business goal is to do enough work to pay for the equipment I use and to support my hobby's. If I were doing a lot of knives day after day I would definitely standardize. I think I would also be on the lookout for a used T-4 or T-7 so I could jump to the leather wheel without having to remove the grinding wheel.

[mat450]

Mat,

I recommend you consider using the kenjig, not just the jig itself, but the whole concept. Used as I designed it, for the majority of kitchen knives, you only need to set the Distance between the grinding wheel and the support bar once, at the start of the day. As this does not change day to day, the microadjust is probably already correctly set. This part of the setup should take no more than a few seconds. ((This speed assumes a standard bevel angle. I use 15°.)

I chose a Projection of 139mm. My paring, slicing, and chef's knives all work with that. I use the 140mm long knife jig for the chef's knives. I can almost always align them with the 139mm pencil mark on the jig without needing to adjust the jigs. I preset my 100mm knife jig (no longer in production, but readily available used) for my slicing knives and the same 139mm. Again, I rarely need toadjust this jig. I use the 45mm regular knife jig with the small blade tool for paring knives. Including the small blade tool keeps the paring knife Projection at the uniform 139mm with little or no adjustment.

I don't use the Anglemaster for this, nor do I use the black marker. This method is very fast and repeatable.

If you spend more than thirty seconds setting up the knife in the jig, you are spending too much time.

Rich Colvin has included my Knife Setting Tool (kenjig) in his sharpening handbook, or do a google search.

Ken

ps If you are sharpening 400 knives in a day, you might consider a second Tormek and a helper.

Thats great Ken and makes total sense.  I generally try and sharpen knives in groups anyway as mentioned, 20dps for chef knives first, followed by filleting knives, pairing knives and so forth.  I will def check it out.

[Ken S]

Mat,

Grouping your knives makes a lot of sense. The 139mm Projection with the Kenjig works with the kenjig with either 15or 20° per side. All you need to do is made up a second kenjig. Be sure to mark the bevel angles on the jigs. This extra adjustment will probably add an extra fifteen seconds to your total time.

John,

If you enjoy the whole set up procedure, by all means do so. I don't enjoy using the Anglemaster. 

Ken

[mat450]

Ken,

I definately don't enjoy using the angle master and time is of the essesense when setting up before sharpening.

I'm using Wootz software ATM and knife block jig to measure knife projection from jig. 

I'm going to see if I can marry all 3 items together in an attempt to create efficences.

[Ken S]

Mat,

Trying to be objective, I see Wootz' software and technique as far more precise than the kenjig. For top drawer knife sharpening, it is definitely the way to go. I designed the kenjig for three groups:

The first group was beginners new to the Tormek. Using the kenjig allowed the beginner to get consistent results while being able to concentrate on the actual grinding. (The kenjig providing consistency of set up)

The second group was those of us who sharpen infrequently. Again, the kenjig allowed simple uniformity of set up.

The third group, where time is of the essence, is busy farmers market sharpeners. That's where the technique expanded to multiple pre set knife jigs. The idea is to control the two variables of Distance and Projection. As long as a consistent bevel angle is used, the Distance can be set before the first knife is sharpened and left untouched. A Projection distance of 139mm works with almost all kitchen knives. Adjustment of the jig, if needed at all, should be minimal.

I don't know any faster method when many different knives are involved. (Don't just take my word for it; verify the results yourself!)

Ken