BGM-100

[jtrojohn]

I bought a BGM-100 to be able to quickly reshape a chisel or planer blade on my bench grinder before finishing it on my Tormek.  The BGM-100 manual only lists "Gouge Jig SVD-186", "Multi Jug SVS-50", and "Tool Rest SVD-110" as jigs to be used on the BGM-100.  Is there some reason I can't use chisel jig "SE-77" on the BGM-100?  If I can't then I'll have to return the BGM-100.

Also, be forewarned: the selling point of a BGM-100 is that you can use it to reshape a tool on your grinder and then duplicate the angle going from the grinder wheel to the Tormek.  However, to duplicate the angle requires the "Turning Tool Setter TTS-100" guide.  Without this guide, it is virtually impossible to duplicate the angle.  Much to my surprise the TTS-100 does not come with the BGM-100.  You have to buy it, and it's another $34. No where did I see this mentioned in any videos or documentation.  Very poor product marketing by Tormek.

[AKMike]

The BGM-100 was designed for and is marketed as a way to quickly reshape woodturning tools, which are mostly high speed steel these days, and won't be ruined by overheating on a bench grinder. I don't think plane blades are HSS, and would be quickly damaged on a bench grinder.

Mike

[RichColvin]

John,

The BGM-100 is useful for these purposes:

• getting started with the Tormek method - you can buy the jigs before getting a Tormek grinder,
• shaping tools where the steel is quite hard and a lot of steel removal is needed, and
• to hold a better platform (the SVD-110) for grinding tools where high speed grinding makes sense (e.g., tools with carbide inserts).

Hope that helps.

Kind regards,
Rich

[RickKrung]

I find this curious, that the BGM-100 would be described as only being usable with certain jigs.  Maybe I was lucky and didn't know about this constraint.  I have used BGM-100s, or at least the Horizontal Base (HB) and the USB that comes as part of the package with every jig that I have, knives, drill bits, chisels, etc. on bench grinders with grinding wheels and paper wheels and on a Viel belt sander.  I've use wood blocks for mounting the HB and on my bench grinder/honing motor, I have them set up for use the the "FVB" (frontal vertical base), which is another implementation of using the HB and USB. 

Rick

[jtrojohn]

Thanks for the input, guys. 
--> Rich, in response to your update...the reason I bought the BGM-100 is to use the bench grinder to reshape badly damaged chisels or plane blades.  Trying to do that on a Tormek takes a long time and uses up the wheel.  Bench grinders have been used forever for sharpening chisels.  If one uses a light touch, and is careful not to overhead the tool, reshaping on a bench grinder works fine.  But I would consider is a rough process, which needs to be followed up by using sharpening stones, or in my case, my Tormek.  The difficulty comes when moving from a bench grinder to the Tormek.  Duplicating the angle is a pain.  Thus my purchase of the BGM-100.
--> RickKrung, good to hear that someone has had success with what I am proposing to do.  Thanks.

Does Tormek look at this forum?  I would like to hear an official position from Tormek on this.  I sent an email to their support address, but have heard nothing from them.

[Ken S]

I would like to offer another opinion about the BGM-100. I have one, but have never attached it to my six inch dry grinder. Also, I cannot convince myself to purchase an eight inch half speed dry grinder. After ten years of using a Tormek, I have no desire to use a heat prone, dusty dry grinder. Using a dry grinder with the BGM may be an expedient for some people; it is not for me.

Instead, I have pursued other options, namely faster cutting grinding wheels. Ι like Tormek's diamond wheels. I have found that either the DWC-200 or the DC-250 coarse diamond wheels cut considerable faster than the SG- series wheels, in spite of the 360 grit number. An 80 grit CBN wheel is also faster cutting. The most economical choice are the Norton 3X wheels (see my comments in the current topic under knife sharpening).

Chisels should not be a problem with the SG wheel. Chisels are generally high carbon steel or similar. These are well within the reach of the SG. Yes, a damaged chisel can take longer to sharpen. How many of these damaged chisels do you have to sharpen? If you regularly sharpen fifty or more, you should have a faster cutting grinding wheel. If you sharpen damaged chisels, and they are returned in the same damaged condition, you need to have a conversation about proper tool use with the user. If you are being paid to sharpen these chisels, I would add a hefty surcharge for damaged tools. That's only fair, as the labor cost should go up.

You can remove damage quickly with your dry grinder by itself if you want. Get an inexpensive T diamond dresser and dress a crown in your wheel. The crown will limit the amount of wheel cutting and reduce the temperature rise. Keeping your wheel freshly dressed will also keep it cutting better with sharp grains. Do not grind to the point of raising a burr with your dry grinder. The last little bit is when most of the steel damage occurs.

Moving from the dry grinder to the Tormek should not be a set up pain. Keep the chisel in the square edge jig. Set all of your chisels to the same projection. You can use the Anglemaster or black marker to set the Distance from the support bar to the grinding wheel. Set this for the first chisel only. By keeping your Projection the same, your Distance will also remain the same, and you will not have to reset anything.

Experience will help. You will soon be fluent with your Tormek.

Tormek in Sweden rarely follows this forum. If you have specific questions for them, email them at (support@tormek.se)

Do not become discouraged.

Ken

PS I think it helps to compare your Tormek grinding wheel with brake parts on a car. Both are expensive and designed to be long term consumable items. Drive your car and use your Tormek.

[Jan]

Before I purchased the BGM-100 several years ago I used hard wood blocks for mounting the USB on my belt grinder. I still use this arrangement for knife blank shaping and sharpening of thick mortising chisels.

Jan

[Elden]

Jan,
   It appears to be that your belt grinder is an inverted 3 (76mm) or 4 (101mm) inch hand held belt sander. Is this correct? If so, would you post pictures showing how you secure it please? My method has been to clamp it in a bench vise. It has only been used for non-precision wood working.  Since the sander has a plastic housing, one has to be careful with the clamping pressure of the vise.

[Jan]

Yes, Elden you are correct! The tool is 3 inch Bosch belt sander. I am attaching another picture showing how it is mounted to a solid wooden plate. I am happy that this montage is stable because knife blank shaping can last 20 to 30 minutes and the position of the USB vs. the belt sander should stay fixed.

Jan

P.S.: The rare handle is attached using threaded rod M8 stretched by two small fence tensioners.

[Elden]

Thank you Jan! That is a neat setup!

[RickKrung]

Yes, very cool.  Did you use threaded inserts in the wood block for the USB locking screws.  I am thinking of the HeliCoil type inserts, which I use on wooden projects where metal machine type screws are involved.  I have tried using the larger diameter brass threaded inserts, but find them too difficult to drive in. 

Photo showing box of the kit that I originally bought that had some inserts, the driving tool, a hex key and the tap for making the threaded hole in the wood to receive the metal threaded inserts. 


Photo showing removal of the inserts, because I didn't get the hole placement correct.  They are not reusable, or at least I have not found a way to make it work.  The difficulty is in driving them back in because the drive tap at the bottom has been broken off. 


Using such inserts has greatly improved my wood working success when making joints that need to be disassembled, on occasion or even frequently. Or, where joints will be subjected to high torquing stresses, such as the "twined rag rug" loom that I made for my daughter last year for Christmas.  In this example, the high stress joints are the four corners of the frame.


I have only used 1/4-20 inserts, but in lengths from 1/4" to 3/4".  I know there are many other thread sizes and they are most often uses in automotive repairs where threads in the native metal parts have been stripped. 

Rick

[Jan]

Rick, thank you very much for the information concerning helical inserts. It is new for me. 
Until now I did not seen it in a local hardware store. In my understanding it works similarly as an externally threaded insert called insert nut.

Thanks for sharing the picture of your nice "twined rag rug" loom. It is quite large and sophisticated construction!

In my case the thread was cut directly in the massive Beachwood block. It works fine because the wood is perfectly dry, dense and the thread is relatively very long. The movement of the bolt is very small. It was not designed for everyday use. 

Jan

[RickKrung]

Have you seen them in your local hardware store, or are you saying that you still have not seen them there?  They are not stocked at the two small hardware stores (Ace and True Value) in my tiny town, but I've seen them three of the four larger hardware stores in the closest town of any size (10,000).  The kit I bought came from an Ace Hardware store.  They are also available from supply houses, such as McMaster-Carr (https://www.mcmaster.com/threaded-inserts).  An excellent source for innumerable things. 

I am not sure what you mean by "externally threaded insert", but these helicoil inserts are just that, threaded on the outside for the externally threaded and threaded on the inside for the threaded insert aspect.  They are a tightly coiled, diamond shaped stainless steel wire.  They require that the hole in the wood be threaded, with a special tap/custom tap (5/16-20 thread) that came in the kit that I initially bought. 

Thanks for the compliment on the loom, but I cannot take credit for the design.  It came from a book, that I modified, of course.  I enlarged it in both directions and used the threaded inserts instead of lag bolts or wood screws, both of which the latter two I would add gussets at the corners.

Rick

[Jan]

Rick, thanks for your link. I still have not seen them in the local hardware, but today I have found them on German subsidiary of AMAZON what means that they are easily available for me.

Jan

[RickKrung]

That is great, Jan.  I think you may get hooked, if you try them.  A little spendy to get started, with the tools, but well worth it in my opinion. 

So far I have only used them in wood, even though they are designed and marketed for use in restoring stripped threads in metal, particularly casting type parts, such as engine blocks.  As mentioned, I have yet to use them in anything but 1/4-20 threads, but if I had the need, I would not hesitate to use other sizes, especially smaller ones. I believe I will never use the more traditional brass threaded insert again.   

Rick