Idea for Tormek Community

[John_B]

Ken,
A recent post gave me an idea for the Tormek Community. A great many of our responses to posts contain links to other sites, reference posts within this forum, videos and a wealth of other information. What would you think about creating a document that would serve as a one stop place for the links to all the information that is commonly referenced? It seems like we are posting a lot of the same links and information repeatedly in response to questions. While search is a great tool it is I think hard for many new users that are not as familiar with the terminology.

We could start a thread asking for contributions of links so one person won't have to compile everything. A lot of this information is available in Rich Colvin's handbook and this would supplement it with links to commonly referenced threads. I would suggest posting this as a .PDF document here.

If you do not think this is worth the effort it will not hurt my feelings to hear that.

[plonken]

Think that would be great, what i missed in the beginning and still do sometime is a dictionary for all abbreviations like CBN, USB, BESS, FVB, DPS and so on.
Not just a name but a simple explanation what it is or means. I get that we use these names as it would be tedious to write them out every time.
But what you are proposing this would fit perfectly.

//Thomas

[RickKrung]

There is a list, somewhere, of the jig numbers with the jig names, as a PDF, that I use regularly.  I don't recall where it is posted here but I've attached it here.  It does not go as far as you suggest, with a description of what they are used for. That would be handy. 

What I try to do to partially address this is to first state the name or function of a jig, so that readers know approximately what I'm talking about, but include, usually in parentheses, the jig number (eg. SVD-145) so that there is no mistake. 

It is extremely frustrating to me when only the jig number is posted because I do not use most often enough to remember what they do, just by seeing the number. 

Rick

[Ken S]

John,
I think you have a good idea, although I have a few reservations. If Rich Colvin is agreeable, I think this information should be placed in his Sharpening Handbook for several reasons.
First, many of the links I would consider essential pertain to products or ideas related to but not manufactured by Tormek. I include all of the bevel angle setting programs and devices in this group (including my kenjig). A central location which can be kept current would be very useful.
Second, a link in the Sharpening Handbook could be kept to a manageable size. Look at the first topic in the General Tormek Questions part. My humble idea has reached War and Peace proportions with around one hundred replies. It needs to be reduced to a usable size.
Third, I like the idea of having suggestions sent to Rich and letting him post them. Using my kenjig article as an example, if I wanted to amend it, I could do the editing and email the revised version to Rich for the Handbook.

Thomas, I agree with you about a document explaining commonly used abbreviations. I try to post with the intention of having the message easily understood by our members whose primary language is not English. Abbreviations like USB, BESS, etc may not be apparent in other languages. Leading into Rick's comment, I think this document, and a list of the Tormek jigs and accessories, should be easily printable and kept conveniently near the computer, laptop, or tablet for ready reference.
In addition to the abbreviations, I would include the pages of the handbook which give the generally accepted Tormek definition of different angles. This would eliminate a lot of confusion.

Ken

[RickKrung]

...snip...
Thomas, I agree with you about a document explaining commonly used abbreviations. I try to post with the intention of having the message easily understood by our members whose primary language is not English. Abbreviations like USB, BESS, etc may not be apparent in other languages. Leading into Rick's comment, I think this document, and a list of the Tormek jigs and accessories, should be easily printable and kept conveniently near the computer, laptop, or tablet for ready reference.

In addition to the abbreviations, I would include the pages of the handbook which give the generally accepted Tormek definition of different angles. This would eliminate a lot of confusion.

Ken

That is a good idea.  Towards that end, I suggest it be made tabular, with columns for the information, Acronym, Description, Handbook Pages, etc., rather than a list with long sentences. 


Rick

[plonken]

Yes this would be even better.

//Thomas

[kenlip]

Is there a way for readers to mark patricular threads as 'keepers'?  In other words, if I come across a thread that I would like to be able to refer back to at some time in the future, is there a way to mark that thread accordingly?  Something similar to bookmarking websites in a browser.

[cbwx34]

Is there a way for readers to mark patricular threads as 'keepers'?  In other words, if I come across a thread that I would like to be able to refer back to at some time in the future, is there a way to mark that thread accordingly?

Don't think so... (just Bookmark it in your browser)

[tgbto]

Is there a way for readers to mark patricular threads as 'keepers'?  In other words, if I come across a thread that I would like to be able to refer back to at some time in the future, is there a way to mark that thread accordingly?

Don't think so either, but maybe our beloved moderator wouldn't mind adding some "sticky threads", such as one that would be the "official Tormek thesaurus"

[RichColvin]

I'm glad this got re-visited.  John posed a good question, and others' inputs have helped clarify it for me.  As I thought about this over the past few days, I now wonder:

What the best approach is for a Tormek person to garner information?

What the best approach is for a Tormek person to garner information?I have always thought that this forum is a great way to ask questions of other Tormek users, and it is a great place to bounce ideas off our peers.I make a base assumption that anyone new to sharpening would not be using this forum.  They are probably still using oil stones or sandpaper, and it is only after they get "good" at sharpening that they will seek the advantage of wet sharpening.  And that is when they make the move to a Tormek.

The Tormek Handbook is stuffed full of information, and I agree with Ken that it is a great place to start.  From there, the Tormek sharpener may next get into questions like:

   
• What user-developed jigs could help make the job easier (e.g., the KenJig & the pin pivot jig)?  As those ideas have matured, I've tried to capture in the Sharpening Handbook, complete with drawings where possible.
• Where do I get more basic information such as sharpening research?  There are some great books and other sources of information such as tests performed by Dr. Vadim Kraichuk.  I've tried to catalog those in the Sharpening Handbook, and provide links to web-based resources as some are difficult to find.

What I've not captured in the Sharpening Handbook are the ideas still being vetted out.  For example, it took a while for the platform jig to get settled out, including all the plusses and minuses.  This forum was great for helping that process happen.

So how does a person new to the forum find out if their question has already been asked (and hopefully answered)?  The search feature should help, but I've seen limitations there.  If nothing else, what search terms do I use?

I think a curated index to some key topics would be great.  But I think it should be in the Tormek forum, and not outside.  The question is who will maintain it?  Maybe some retirees will take on this task; hopefully more than one person.  Ken has done a great job monitoring and managing this forum.  But it would be too much to ask him to take on more.

So, maybe coming full circle, is this something John could do as a great benefit for all of us (and others who haven't yet joined)?

[Ken S]

I think creating a reference document is a very good idea. I like the idea of basing it in Rich's handbook, our
"one stop reference guide". I also like Rick's simplified format.

I would gladly be an occasional contributor and fact checker. I must decline heading up the project. With my family responsibilities and advancing age, I already spend too much time with forum related activities.

Ken

[BeSharp]

Now that the Tormek machinery history video is out, I wonder if Rich should add that to his amazing Sharpening Handbook? We've had people come here and ask about older models.

[RichColvin]

Chip,

Thanks for the compliment. 

I'll add a link to that video this weekend.

   
• Update :  I added it on Saturday morning (11 Dec 21).  It is in the videos with the rest of the excellent videos from Sèbastian and Wolfgang.

Rich

[Naf]

Some excellent ideas here, some. I offered help with this today, but all my posts got deleted, so I guess that's no thank you.  Approximately 20 years ago, I hand coded a custom forum from scratch, for people use, within a website.  Interesting tactics. Good luck.