Welds on US-430 extended support

[BradGE]

Hi All,

I thought to share an issue I had with my US-430 extended support. The welds holding the horizontal bar to the supports weren't very tidy, and the blobs sticking out interfere with passage of the knife jig if you're using it at a low angle. 

I should have taken a photo before I started grinding the excess weld off, but you can probably get the idea.  Anyone else have this issue, or was it bad luck for me? 

I've gone as close as I dare with my grinder, and will now finish it off on the DC-250.



 

[Josu V]

Hello

I have two US-430s and they both have the same problem.
I use a Dremel to remove excess material.

The problem is that, where the material has been removed, rust appears.

Regards

[BradGE]

Good to know, thank you JosuV.  I will keep an eye on that section for rust...

[micha]

Hi Brad,
that's interesting to know - had the same problem with protruding welds but can't confirm the rust formation.
I had just used a file to take the projection down.

[BradGE]

Interesting that this same issue is on other US-430s...  I'm surprised Tormek haven't picked this up yet.

[Hogdog6]

Had to dremel mine also

[micha]

This 'generous-welder-problem' seems so untypical for Tormek.
However, the USB-430 might be more of a small series rather than a mass product. And we're probably talking about the first production run. Fortunately for Tormek, most if not all USB-430 customers are well-equipped with the necessary tools to cure the problem by themselves.
After all, it's all about removing metal... 

[Ken S]

I had the same bumpy weld on my US-430. I discovered it while exploring the possibility of seeing if I could both sharpen and hone longer knives with the T4. (I purchased my ten inch (250mm) Victorinox chef knife for the test.) The bump is only noticeable when using the US-430 in the horizontal sleeves. The first hurdle to clear was the three plastic locking knobs on the SVM-45 jig and the sleeves. Substituting 6x1x10 (6mm diameter x 1mm thread pitch, the standard metric for 6mm x 10mm length) socket set ("grub") screws, this part of the problem was solved. (Forem member, Rick Kruger first suggested using the grub screws.)

When the US-430 is held with the screw side up, a very small area of the bottom of the jig needs to be ground or filed away for clearance. The amount is very small, and does not effect the jig. I happened to use my belt grinder, although a Tormek or a file could have done the job.

The last small constraint was the bump on the weld. I used an auger bit file to make quick work of this, although a Dremel would have worked. (As an old telephone man, I used an auger bit file to sharpen the auger bits with my "brace and bit". The auger bit file is a very useful tool for sharpeners. I recommend it for all of us.)

With these simple changes, I found the US-430 worked very well with both the T4 and T8 to both sharpen and hone longer knives.

I had previously emailed Håkan Persson, Tormek's CEO, suggesting the longer legs for the US-430. As a thank you, Håkan sent me one of the first production run US-430s. I emailed him my suggested modifications. He told me the problem had been corrected with later units, so I did mention it. The earlier posts in this topic indicate that there were more units made in the initial production run than I realized.

I emailed Håkan yesterday about this topic. (Tormek, like most companies, does not work on weekends.) First thing this morning, I received this email from Him:

"Hi Ken. Thanks for your alert. I assume the the users who got this problem are all from the early supplies.  After your notification we introduced a checking gauge (image).  Its used both at the weldingdepartment and inspection. Please feel free to share this.
Image

Best regards Hakan"


(I will post the photo of the testing gage as soon as I remember how to post photos from my ipad.)


I have always found Tormek very responsive to customer problems. To be fair, as shown in the online video knife class, Tormek recommends grinding into the wheel for sharpening, using the vertical sleeves and freehand honing. Neither of these techniques would have revealed the weld bump problem.

The support bar is normally dry. I believe any rusting would be minor and can be corrected with wax or oil.

I hope I have provided an honest evaluation of the weld bump situation. In a perfect world it would not have happened. In this world, it happened and Tormek corrected it. For me, I corrected my support bar with a few strokes of a file and have moved on.

Ken

[Josu V]

I think I need to qualify the word "problem" that I have used before...

Really is not a problem (the rust). The US-430 works perfectly. I have a pair of them because the 80% of the knifes I sharpen, are very long. Up to 34cm.
My work place have a very high humidity. All metals rust easily, except Stainless steel.

I need to do maintenance of all tormek´s parts every two months. Disassemble, degrease and re-grease again. Jigs, unversal supports, Ezylock and all screws.

By the way; I bought two US-430... I think the two first in Spain

Regards

[BradGE]

Hi Ken,

Thank you for sharing this news directly from Tormek.  I bought my US-430 in June this year (in the UK), but who knows how long it's been sitting in a warehouse...  As Micha says, easy enough to fix, but a bit out of character for Tormek to let something like this past their QC...

[micha]

Ken,
thanks for sharing, interesting to know.
I can confirm I surely was one of the first to get one in Germany (in 10/2919). And I think that many of the guys in this most honorable forum are prone to becoming early adopters of new Tormek stuff, too. Thus a certain accumulation of that little glitch is not unusual, I suppose.

Brad, it surprises me that you saw the same this June. But as you say, it may have been just sitting somewhere. Or they made so many of these that the checking gauge has already worn out...

Mike

[Ken S]

Mike,

Sometimes accessories sit on dealers' shelves for a long time. Several years ago,I found an XB-100 at my local dealer which priced six dollars below the others. Like many of, I am easily tempted by a bargain. The XB-100 was originally designed to convert an early SuperGrind to both vertical and horizontal sleeves. The bargain one I found had the original ancient design of only one locking sleeve. It had been on a shelf for many years!

Ken

[Ken S]

Here is the photo of the gauge from Tormek. It is simple, but effective. If the leg fits through the gauge, the weld clearance is OK.

Ken

[micha]

...as long as the leftmost part is still in contact with the support bar.  If you give a little play, you can pull it over almost any size of weld. That's called Monday allowance

Now all joking aside, of course they know how to use it and will do so and it's a great idea. Not bashing Tormek here. Just gave me a short laugh.
Thanks for the picture.

Mike

[jvh]

Hello,

I have the same problem with my US-430 - probably first production run and first delivery to Czech republic. The comparison of welds on US-105 and US-430 needs no comment. 

There is also problem with legs alignment - see photos.

Rust appeared too without any U-430 modification.

jvh