Hello / Thanks / Stone holders

[tgbto]

Good day to you all.

First of all, let me say how impressed and thankful I am to all those of you who contributed to this forum. I'm still overwhelmed by the quantity of information, the neat ideas, and the strife for constant improvement.

I'm mainly a knife sharpener. I've been using wetstones and (let's not give names) some sliding-rod jigs that have given me more than satisfactory results for many years. Of course there's the issue with the sharpening of the tip on those jigs, but one of the most prolific topic on here has been with whether/how to pivot to achieve satisfactory results with the tormek.

To be honest, I don't need a Tormek but I like well engineered stuff and I'm very curious. So I went for the T-8 + SJ-250, SB250 (probably should have gone with the DC250 but hey, I had not read enough of the forum) DF 250, DE-250, just received my FVB, purchased the KG angle setter for windows (should have waited till I ordered the FVB but again, I've been too hasty), and use the TormekCalc2 with delight. It's a brilliant piece of Excel file and not only does it fulfill my needs, it gave me ideas I was able to apply at once.

So I'm obviously very early in the learning curve. I've sharpened some junk knives a LOT before I moved on to higher-quality ones and those have come out cutting better and longer than ever before. Probably not the level you guys would expect but in terms of time spent and result, still the best compromise yet.

I've even tried sharpening a ginsan-ko yo-deba with the FVB as per the KG video, and it came out scary sharp. I've sticked to the wetstone for the backside though, which saved a lot of time as I *only* have one machine ^^. I still think the wetstones are better suited to maintain the original shape for that kind of knife but it was worth trying. In the same spirit, I'll probably stick to the sliding-rod style jigs with narrow stones for whatever few recurve blades I sharpen.

But all-in-all, my usual job being putting a bulk friends' or family's knives back in shape quickly, and those guys usually have standard kitchen knives, I think the Tormek will serve me well, and most importantly... I'll be having fun. I couldn't thank enough Ken, Wootz, jvh and many others who have saved me tremendous time spent in trial and errors, although I still have my share of those ahead of me. I've seldom seen a forum where collective creative thinking was so pervasive.

Now I hope I won't discover this issue has been discussed numerous time, if so I sincerely apologize but I couldn't seem to find any topic on this: How do you guys store your stones ? I've seen (I think of KG youtube videos) that some used stainless steel drainer-style racks. I also saw the Tormek guys with their nifty cart and stones hanging on the side. I bought a cart for my T8 to sit on top of, and I padded the drawers with shadowfoam to hold the tools and some stones. I've also seen some stone holders on thingiverse ready for 3D-printing. Still none seems completely satisfactory:
- The stainless steel racks look that I would easily nick the stones, or should I say nick the SJ-250, which seems like it would chip if I glared at it a bit to openly.
- I wouldn't dare hang a stone on the side of the cart for fear it would drop one way or another
- Storing the stones flat in the drawers takes up a lot of space, and I'm wondering if I won't end up with a wet and/or rusty mess at some point.
- The 3D-printed ones I would have to secure on some countertop to avoid dropping. And as they seem quite bulky, and I don't personally own a 3D-printer, I don't want to end up costing my friend $100+ in filament.

I also briefly thought of a thick, non-vertical wooden board with 10mm bolts protruding, but the drainage will probably be an issue, along with the overall size of the thingamajig. So...

[RickKrung]

Good day to you all.

First of all, let me say how impressed and thankful I am to all those of you who contributed to this forum. I'm still overwhelmed by the quantity of information, the neat ideas, and the strife for constant improvement.

...snip...
How do you guys store your stones ? I've seen (I think of KG youtube videos) that some used stainless steel drainer-style racks. I also saw the Tormek guys with their nifty cart and stones hanging on the side. I bought a cart for my T8 to sit on top of, and I padded the drawers with shadowfoam to hold the tools and some stones. I've also seen some stone holders on thingiverse ready for 3D-printing. Still none seems completely satisfactory:
- The stainless steel racks look that I would easily nick the stones, or should I say nick the SJ-250, which seems like it would chip if I glared at it a bit to openly.
- I wouldn't dare hang a stone on the side of the cart for fear it would drop one way or another
- Storing the stones flat in the drawers takes up a lot of space, and I'm wondering if I won't end up with a wet and/or rusty mess at some point.
- The 3D-printed ones I would have to secure on some countertop to avoid dropping. And as they seem quite bulky, and I don't personally own a 3D-printer, I don't want to end up costing my friend $100+ in filament.

I also briefly thought of a thick, non-vertical wooden board with 10mm bolts protruding, but the drainage will probably be an issue, along with the overall size of the thingamajig. So...

First, welcome to the forum.  You really nailed with the character of this forum and its members.  We look forward to your participation and contributions.

Second, I know I've posted more extensively on my method of storing the grinding wheels, but I did some advanced searching and could not come up with what I feel certain is there.  So... here goes again.

Plastic milk cartons: How Do You Store Your Stones (Rode Hard & Put Away Wet).  This thread also has some other great ideas. 

The above only shows the grindstones (SG, SB and SJ), not the diamond wheels or how I store and transport the T8 and other stuff.

As the story goes, as part of my move in 2016, a year before I even had a Tormek, I acquired a sizable supply of the plastic milk cartons.  I used them to transport and store small heavy items that would tear apart moving boxes, etc.  Once I started collecting Tormek grinding wheels, I started storing them on and in these milk cartons.  When I needed to travel with my sharpening "kit", I used them for all of the equipment and supplies.  I continue to use them to store the grindstones, long term, under the table where I do my sharpening in my shop.

The third photo shows how I get the wheels on and off of the milk cartons.  Slide the one closest to the side over, lift the rod/wheels up and shift it all to the side so the wheel I want is off/out of the side of the carton and then slide it off.  Have not had any accidents (yet) dropping any.  The damaged SJ stone was from a folding table collapsing and everything sliding off onto the pavement at a Farmers Market.  The cracks closed up and I still use that SJ wheel. 

More recently, I have acquired a couple of stainless steel storage racks, for holding wet/in use wheels on the benchtop as I work through them on the T8.   

Rick

[tgbto]

Rick, thank you!

I didn't think of the right keywords for the post you referenced (I'm French), it has everything I was looking for and more. I remember quite well the SJ-250 following the folding-table incident from another post though (yikes).

I will probably explore two ideas:
- One based on IKEA legs such as https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/adils-leg-white-90217972/ . I'll try to screw them to the back of a thick enough plywood board and ram an A2 (A4?) M8 bolt through the board with a large plastic washer to avoid direct contact with the board, throw in a bit of silicon to avoid sippage to the backside.
- The other based on your milk cartons, but with separators and short rods so I can take one out easily. I'll probably 3d print the rods with an integrated flange or use two plastic washers, and Il make separators out of plywood cut in half. But if I could weld stainless it would look like this...

Many thanks!

[jvh]

Now I hope I won't discover this issue has been discussed numerous time, if so I sincerely apologize but I couldn't seem to find any topic on this: How do you guys store your stones ?

Hello,

not my idea, taken from Czech knife forum, author is "dub".

Frying pan rack Tescoma


jvh

[tgbto]

Nice, I just ordered one I guess they can also fit inside milk cartons for transportation...

[Ken S]

Welcome to the forum, TGB.
I had almost completed one of my typical thorough replies (which my wife calls too long and wordy) a couple days ago when my ipad made it disappear. Since you have already received several better replies, this is just a welcome and a caution.
I used to store my grinding wheels in their cardboard boxes. I ended up with moisture damage to the boxes.
The absorbent wheels can hold waterfor many days.
Anyway, welcome aboard.
Ken

[tgbto]

Thank you for your welcome ! And as you might have noticed, I have no issue with long posts And yes, moisture definitely seems to be an issue. I'll fiddle around with the rack jvh pointed to and see...

[tgbto]

I just received the rack that jvh mentioned. It is perfect for its purpose : the stones are stable in it, they're well separated so there's no way they can hit one another in standard conditions. Probably the best value for money I could find. I would most likely pad it  with a bit of foam in between the top of the stones if I had to move them around in a milk carton, in which it fits perfectly.

Thank you guys!

[John_B]

I will need to mark this just in case I buy any additional stones.

CBN and Japanese wheels are tempting.

[SharpenADullWitt]

How about a rubber mat underneath that (like one that comes with a dish rack)?

Two questions:
How long does a wheel at rest take to dry, verses one spinning on the Tormek, with no water (air circulation)?
Do the stone wheels dry slower then the diamond wheels, same time, faster? 

The T2000/7/8 are designed that they can run pretty much all the time, I would be tempted to leave my stone wheels running on them.

[tgbto]

Two questions:
How long does a wheel at rest take to dry, verses one spinning on the Tormek, with no water (air circulation)?
Do the stone wheels dry slower then the diamond wheels, same time, faster? 

The T2000/7/8 are designed that they can run pretty much all the time, I would be tempted to leave my stone wheels running on them.

Well, aside from the dubious interest from an energy standpoint, you may have to factor in the fact that rotating the wheels will also prevent some water from dripping off the wheel (the swiss cheese fondue effect ?). But that's an unexpected question.

As for the comparison between stone and diamond, the answer is clear: the diamond wheels sry MUCH faster as they don't soak up at all. The SG stone probably stores around 1 liter of water.

[John_B]

How about a rubber mat underneath that (like one that comes with a dish rack)?

Two questions:
How long does a wheel at rest take to dry, verses one spinning on the Tormek, with no water (air circulation)?
Do the stone wheels dry slower then the diamond wheels, same time, faster? 

The T2000/7/8 are designed that they can run pretty much all the time, I would be tempted to leave my stone wheels running on them.

The SG-250 is very porous. I think that most of the excess water leaves the stone rather quickly. As a rough estimate I would guess water will drain off at roughly the same rate it is absorbed when you add water to the trough and raise it. I have no idea how long it takes to get bone dry.

The diamond wheels do not absorb water so a quick wipe and they are dry.

[tgbto]

A lot of water will drain, but in my experience it remains wet for a looooooooong time.

[SharpenADullWitt]

Two questions:
How long does a wheel at rest take to dry, verses one spinning on the Tormek, with no water (air circulation)?
Do the stone wheels dry slower then the diamond wheels, same time, faster? 

The T2000/7/8 are designed that they can run pretty much all the time, I would be tempted to leave my stone wheels running on them.

Well, aside from the dubious interest from an energy standpoint, you may have to factor in the fact that rotating the wheels will also prevent some water from dripping off the wheel (the swiss cheese fondue effect ?). But that's an unexpected question.

As for the comparison between stone and diamond, the answer is clear: the diamond wheels sry MUCH faster as they don't soak up at all. The SG stone probably stores around 1 liter of water.

Not sure what you mean by dubious interest?
While I expect there may be less dripping, my one trial of leaving the wheel spinning after using, makes me think the wheel drys quicker from the air circulation.
Then, LONG ago (I think the post I remember is from when Jeff Farris ran this show) I believe there was something about wet wheels going out of round, quicker, if stopped in the same place, regularly.
I would be inclined to hang the diamond wheels elsewhere, for drying, more readily then the stone wheels.  Maybe close to a fan. (have a fan, older then me, that was always on my grandfathers bench)  The less I have to move the stone wheels, the less chance of dropping, IMHO.

There are a lot of posts I have missed, since life got in the way.  I think last time I was on the forum, the diamond wheels had just been announced, and I was trying to find the price.
I am sure there are posts that discuss things that I wonder, like why do the diamond wheels need to be used in water, verses the diamond wheel on the T2?  (currently the one machine of the three I own, that I have handy, the T7 and T2000 are elsewhere)  I just learned last night, that there is a new honing wheel, that requires no compound (interested in comparison posts).