T4 and SJ 200

[Millerti87]

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I did have one issue, on my Zwilling Kramer Chef Knife where I could not get a burr to form on one side. I was able to get the knife sharp, but I was confused at the lack of the burr. I used the sharpie method and it looked like there was one very thin line along the edge of the blade that would not go away. I don't know if the water was bogged down with material, or if I wasn't using the stone grader enough. But it was definitely frustrating.

I don't have experience with that particular knife, but in general, many knives that are commercially sharpened are often honed on one side at a very high angle to remove the burr.  So, you end up with what you saw... one side of the knife that has a "line" that doesn't seem to want to go away, even though you're matching the majority of the angle with the Sharpie method.

I often say that the first sharpening sets the knife up for the way you sharpen, and may take some time, so the only thing you can do is "grind it out"... sharpen the knife until the line is gone (with the stone graded "coarse").  Make sure you work both sides of the knife so you keep the sides even.  Once you do that, re-sharpening is quick and easy. (And it should come out much sharper).

That makes sense. I've been making sure I do 1-2 passes then flip, 1-2 passes, then flip. Thanks!

[Ukfraser]

I have read every post about the T4 since its introduction in 2014 and have never read a post about motor burnout.

Ken

I just wanted to share. My main concern over getting a t4 or t8 was whether the t4 would be big enough for some of my garden tools. My main interest was for a 20" 2.5lb axe which came with the title razorsharp but when received was anything but. I was persuaded that the t4 would be up to the job by reassurance from ken and the bushcraft video.

However, Having tried various methods to sharpen it and delayed till i got better skills with the tormek (as it has a fairly simple jig) i finally got round to reshaping the blade. It took about an hour. The motor was happy but im not so sure about the rubber on the drive ring.

More importantly i have just got back from doing several hours bush clearing in a church yard and im very pleased to say that the reshaping has transformed the axe. It was cheap so im fairly happy to abuse the head and it has suffered a few more nicks today from stones and the wall and got buried in soil a few times but it made short work of some thick holly and hazel that i couldnt use my saw on.

So im mega pleased with my decision on the t4 as it only gets used infrequently and is nice and small so takes up little space but is meaty enough for everything ive thrown at it. I have tt50, se 77 and the 806 hand tools kit so am well set up but have invested in a strop for final final honing of my carving knives. (Still havent tried my garden shears as that involves dismantling them but my bowie knife was never this sharp when i bought it 50 odd years ago for fishing.)