T-8 with DRO

[RickKrung]

I agree with micha, the SJ stone can get very dirty, or at least dirty looking.  I use black marker on all my bevels, even with the SJ and it can get very dirty looking.  I hardly ever true it, rather use Sabitoru Rust Erasers to clean the dirt, which are very effective and "condition" the surface with a 1000 grit diamond plate as needed.

Dirty SJ before cleaning.
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Sabitoru Rust Erasers for cleaning.
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SJ cleaned using the Sabitoru REs.
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Rick

[Thy Will Be Done]

I see, didn't realize that wasn't the standard grindstone but it makes sense now as the finer waterstones do tend to load a lot in general.

[RichColvin]

I also don't worry about this on my SJ-250 grindstone.  

[Thy Will Be Done]

I also don't worry about this on my SJ-250 grindstone. 

It's not exactly a problem, in that you will still get abrasion and the knife doesn't explode.  People do what amounts to this all the time on the leather wheel and strops in general.  There is no way to clean either so what you end up with is an abrasive surface that is highly polluted with embedded metal particles. 

What essentially happens is the steel particles do not cut the tool's steel and this causes burnishing rather than a clean cut.  Burnishing is not something that works well in general, especially on tougher to grind and harder steels.  It will lead to diminished edge retention in most all cases and essentially cancels out any benefits you might see from using a higher quality steel compared to a cheaper lesser quality grade of steel.

[3D Anvil]

I agree that cleaner is better, but I don't think it's accurate to say that a blackened honing wheel or strop is just burnishing -- provided you continually refresh the honing compound.  After all, it's the abrasives in the compound that are doing the cutting. 

[Thy Will Be Done]

I agree that cleaner is better, but I don't think it's accurate to say that a blackened honing wheel or strop is just burnishing -- provided you continually refresh the honing compound.  After all, it's the abrasives in the compound that are doing the cutting. 

It's not that I would say it's purely burnishing but rather a mix of cutting and burnishing.  Any amount of burnishing is going to be detrimental in practice.  If you leave the SJ-250 in the blackened state then you could say the same of it, that it's doing both.  This can be easily felt on a bench stone when it loads as it tending to feel quite different in use. 

One can be easily cleaned and brought back to pure cutting quite easily (wheel) and the other simply cannot short of replacing it and starting over (strop).  If it were a choice between the wheel and stropping for me, that's an easy decision.  I will actually use the SG-250 to remove burrs and hone, I have never even loaded the leather wheel that came with my Tormek and it stays off the machine permanently.

[cbwx34]

Here's a bit of trivia... Wicked Edge did some testing a few years back, and even new leather with compound had a burnishing effect (affect?) on the edge.  (Search their forum for burnishing, and you'll find some of the posts.)

[Sir Amwell]

Well done Micha! Your innovations seemed to have sparked a discussion on the effects of dirty wheels!
Maybe if I post some pictures of how I take bar to stone measurements I will get some replies about why I can't seem to use a rock hard wheel effectively.
Tee hee!

[Perra]

Dear fellow Tormekers,

I just want to share my attempt of adding DROs to the machine. It's still kind of beta-testing - but so far I'm very happy with the results.

Hi micha

I like your solution- Maybe we can work together. Your solution together with my Angle setter. And an electric stepper motor that automatically sets the USB height according to the selected angle. Then we can make an app for the phone that controls everything.   

[cbwx34]

...
Now I'm looking for a new rabbit hole...  

Hi micha

I like your solution- Maybe we can work together....

Looks like you found it!     

[micha]

Then we can make an app for the phone that controls everything.   

Of course! Including live monitoring, automatic wheel changing, cleaning and maintenance.  
There are still many rabbit holes in Tormek Wonderland...(waiting for their discovery by real march hares like us)