Revisiting my Tormek

[cbwx34]

Strange. I just tried : push down on the USB on the MA leg, tighten the MA leg, tighten the non-MA leg, release downwards pressure on the MA leg. The USB cannot move *at all*. Or at least that I can measure...

Ok... thanks for checking it out.

[Ken S]

Segovia,

I am facing a similar situation. For the past year, my health has prevented me from having much, if any, time in my workshop. Just like playing a musical instrument, I realize that it will require some time for my body to become reacquainted with my Tormek. Fortunately, I enjoy the sharpening process and slowly relearning and tuning will be pleasant. For the first couple of sessions, I do not plan to do any actual sharpening. I will allow myself the luxury of slowly retruing my grinding wheels. Although I can retrue with deeper cuts, I much prefer to savor the process with multiple light cuts, generally around half of a microadjust number. I carefully add a small rounding edge to both sides of my grinding wheels. Although this method is slower, I don't remember ever chipping a wheel.

The wheel should be fully trued before moving on.

I use simple 3/4" bench chisels as warmup and learning tools. I have a number of them. Irwin blue chip chisels are adequate quality and not expensive. They can teach you a lot. I suggest them even to those whose regular sharpening is exclusively knives.

A 2 1/4" plane blade should not be a problem. Start with light passes and a black marker. Check for square frequently. Each pass should be square.  The 76 or 77 designation of modern square edge jigs means they can handle blades up to three inches wide. Light passes until everything is right.

Relearning should pass more quickly than initial learning. Slow and steady carries the day.

Keep us posted.

Ken

[Segovia123]

Update

I put the blade in my honing guide and ran it across some 60 micron 3M paper and then put a secondary bevel with my stones. The whole process took less than 20 minutes which makes me wonder why I bought a Tormek in the first place !   

[Segovia123]

PS

I think the Tormek SE-77 Square Edge Jig is the problem, the adjustment capability can lead to misalignment of the blade in the jig.

[Ken S]

I would offer a different opinion. Ever since the SE-77 was introduced, I felt that Tormek did not emphasize its primary, long needed advancement. While squaring up chisels is a nice secondary feature, being able to control the amount of camber on plane irons is the real innovation. Before the SE-77, we had to guesstimate this by varying finger pressure side to side.

During the years of the non adjustable SE-76, we still had many complaints of out of square chisels and plane irons. The uncomfortable truth is that grinding accurately square edges often requires a higher level of skill and care, including frequent checking with a square. Whenever I see a posted photo of a very out of square edge, I think that the person did not bother th check for square during grinding. Checking for square early is our early earning system indicating a need to course correct.
If all you want is sharp chisels and plane irons ground straight across, you might be happier with the SE-76. Although discontinued fairly recently, they should be plentiful on the used or "new old stock" markets. Just keep in mind that the fixed registration fence does not completely eliminate the need for checking for square.

I suggest you hang onto your SE-77 for the day when your hand planing skill requires cambering.

Ken