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I sharpened my 2nd new 'v' chisel today, and I had problems both times setting the correct angles. This led to wasting some length on both tools, not a lot, but enough to be frustrating. I used the angle finder in the way shown in the handbook, i.e.; by laying the angle finder ear into the bottom of the 'v' in the chisel, but it is hard to see if it is resting evenly there.a Both times I came up with wrong angles and had trial and error it to get the correct bevel, 20 deg. in this case. I'm not sure if it is failing eyesight or something else. Can anyone give me some advice on a way which works well for them?

I tried out my new SCS-32 today on some of my Pfeil carving gouges and a small 'v' chisel. I have to say that the results were outstanding. I've never gotten those chisels so sharp before. I used a 20 deg. bevel on all of them. I did find the small 'v' chisel to be a little difficult to sharpen. I first squared the end as suggested in the Tormek handbookm then mounted the chisel into the jig and tried to get the angle set with the angle tools, but I found this to be quite awkward, as it was difficult to see if it was lying flat inside chisel wings. I did finally get a satisfactory if not perfect result, but if anyone has any tips on an easier or better way to do this, please let me know. I honed all of the chisels freehand using all three of the honing wheels with the different profiles and I am really thrilled with the results. They go through the basswood like hot butter now!

I like the SVS-32 jig very much and it's certainly useful for a lot more than just short tools. That said I do have a couple of sets of short carving tools I bought many years ago and which I have never been able to sharpen to my liking, so I plan to do them next with the hope of seeing much better results. Those short handled chisels should be a lot easier to use for figure carving than my standard Pfeil chisels.

My shop has no plumbing and after buying my Tormek I found it irritating that I had to lug water out to my shop every time I wanted to sharpen anything. I did use some 1-1/2 qt. milk cartons to start with, but it still wasn't very convenient. I had also starting using hot hide glue which requires water to mix with the dry glue granules. My solution to the problem was to build a little wall mounted shelf to hold a 12 gal. plastic bottle with a tap (as shown in the photo below). I've been using it for the last 6 months and I have found it to be really  convenient so I thought I would pass the idea along.

I recently bought my new sløyd knife for figure carving which I showed in my last post. I bought it from a Swedish chain that also sells Tormek. While there I saw a cheap 10 piece set of carving chisels from China, but touted by the store as good quality steel. I have a few Pfeil carving chisels which I like a lot, but the whole cheap set cost only about the same as for two Pfeil chisels, so I bought it thinking that I didn't have much to lose. I figured that I might have to hone them a little more frequently, but that is so easy on the Tormek that I couldn't see any big disadvantage.

In the past I have always advised others to buy only quality carving chisels and only one at a time as the need for new profiles arise. That said, it's always fun to go against the grain and try a new approach. The handles are of white oak and faceted for a good grip and to prevent them from rolling off the bench. Unfortunately they have some gunky varnish on them, but I plan to remove that. My guess is that this set is also available in the U.S. and Canada.

The new chisels pictured below have 4" long shafts and different profiles. None of the profiles are duplicates to my Pfeil collection, so they should be very useful, especially the wide gouge profiles, but also the skew chisel, small gouges and two different 'v' irons. The 2nd photo is one small gouge which I honed, but didn't sharpen on the Tormek. The last photo shows a cross grain cut with it which left a very polished surface. Please let me know your own experience with cheap vs. expensive chisels.

   

I recently bought the turning jig kit which included the SVS-50 jig. Can also handle short tools like the SVS-32?

As I mentioned in my last post I have been doing a little figure carving lately. I'm worried that it's becoming an obsession. There is something about creating little people and/or animals that I find fascinating. My Tormek is a fantastic help in keeping the work enjoyable. I have been keeping great edges on my tools with just the leather wheels and a little diamond paste after an initial sharpening session. Quick and easy! I did have to get a carving glove for my left hand and a thumb guard for my right as my thumb was starting to look like a slice of baloney. No cuts aftter the glove though, so I still have a few bandaids left from my Tormek pack.

Right now I'm working on my 2nd figure carving from my own pattern. It's about 12" tall. I had no idea how much work that would entail compared to the first one which was only about 5" tall, so it is taking a lot more time than the other one. That's ok though, as the idea is to enjoy the work and take whatever time is necessary to do the best I can with it. One thing I have learned is that you have to learn anatomy to get decent results. A bit of a challenge for my lazy brain, but I have gotten some drawing books from my son and I have also bought some caricature carving books from Fox Chapel and Amazon.

I did want to mention that the sløyd knife I bought has turned out to be a real asset. It can remove a lot of wood fast while roughing out, but with it's pointed tip, it is also good for those hard to get at details.
Besides the sløyd knife, I'm mainly using a Pfeil chip carving knife, with some help from a small gouge and a 'V' chisel. Here's a photo of the sløyd knife in case you don't know what it is. It's  made in Sweden and is pretty cheap, but with good steel quality, so it really holds an good edge for a long time. I highly recommend it.

I haven't used my Tormek much since I bought it except for sharpening chisels and plane blades, but I found it really handy when I did my first figure carving recently. I used the small knife jig to sharpen my chip carving knife and also a small sløyd knife I used. I messed up a bit with the sløyd knife a bit, but finally got it right. I decided to take up figure carving so that I would have something to do while sitting with the wife on the terrace in the summer. I get bored pretty fast when my hands aren't busy, so I thought I could have a little fun while cooking in the sun. Here's my first little figure carving.



I also bought the turners kit. This is also great for keeping my carving gouges sharp, though I don't use them much as I don't do relief carving and I prefer just the knives for figure carving. I haven't sharpened any turning tools with it yet, but I'm sure it will do a great job on them.

Sorry I haven't participated much here on the forum for some time, but I've been building shop benches, a marquetry sawing machine and also doing some marquetry work, none of which has anything to do with the Tormek. I will review as many old posts here as I find time for, so don't be surprised if I come with a lot of questions.

In an earlier post I mentioned that I hadn't used enough oil on my stropping wheel. I asked if I should  put more oil on it. The response from several members was to not re-oil, but rather just continue using it as is. Today, I took a look at the manual, as I should have done to begin with, duh. It says to impregnate the wheel with a light oil, then apply the diamond paste, first while turning the wheel by hand, and then to work the paste in with a tool while running. It also states that one application should be good for doing 8 to 10 tools, after which a few drops of oil should be put on the stropping wheel. I am not complaining here about the advice, which was given in the spirit of friendly helpfulness and which I appreciate, but I felt it would be worth correcting the misconception. I also learned that I should not waste others time and efforts asking questions that are covered by the manual (although I will probably do it again anyway)

When I bought my Tormek here in Norway it came with a manual in Swedish. I can read and understand it, but I prefer the English version, which I downloaded. While scrolling through the pages I did something that produced many pages in a small format instead of just one or two pages at a time. This made it faster and simpler to get to the desired page. Unfortunately I have not been able to duplicate that format up again. Can anyone tell me what keystrokes are needed for this format? I am using a MAC with the OSX Lion operating system.

I've been reading some of the posts in this category and they seem to be mostly about sharpening and not about working with hand tools. Judging from Jeff's opening post, it seemed he intended to use it to talk more about using hand tools than just sharpening them. So here is my contribution in that spirit.

I started out my woodworking hobby with machines 17 years ago, but I  have taken much more interest in hand tools over the years.  I can't claim to be highly skilled with them, I have risen to a certain degree of mediocrity with some of them and I am more than willing to become more proficient with all of them. I find that working with hand tools to be much more enjoyable and satisfying than working with machines, due mainly to the lack of dust and noise, plus they are  more efficient for many tasks. That doesn't mean that I want to give up my machines which do save me from a lot of boring and tiring labor, but more and more I am thinking twice about whether or not I should use hand tools for whatever work I'm contemplating. I have to admit that when I do some good work with my hand tools it does make me feel more like a proper craftsman. I am not sure why this is so, because it does require a lot of skill to get the most out of  machine tools too.

So what can I say about my actual experience? Well, my biggest and most satisfying 'breakthrough' has been with hand planes. I have been getting better with them, but there is still room for a lot of improvement. The main things that have helped me in this regard are, learning how to properly tune up a plane, how to get the blade sharp and also learning proper hand planing technique. All of these things can be found in a multitude of books and on the web. I still struggle a bit with getting the appropriate mouth openings for the wood I'm planing, but that is improving too.

The hand tool I respect the most is the lowly chisel. Why? Because there is little in woodworking that can't be done with one. Yes, I know it isn't always the best choice for any given task, nevertheless it can do the work of many different hand tools. I even learned how to make a 1 minute router plane using a chisel from Paul Sellers, the English woodworker. I haven't actually made one yet, but I will do soon and  I'll show you how it works.

Wood carving has been my biggest challenge, and that includes sharpening my carving tools properly. Maybe the Tormek will solve that problem for me. I have had better luck with chip carving than other forms of the craft. I have a  very modest selection of carving tools. A couple of inexpensive sets of small chisels and gouges and 6 or 7 good quality carving tools. The most important thing I've learned is that carving involves 2 cuts,the 1st cut and the 2nd opposing cut., to always cut with the grain. You can learn this by clutching a handful of straws and try cutting in from the end, take light shavings, and last but not least, you need to keep your carving tools razor sharp or they are useless. Of course there is more to carving than just those basic points, but that gets you started. I don't do a lot of carving due to arthritis, but I still give it a go on and off. It's a great way to add a little extra to your projects and it doesn't have to be the center of attention.

Spokeshaves are also one of my favorite tools. I have only two. One for concave work and the other for straight and convex cuts. The blades are identical, it is only the sole of the planes which make them different, with one being flat and the other rounded. These tools can be pushed or pulled, whatever works best for the work you are doing. I'm glad I got a Tormek because they will be easier to sharpen now. Spokeshaves are great tools for a lot of tasks like making cariole legs or round something if you don't have a lathe or the workpiece won't fit on it. It's also handy to do a chamfer with, although I usually use my block plane for that.

If this is well received, I will post some photos with my next entry on this subject. Meanwhile I hope others will join the discussion and describe their own experiences with hand tools. Maybe we can learn a few things from each other?

I am having a little problem getting my diamond paste to stick to the stropping wheel (please note the new terminology, I think it more clearly describes it's actual function). I probably used too little oil on it initially. Should  I try to re-oil it even though it now has dried paste on it mixed with some steel?

[realy]

If you realy want to learn how to sharpen a chisel, you have to see this video on how he does it. This guy is really unbelievable and even more astounding when he demonstrates the edge after sharpening. I hope you will enjoy this. I know I did!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKzZ6-dQ2C0

[For Rob]

For Rob. We exchanged comments earlier about the new hand planes that I had purchased from Dictum in Germany. I have found out that they are marketed in the UK under the factory name 'Quangsheng' in case you are interested. Here is a short video from Workshop Heaven which shows one  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXUVzviBjCs. I have only taken a few shavings with my #4 so far with the blade as it came from the factory. It cut like a dream.

Can the Tormek diamond wheel dressing tool/jig be used to square up bench grinder wheel using the BGM100?

I've been watching the the videos on the CD included with my new T7. It shows the honing wheel being used with the universal support in the horizontal position and with the same angle as used on the stone wheel. This seems a little counter intuitive to me. I can't see the relevance of honing the whole bevel. I would think that the honing should be just a 1/16" or so up from the edge, and it seems to me a waste of time to polish the whole bevel. Now I realize that this might just be a matter of applying finger pressure at the tip of the blade, but I would like to know if that is correct and also what experienced users opinions are about  this.

Is there a jig for the Tormek T7 that caters to cambered hand plane irons or do they just have to be sharpened freehand?

I'm considering buying a Tormek T7, but I am concerned about plane iron sharpening. It seems that if I want to have a camber on my plane irons, they would not be possible to sharpen on the Tormek. As a reasonable compromise I would consider just relieving the corners on my #4 and #6, but it seems to me that I would still have to freehand my Jack iron, as it has to have a cambered iron. How have others solved this problem?