Messages

I think reducing the bolsters is the way to go.  I've done it on a belt grinder (Ken Onion) and also on the Tormek, using the side of CBN wheels.  Of course it could also be done on the SG wheel.  It's quicker than you might think.

Never heard of anyone using paper wheels on a Tormek.  Are you sure he's not talking about honing on paper wheels AFTER sharpening on the Tormek? 

For what it's worth, the T8 draws 200 watts; the T4 only draws 120 watts.

Ken

Hooked my T-8 to a Kill-A-Watt meter and it definitely draws less than 115 watts when sharpening, and that's with two CBN wheels attached.  That's in the US at 110v.  Might be different in Europe?

Most of the battery inverters available these days have solar charging options.  The one I linked above can use solar charging, but I believe it would be sufficient for 4 hrs. without solar, as long as you only have one machine running at a time. 

Or for $569 you can get one with 716 Wh and 800 watt continuous output, which also supports solar charging.  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095Y6ZTR1/?coliid=I22H1PDUCXPQPW&colid=11O2A5Y4EH4N9&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Jackery has a very good reputation, but I think they're way overpriced.  Most of them use Lion batteries, which have about 25% the lifespan of the LiFePO4 batteries in the units I've linked.

A single T-8 draws just under 100 watts running by itself.  Applying a lot of pressure to the stone increases that to around 112-115 watts.  I believe that even the small battery/inverter units put out 300 watts.

This one I was looking at puts out 500 watts and has a 614 wh LiFePO4 battery.  Actual watt hours is probably closer to 500. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09N71MBCB/?coliid=I2UHF4DHWC1WZ6&colid=11O2A5Y4EH4N9&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Wouldn't the axe jig work?

Good call.  It just might.

I guess you only need to run one at a time though, right?

Adam,

I am a fan of precision, not accuracy (https://www.diffen.com/difference/Accuracy_vs_Precision).  The Tormek is an excellent tool for repeatability and that is far more important to me as I resharpen often.

In his review of Simon Winchester's The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World, James Gleick writes for the New York Review of Books... precision involves an ideal of meticulousness and consistency, while accuracy implies real-world truth. When a sharpshooter fires at a target, if the bullets strike close together—clustered, rather than spread out—that is precise shooting. But the shots are only accurate if they hit the bull's eye. A clock is precise when it marks the seconds exactly and unvaryingly but may still be inaccurate if it shows the wrong time.

To me, the exactness of an angle is less important than that is always the same and I can count on that. 

Rich

Excellent point, although to some extent I think the two things are joined at the hip.  For this very reason, I keep almost all of my knives at 15 dps.  The Tormek (and CB's software) allows me to quickly and accurately set the machine up for a precise 15° bevel, so if a knife does need a touch-up, it's generally no more than one or two passes per side on a fine wheel to raise a very minimal burr. 

I do strop in between sharpenings, but I like to keep my knives unreasonably sharp.   

Just noticed on that Schleif Junkies page: "Since you should always remove the grinding wheel after grinding...."

Is this true?  I didn't see anything in the manual about always removing the grinding wheel after use.

I was definitely guilty of obsessing over absolute accuracy when I first got my Tormek (not long ago!).  As others mentioned, it's just not that important in view of the fact that almost every sharpening will result in greater variation than you get from missing a measurement by fractions of a mm.  That's because the Jig isn't locked in, and because, even if it was, there is going to be angle variation with any blade that isn't ruler-straight, simply because the angle changes as the contact point travels up and down the stone, however slightly it moves.

Still, I like to be as precise as *reasonably* possible to minimize metal loss with repeated sharpenings.

I have a machete with 16.5" of sharpened blade and the extended USB is long enough to accommodate it.  But, as you mentioned, there is the issue of the big belly towards the tip.  If I was going to sharpen the machete on my Tormek I would do the long, straight section and then reclamp and sharpen the belly separately -- almost like sharpening a huge tanto blade.

I've been playing around with my progression for low-end knives a little. 

Here's my new protocol:

1.  CBN 400 wheel
2.  2x leather belt with PA-70 at +2°
3.  2x leather belt with PA-70 at actual angle
4.  5-7x stropped on hanging denim with Flitz metal polish

Test Case:
Mercer Culinary M22608 Millennia Black Handle, 8-Inch, Chef's Knife ($26 on Amazon)
Edge angle 12° per side
Dulled blade on fine side of Tormek truing stone

Total Sharpening Time: 7:29
BESS Score: 80

Funny, I've gone in the opposite direction.  I started out measuring the distance to the stone, but now I measure the distance to the base.  Both work fine, but I think the latter is more precise as it doesn't require aiming the measuring device at the center of the stone.  To get that stone center alignment, I always ended up either squatting down or kneeling. 

Either way, I still use cb's app, which is very much appreciated.

I'm pretty sure Wootz was using half-speed grinders/buffers.

My paper wheels work fine freehand, but if I use the USB and Tormek jig, the blade bounces too much.  I can stop that by applying more pressure, but that results in a lot of heat, and the combination of pressure and vibration often causes the blade to move in the jig.  No bueno.

My aim is to sharpen a mainstream kitchen knife in 5-7 minutes, depending on how dull it is.  It's usually 2-5 passes per side on a 400 grit CBN wheel, followed by power stropping on a Ken Onion Elite sharpener with leather belt and Tormek compound at +2° (2 passes) followed by two passes on a plain leather belt at the exact sharpening angle.  Result is a 70-90 BESS score, which I consider more than adequate.