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Well, despite the absence of any response I went ahead and ordered the planar knife jig today. I did read the bulk of the threads in that category and what an interesting tale they tell.

Im really looking forward to shaving a week off the turnaround time for my blade sharpening service to deliver. Also to have the control to pop the knives out and touch up whenever I need to. It's just another rung on the self sufficiency ladder....can't wait

All that's needed now is a classic Jeff Farris tutorial covering off all the procedural cock ups I'm bound to fall down en route to developing proficiency in its use. Any plans Jeff?

Rob

Having said that....it's all theory. Ken presents a rational technical barrier to entry. In other words it may be just too difficult a manufacturing process even if the solution does have a large market.

I guess my point is, submit the request anyway because its impossible to know all the whys and wherefores that govern the decision making behind Tormeks R&D strategy

Rob

Hello,

Does Tormek ever take hardware upgrade suggestions? I would really like them to produce a stone that could be used for sharpening in-cannel gouges. That would make my life a LOT easier. I think they could produce it similar to the honing wheel, just with a sharpening stone:

http://www.woodworkingshop.com/product/tm11111/?inMed=GSTORE&gclid=COH0gKOssrUCFUfNOgodtkYAFg

Is there someone I could forward this hardware request to? It's probably a pipe dream, I know. But it would be very useful for my work.

Thanks,
Ted

Hi Ted

I still believe there may be some hope for your pipe dream.  Below is the quote from the inside cover of the latest handbook from Tormek.

I would like to thank Tormek users around the world for their tips and advice in the preparation of this handbook. The close contact with the many skilled craftsmen at exhibitions and by correspondence has been most inspiring and beneficial in the development of our water cooled grinding and sharpening system.
Torgny Jansson

So maybe just a straight forward letter is worth a try ?  My problem is I've no idea what the latent demand for such a solution is.  Maybe there is a viable market, maybe not?

Oh I don't know, the odd digression is permissible surely?  I found Ken's comments to be interesting as they help put the technology and techniques in perspective.  Technical forums of this nature usually answer the what and the how, sometimes comments about the "why" can lift the discussion beyond two dimensions. I find they enrich the discussion personally.

But......what do I know 

Ah...l have your (excellent by the way) DVD on turning tools but I'm toying with buying the planar knife jig. Based on the posts it's obviously got a tricky setup. But I've read a fair few of them now and it seems that provided you take great care to get the blade correctly angled and parallel then you should be fine

Must say I really like the idea of becoming self sufficient of sharpening services so I can just tweak them whenever it suits me. I work a lot of rough sawn oak when I'm building furniture and its a killer on the edges

Long shot I know but don't spose you have a short term plan to do a planar knife jig vid?

 

Skill is how Ken....skill   

Removing the limiter is not necessary for 12 blades, but personally, I would do it anyway.  It is then easier to be sure you use the entire stone area over the entire blade area.

Pressure is not an issue.  The set up procedure establishes a grinding limit. You simply grind until it no longer cuts (although you will still hear contact, it will not be cutting anymore).

DVD's on planer blade sharpening and the sharpening of turning tools are next summer's project.

Jeff, did you ever make this DVD?

Hi folks

I'm agonising about buying the jig. My 12" planar knives are blunt as hell in my planar/thicknesser (jointer for the US contingent) and I've only ever used a service before.  The maths is easy, jig costs round £125 here and it costs around £20 to get my three knives ground as a service. So it will have paid for itself after circa five cycles

The only reason for the decision agony is based on research and feedback I've gleaned from the usual online sources

Bottom line, it seems to have a reputation of being fiddly and time consuming to setup and use. I'd appreciate feedback from this community of actual current users to set the record straight if possible.  Changing planar knives is fiddly enough as it is so I don't want to end up having the sharpening being a three hour chore on top. One hour I don't mind

Input would be appreciated.

Rob

I couldn't agree more Ken. You know I had the same thought line over the thicker blade issue with Dad's Stanley Bailey. The LN blades being thicker chatter less and I actually compared my blade with one of LN's in the store. Mine is way thinner. But then I figured that its cutting absolutely gossamer shavings and spot on uniform so how is Tom Lie Neilsen going to improve on that. In the end I came to the same conclusion as you and opted to keep the real heirloom as it was. This was some years ago and I now have the LN block plane and the medium shoulder for cleaning out tenon shoulders ie more specialised functions. 

I've even had my son using Dads Stanley just to get him used to it, ready for the right of passage to yet another generation :-) (he's only nine)

It probably would cut better technically with the thicker blade, but it wouldn't feel right. It's an old friend like it is and somehow I dont think any amount of technology will change that.

Haha, yeah Ken, you note I used the word "spose". That shows how entirely not committed I am to the notion of trying to re flatten the side of the stone. I entirely agree with you...bugger of a job and the longer it's left the worse it gets

Funny you should mention your grandad, I did a similar refurb on my (long deceased now) Dads  Stanley bailey smoothing plane. The sides were really rusty in fact all the metal parts were in a terrible state. I spent hours and hours lapping it and getting it back to true. It was as you say, only the family significance that motivated the Titan amount of effort to restore it.

Now I use it all the time and it cuts absolutely perfectly (tormek'd blade of course).  In fact it actually robbed lie Nielsen of a sale as it cuts that well I didn't bother getting one of theirs. Mind you...I did drool over the Lie Nielsen planes for about an hour in the tool store :-). Ironically, it was actually an "heirloom" which prevented me buying one of their heirloom quality tools :-)

Rob

Sounds like the binder holding the ceramic particles has failed to mix properly in the manufacturing process. It seems to have left weak spots that break up with use. It's like the glue hasn't "taken" properly but not uniformly across the stone.

Jeff's advice of taking it to local dealer support sounds right. Aren't Tormeks guaranteed for 7 years?

Just out if curiosity, why do you want to?  I mean what are you making holes in ice for?

Probably, but that would need specialist tooling which is unlikely to be widely owned by the likes of us.  I spose you need to take the wheel off and lay it flat then dress it with some kind of flat abrasive block.

Lap the lap so to speak

That's a good one Ted. I have the same problem in fact.

What you're referring to is called a "business case" in other words feedback from a market that helps quantify the likely profitability of a given investment strategy

There may be another good reason why its worth submitting an improvement request though. A lot of manufacturers have a formal process through which they gather, categorise and document improvement requests. It's one of the intelligence channels that feeds their R&D inputs. Requests are grouped, ranked and analysed for return on investment.  If the numbers stack up, they have a chance of being implemented in a future upgrade.

So whilst apparently isolated, your request is still probably worth submitting since it may be the one that tips the balance in favour of Tormek doing it

This is conjecture based on my knowledge and understanding of certain manufacturer market intelligence management approach. What I don't know is whether or not Tormek employ such a system.

Jeff Farris on the other hand has very direct experience of Tormek's marketing strategy. He may be in a position of knowledge to comment on how their R&D process is managed