Messages

And welcome to the forum by the way   

Is dry grinding in any way acceptable on a Tormek?

My understanding of the purpose of water bathing the rotating stone is two fold. First, it cools the steel of the tool. Second, it carries away particles of swarf which would otherwise contaminate the stone reducing its grinding efficiency.

If the steel is allowed to overheat, its temper will be drawn which softens the metal preventing it from holding its keen edge. You can see this happening on tricky jobs.....the bit of the tool in contact with the work turns a bluey shade.  It occasionally happens to thin parting tools in a deep groove of a turning hardwood blank.

So I have to ask.....why would you want to?

LOL. thanks Jeff.  And just as I was about to spread it on a sandwich!

Thanks chaps

I understand its purpose ie to assist in the removal of the wire edge created by sharpening. But what exactly is it?  Is it just cream with a fine abrasive in it?

Also if your tool isn't that blunt, can't you just strop it on the honing wheel to re energise the edge?

I've just ordered Leonard Lee's book. It looks like the definitive work on the subject from the excerpts I read. Specifically by that I mean it backs up its assertions with objective fact gained through either accurate measurement or experimentation in laboratory conditions.

In short the "truth"

I have to say the general public frequently have to wade through a veritable quagmire of biased sales messaging and cleverly thought through marketing before they uncover the realities behind tools etc. I've always appreciated the objectivity delivered by the more scientific approach this book appears to take. I'll look forward to reading it and thanks for the steer

If anyone is interested in adjusting the attitude of the person standing behind the tool I recommend you read Robert Pirsig's masterpiece: Zen & the art of motorcycle maintenance

Thanks again Ken

Rob

Interesting Ken

Thanks for the input.

Rob

That explains it then Ken. Many thanks for the missing piece :-)

Rob

I'm missing something. The wooden platform allows you to hold the knife at a controlled angle while sharpening right?  To overcome the shortcomings of hand held right?

So why not just use the short knife jig?

Surely the only weakness (aside of the non centre small issue) was the issue related to how you hand crank the curve at the tip of the blade without flaring out the bevel. Jeff notes in his demo videos of the technique where you pull up rather than following the radius of the jig which is clearly a common mistake. I'm failing to see how this wooden jig would be any different in controlling that curved tip bit than Tormeks production jig?

Wouldn't you still need to hand crank the knife round the curve of the tip on this jig just as you do on Tormek's?  It's entirely possible the answer is that I'm as thick as a whale omelette which as I say is why I started with am I missing something

Haha

Oh no, Alan isn't even in the same universe as Jeff where Tormek is concerned, his focus is far more generic.

In point of fact, with the possible exception of a few individuals deep in the R&D organisation of Tormek, I genuinely doubt anyone else on the planet has the sheer variety and hands on experience Jeff has, specifically with the Tormek. His dedication to that one piece of kit is of quite serious benefit to the global user community and he should be rightly proud of the contribution he has indirectly made to every edge in my kitchen and workshop.

So, I guess I for one would like to convey my thanks to him. His knowledge and willingness to share has helped me enormously and I have no doubt it has helped Tormek broaden their market.

Hi Peter

It doesn't mention in your post so I therefore have to assume the obvious which is that you own a Tormek?

If so and you're a turner does it also follow you own both the articulated gouge jig (SVD-185) and also the TTS-100 turning tool setter?

If yes to all above then firstly you need to consult the little chart that comes with your kit and make a judgement of the angle on the bevel of the side grind fingernail gouge you describe you want from the link you enclosed. Just eyeing it I would say its a 45degree bevel but that's a bit subjective. For the sake of argument lets assume the bevel is 45degrees.  Next you set the jig setting.  Next you need to mount the gouge in the jig with a 65mm protrusion (TTS-100 makes this easy) and then set the universal support using the TTS-100 guided by hole A ie the one furthest away.  Essentially there are three variables to setting the geometries necessary to control the angles of the grind.

Now the hard part. Because the grind you want is a long side gound fingernail grind you have to focus the grinding on the outer edges first.  Hey you know what, you need to watch Jeff Farris' video of this, it'll save a lot of typing.   His DVD is supplied with the turners kit for the Tormek. If you don't have it I think there are excerpts on you tube

Bottom line, grind the sides first till they're roughly the swept backness you desire then focus on getting the centre to join up with the wings with a single facet bevel. And be warned, when you get the bevel rubbing and its sharp, it can take a bucket of wood off in one pass if you're not careful :-)

Sounds complicated reading it back but it really isn't, Jeff's video explains it much better

Hi Ken,

I am in the UK.

DM seems to be cheapest, i think with the straight jigs its around £520 or £430 ish without.

But the whole of the uk aint on google, so i would appreciate some feedback.

I've just done a broad search and D&M are definitely currently doing the best deals

No, Alan Holtham is a freelance journalist with a specialism in woodworking (of course). He's basically a "hired gun" to the big tool manufacturers and is particularly specialised in doing hands on demos at shows and on DVD.

He was associated very closely with record power for many years and always did their wood turning or bandsaw etc practical demos at shows as well as many buyers guides for their products. More recently though I've noticed him popping up with other manufacturers...Tormek for one and Makita for another

I noticed at Kempton Park this year that Record Power had half the floor space they normally have with no sign of Alan so I'm guessing they're being a tad careful with cost right now. I've run a company for many years and know first hand the cost risk of a big exhibition

He guests on the occasional specialist woodworking show (discovery channel type stuff) but to my knowledge has never had his own show

It's a pity because he's a Yorkshireman (as am I) and also an excellent presenter. Come on Alan, lets see your own show!

Thanks Ken

I'm sure you're right about the "newness". My sense is that it doesn't have much traction in the market yet. Likely combination of the fact it's relatively new plus cost plus narrow area of specialism.

The other generalism seems to be that it is a high quality jig, performs well when then training time is invested (true for all jigs) and produces excellent results.

Thanks for the input

Thanks Herman, I'll have a scoot around and review the threads