Hello all,
I am a knife maker and I use my tormek to put the edge on my knives.
I have recently run into an issue when using my kJ 45 jig.
When I set the angle on one side of the knife and then flip the knife over to check the other side the angle is off, typically showing that I am at too shallow of an angle and need to adjust the support higher.
To correct this issue is it a matter of playing around with the kj 45 tightening nobs until the angle is the same on both sides?
Any help would be much appreciated
The KJ-45 is self centering so is supposed to hold the knife in such a way that it centers.
There are a couple of ways that this can happen. One side may be ground more than the other. The other way is that the jaws are not parallel. If the screw is wound in too far then the jaws will be angled out and the knife held only at the back. In this way the knife may be angled with respect the jig. Loosen the knob, adjust the screw until the jaws on the jig properly secure the knife blade then re-tighten the knob. See section 5 in the manual below. Note particularly the illustrations in that section showing the clamp sides parallel to the knife blade when viewed from the side of the jig, the side view illustration in section 5.
https://manuals.plus/tormek/kj-45-centering-knife-jig-manual
In addition to the above, you might also watch the video Tormek did on the KJ-45...
... it shows some tips on clamping the blade.
How far off is the angle when you check the other side?
So this is a link to some pics I took.
I put the knife into the jig as i normally would and turned the first screw followed by the black one (took care not to over tighten anything)
I took a look at the jig and noticed that it was not parallel.
Steel thickness is 5/32 and the blade is 3.5" in length
Wonder if this may be causing the issue.
https://www.reddit.com/user/_WOLF_2434/comments/18zj44x/kj45/
Quote from: _WOLF_ on January 05, 2024, 11:16:09 PMSo this is a link to some pics I took.
I put the knife into the jig as i normally would and turned the first screw followed by the black one (took care not to over tighten anything)
I took a look at the jig and noticed that it was not parallel.
Steel thickness is 5/32 and the blade is 3.5" in length
Wonder if this may be causing the issue.
https://www.reddit.com/user/_WOLF_2434/comments/18zj44x/kj45/
Yeah, you need to loosen the front screw so you can make the clamp more parallel. It should conform to the sides of the knife.
More like this...
KJ 45 clamping.jpg
vs. yours...
Screenshot 2024-01-05 153220.png
If the blade tapers from spine to edge, then the clamp should match that also.