Hi all,
I have a brand new T4 and am a new user.
I followed the instructions by using half a tube of oil on the honing wheel before use. then put the compound on.
when i hold the blade on the honing wheel it seems to be lumpy and bumpy and not the smooth travel i would have expected.
also, am i the only one that keeps touching the grinding wheel with the knife while i am honing it on the honing wheel? what am i doing wrong?
all comments would be appreciated.
Hello.
The bumpiness is a very common (albeit harmless) issue with new honing wheels. You can solve it by removing the honing wheel and gently sanding away the top surface of the rubber wheel. If you search for "rubber sanding" in the search function of the forum you'll find plenty of references.
[EDIT] You may also want to sand the leather wheel as well if that's where the bump comes from. You can reference your instruction manual for this[/EDIT]
As for the knife touching the grinding wheel you have two options :
- If you hone freehand, you can angle the knife on the honing wheel so your direction of travel does not interfere with the grinding wheel.
- If you hone with a jig (MB-102 or FVB) or simply want to hone freehand but parallel to the shaft, you can remove the grinding wheel, and put a piece of 20mm PVC pipe (of the plastic pipe that came with your Tormek) on the shaft then put the Ez-Lock nut back on. The recently released Tilt Feet (https://tormek.com/en/products/accessories/tf-2-tilt-feet) can also be used to that end.
Thank you so much for your response. I am afraid i am not following your instructions that clearly. My own poor familiarity with my new equipment.
as to sanding the rubber wheel. are you saying that the leather can be removed from the rubber wheel and then re-installed. how do i do that? is it easy to take on and off. if you take it off and then put it on again will it still be tight.
do you sand it with the stone that we use to set the grit for the grinding wheel or just using sand paper? I assume its just sandpaper. if so what grit should i use. i dont want to stuff up my leather or the rubber inner wheel.
as to the direction change using the pvc pipe. i am afraid i didnt follow what you mean. can you give me a bit more of a dummies guide? sorry i feel that i am a bit slow on the uptake here!
once again your input is very much appreciated.
No worries, here goes :
- Yes, sandpaper. Not the stone grader.
- The rubber wheel (or drive wheel) is what you see when you remove the entire honing wheel by unscrewing the black plastic nut. This is where the motor shaft transmits power to the shat that links the honing wheel and the grinding wheel. If there is a slight bump on the rubber wheel, your honing wheel will wobble a bit each turn. Sanding it will softly will remove the bump, and increase friction (so, traction).
- I attach a picture of the Tilt Feet used in lieu of the (removed) grinding wheel. You can use a 50mm-long PVC pipe if you lost the white one that came with your machine and don't own the tilt feet. You just need that if you don't want to angle your honing direction some 20-30 degrees.
Is that clearer now ?
thanks. so in other words, remove the grinding wheel altogether while honing and use the pvc pipe as a spacer between the motor and the locking nut?
so nervous to sand paper the rubber wheel. what are your thoughts about removing the leather part and then replacing it. will it be loose afterwards. is it easy to take on and off?
Not quite sure if you are having a problem with the rubber drive wheel or the leather covered honing wheel, or both...
I mounted my rubber wheel on my lathe and sanded it smooth no problem. There was a little dent in the rubber. This was caused by the motor block bar resting on the wheel when unused for a long time.
For the honing wheel, It is not a good idea to remove the leather (if that is what you mean?)
You can just sand the leather down in place over any bumpy bits, usually near the joint. If you do it mounted on the machine, careful with the dust, it can be a little messy. Using a block or flat piece with 120 grade or 180 should be fine.
Danny
Sorry, just noticed you said you have a T4. I should say that I have a T8 and this may not be exactly the same for your T4.
Danny
Quote from: PPBLUES88 on June 20, 2025, 03:20:49 AMthanks. so in other words, remove the grinding wheel altogether while honing and use the pvc pipe as a spacer between the motor and the locking nut?
Yes, especially if you want to do angle-controlled honing with a MB-102 (or FVB).
Quoteso nervous to sand paper the rubber wheel. what are your thoughts about removing the leather part and then replacing it. will it be loose afterwards. is it easy to take on and off?
Well there's not much to be nervous about if you sand the rubber wheel gently. I've done it with coarse sandpaper for the best part of an hour and it doesn't show much.
I wouldn't do the whole unglue/glue back thing with the leather strip. You will probably damage it somehow in the process, and if you can't glue it back properly afterwards, with the proper overlap but no kinks nor extra lengths nor anything... then you'll probably be in more trouble than you are now.
You could still try to sand the area where the glue joint sits in between the two ends of the leather strip - as described in your manual - but I doubt the glue is causing a bump on a brand new leather wheel. Who knows though...