hi all,
I recently started working with a t-8 and ran into a number growing paints. I'm also very curious what people have found is the most optimal workflow when sharpening multiple tools. My interest is primarily for hand tools, but I plan on sharpening other things like my kitchen knives as well. I foresee usually working in batches so I'm especially keen on finding an efficient workflow.
Since I just got the t-8 I wanted to setup all of my and tools with it, which amounted to about 24 chisels and plane blades. It ended up taking me most of the day. I figured it would be inefficient to regrade the wheel for each tool, so I grouped my tools by bevel angle, then set the machine up for the first tool, used a stop block to set a reference for the projection, worked through each tool at the 220 grit, using the stop block for each new tool, then graded the wheel for 1000 grit, and finally worked back through the tools.
My first issue was it took a really long time to re-profile all the tools, despite repeatedly regrading the SG-250 to 220 grit. Some of the larger tools like 1"+ chisels felt like they were taking 15-20 minutes to grind the hollow bevel. Later in the process I suspected I needed to re-true my wheel, which I did, after which it cut A LOT faster. So lesson learned there: use the truing tool to coarse grade the wheel for more rapid material removal.
Second issue is I tried to minimize regrading time by grinding all of my tools at the first grit, before proceeding to the second grit. As a result I ran into a fair amount of trouble trying to set the machine up to the same conditions. Even with the stop blocks and precisely measuring the height of the universal support, the tools bevel was never in exactly the same place when I went back to grind the second grit. This was exacerbated with some of my Japanese chisels where the sides aren't quite square to the blade, or even parallel to eachother. At any rate I ended up with a lot of setup fiddling. I'm not sure what the solve is here. I suspect even if I had tried to grind the second grit before proceeding to the next bevel group, I wouldn't get the tool back in the jig exactly the same. Ideally you would leave the tool in the jig the whole time, but having to regrade for each tool seems like the wrong approach.
The last issue I ran into was with the honing. Because of my workflow, and already experience issues getting the tools back in the jig exactly the same, I didn't have confidence in using the jig to hone the bevel side. I also couldn't find or come up with a great way to hone the flat side. I ended up free handing both sides and just carefully sighting down the side to ensure I was contacting the blade where I wanted to. This ended up working out fine, as I was able to deburr and had some shiny and wicked sharp tools at the end. Still I felt there must be a better way. Has someone designed a jig that lets you easily reference the flat side exactly tangential to the honing wheel? Feels like a simple enough design, just having a flat platform tangential to the honing wheel, with a positive stop block that references the universal support to fix the angle.
Kind of a long post I know. If you got this far thanks for reading. Overall still very impressed with the T-8. Had a lot of fun working with it, and I know keeping everything sharp from here on out will be a breeze.