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I'm just wondering if there might be any kind of drawbacks or downsides to the idea of using a portable mini generator as a means of powering up the Tormek, as opposed to the idea of using a power inverter.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01MUP6L1U/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1#immersive-view_1665095465625

Good question, Ken.

The Front Vertical Base is designed to provide clearance between the support bar and the locking screw on the knife jig. This is only a problem when working on the bevel where the locking screw is under the jig. It is also only a problem when the jig travels far enough for the locking screw to bump into the horizontal support bar.

Unlike knives, a chisel only has one bevel. The locking screws are always above the jig and well clear of the support bar. The FVB offers no advantage with sharpening chisels. In fact, the Anglemaster works very well setting the angle with the flat backs of chisels.

The FVB is a convenient accessory for setting bevel angles for honing knives.

Ken

Thank you, Ken, for answering my question. I have another one for you, if that's alright ....

Let's say that I'm using the T-8 machine with the FVB setup. Is there any reason why I can't simply use my angle master to locate the correct sharpening angle ?

I don't understand something. The gentleman in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNQR9vMCXac appears to be honing a chisel on the Tormek model T-8 with a sharpening jig and with the universal support in the horizontal position, however, he doesn't appear to be using a Front Vertical Base. Can someone please explain this to me ? I was operating under the assumption that an FVB is necessary when honing with a jig with the universal support in the horizontal position.

Thanks you guys ... I really appreciate the help !

I know how to put a fairly decent edge on a knife using the freehand method on a bench stone, but the Tormek is something that's totally new and different. I never paid a great deal of attention to the honing stage of knife sharpening until now. It was my usual practice to simply grind a burr on a coarse stone and then to finish by swiping a couple of passes on a fine stone. It has always been my experience that the more that I would run my knife on a fine stone, the duller it would become. It never occurred to me that honing on a strop or on a fine stone is the key to getting a really sharp edge.

I found this video on YouTube .... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UckPmizllk0 The guy in the video shows how to use an FVB in conjunction with the FVB software. While the video is very enlightening in some ways I can't really say that I understand what he's doing exactly in order to arrive at the correct sharpening angle. He sure makes it look extremely complicated !! This guy is obviously a professional and I like the end result that he's able to achieve toward the end of the video. It's kind of discouraging in a way because I don't really understand the software and all of the high-falutin' mathematical computations.

Using the socket set screws is completely reversible by just reinserting the original screws. It is not as convenient as using a FVB, although for occasional users, it accomplishes the same task at much lower cost.

Ken

I read in a different thread somewhere that it's possible to purchase an FVB. As someone who plans to use the machine on a regular basis, as the heart of my knife sharpening business, I want to use a jig for honing because the freehand method is too erratic and imprecise. You don't happen to know where I can go to purchase an FVB ?

I'm not sure what "FVB" stands for.

https://www.reddit.com/r/sharpening/comments/xbw3sw/tormek_question/

A message poster on Reddit submitted the following photograph in the Reddit sharpening forum -

https://ibb.co/6WQCcRT

He says that you need to replace the "knop" on the knife jig with a bolt in order to bypass an obstruction.

What do you think ?

Never heard of anyone using paper wheels on a Tormek.  Are you sure he's not talking about honing on paper wheels AFTER sharpening on the Tormek?

I'm pretty sure that he must have been referring to the idea of honing on a Tormek with paper wheels, now that you mention it.

Over at the blade forum there's a message poster who claims that he's getting better results sharpening on a Tormek with paper wheels. Has anyone else tried sharpening with paper wheels ?

Interesting. Are you running a Tormek T-8 off of that power supply?

I'm getting ready to start my own mobile sharpening service. Everything appears to be in place and ready to go. I just can't seem to make up my mind regarding the type of power supply that is best suited for off-grid applications.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say that you got under a 200 Bess.

I find slowly slicing a page from a telephone book is an excellent indicator of a well sharpened edge. Knife must be pretty sharp to cut this thin paper and you can easily feel any irregularities in the blade. BESS is good but only for one spot on blade. I am just as happy using Vadim's sharpness equivalency chart. For the knives I do for customers they fall into the BESS 100-150 range based on chart. This is significantly better than most out of the box knives.

Cardboard is abrasive and will dull an edge. Slicing thin paper should not be any worse than real cutting tasks a knife faces daily.

http://knifegrinders.com.au/Manuals/Sharpness_Chart.pdf

I'm not sure that it's even possible to get ahold of a telephone book in the current day and age. Newspaper on the other hand could be the thinnest type of paper that's easy enough to procure in the digital age, but as for the suitability of using newspaper as a means of testing the sharpness of a knife's edge, about the only thing that I can say to that is .... ??