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Antz, I have been lusting after Diamond Wheels since they were announced. Luckily for me I discovered Wootz's deburring techniques discussed here:
http://knifegrinders.com.au/Manuals/Knife_Deburring_book.pdf

I have been achieving incredible sharpness without ever having to change a wheel. I do think my investment and use of Wootz's FVB has taken honing to another level. Being able to accurately control the honing angle is a great improvement. You can hone without it but your results will not be as accurate or repeatable. Also if you are doing a lot of knives most can be done at one USB setting if you control the knife placement in the jig. See threads on kenjig and USB software.

My sites are now shifted to an additional leather wheel and 1 micron honing paste. To be honest this is not at the top of my list. I am considering a Viel belt grinder https://sharpeningmadeeasy.com/belt.htm

In addition to blade repair this will make quick work finishing replacement or custom scales. I can see many other uses for this in the shop.

Antz, I think one of our responsibilities is to educate our customers on the proper care and handling of the knives we sharpen. I have found that word of mouth has been great advertising for the small number of knives I want to sharpen. To this end I have prepared a small card I give each person with simple care instructions. This card with my details on it helps. This is discussed in this thread:
https://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=3955.0

Another task you will be asked to do is refurbishment of knives that have been abused. You will be amazed how poorly knives are treated and you will be asked to fix broken tips and chipped cutting edges. To this end I think you will find a need for a belt sander in your arsenal of tools. Often tomes blade thinning or reshaping becomes necessary and you will want a tool that gets the job fast.

It is also necessary when you need to remove the grinding wheel for honing knives especially with the FVB.

In addition to what Ken said I think adherence to a procedure that is known to produce exceptionally sharp knives is key. Being able to always repeat this process and achieve the same results is the true demonstration of your skill. While there may be small differences in the concavity of the grind due to wheel size I doubt that it is much of a factor in final sharpness.

The gold standard of kitchen cutlery use seems to be slicing tomatoes. With tomatoes, the oft quoted term is "toothiness". Among the ways to obtain this toothy quality is to begin with a very sharp knife and use a ceramic rod to add the toothiness (degrade the edge slightly).

The Tormek demonstration of cutting a tomato into very thin slices without touching it makes me think this issue may have more than meets the eye.I would be curious to see this demonstration (performed with both sharprning methods) on the twentieth tomato.

I believe we may have some confusion with word usage. To me, toothiness means a slightly unpolished edge designed to snag things like tomato skins. While they may be close cousins, I think of burr as the mostly ground surface of an edge which should be removed, either in the sharpening process or in eating the food if it is left on the knife. (not the most pleasant thought) 

I would expect a very expert (and priced accordingly) sharpener to be able to vary his sharpening to meed the individual customer's expectations, if the customer desired that. I see these questions as part of the learning process which will make all of us more skilled sharpeners.

Ken

I think cutting a tomato horizontally is demonstrating something no one will ever does in actual usage. Edges having a tooth is also one of the myths that is debunked in Wootz's book on deburring. I have found that knives sharpened and properly deburred using Wootz's technique glide through tomatoes with almost no force and probably more importantly retain their edge longer. I have an Italian chef as a customer and she cuts more tomatoes than most. She has told me that in all her years on the line she has never had knives that are so sharp and that stay so sharp using her smooth steel. To me this means more than watching people cut a tomato or pieces of paper of various thicknesses. This can be achieved using the standard wheel and leather hone as demonstrated in this thread:
https://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=3936.0

Having seen the results of proper deburring I will continue to use these practices on all the knives I sharpen.

This is one of my go-to threads for a discussion on how to use Tormek products (mostly) to obtain a razor sharp edge. Since the last post Wootz has done some excellent research and testing using various cutting boards. The results are surprising. To complete this thread I am adding a link to his work on this subject.

http://knifegrinders.com.au/SET/Chopping_Boards.pdf

Discussion of this subject is also contained in this thread:

https://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=3955.0

Antz's post raises a question in my mind. How many knives made of the super steels requiring diamond wheels do you actually see? I have not had anyone bring me one for sharpening. I also wonder if most of these knives are bought more by collectors and are rarely used and would never require sharpening.

Hi, I have not received my T8 yet, hope by next week it will be here. I wish yo find out if there is a list/book to know what type of knives one can sharpen, for example can I sharpen kitchen stainless steel knives with the SG-250 ?Thanks
Alf

If you look at Rich's chart of steel and what to grind and hone them with you will find that the majority of knives you will come across are in the first category, High Carbon Steel and the SG-250 performs admirably. Knives made from the other steels are very expensive and relatively uncommon. I have not had anyone bring me one of these for sharpening.

Once you become proficient with your new T-8 I would suggest getting this book on deburring by Wootz on this forum. It will take your sharpening to another level.
http://knifegrinders.com.au/11Shop.htm

Maybe I'am late...  Sorry.

Does anybody have news from the VFB supplier. It seems most interesting to me.

Rgds.

It is available from Knife Grinders as listed at the top of this thread.

I obtained one a short time ago and my sharpness and consistently took a jump ahead.

I loved the idea of the jig and bought an aluminum one and works well, but then I found a plastic version that I like even more since it is more self lubricating or slick since it is the plastic and works well. I bought mine from Amazon here in the U.S. Maybe these can be found elsewhere also?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0063KKTR0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1#feature-bullets-btf

Instead of making a modification to the support bar as Wootz shows early on in this thread would it work to alter this plastic collar instead? If you really messed it up it is a lot less of an investment.

Thank you all for your words of encouragement. I'll continue to try and find logical solutions to everyday challenges and share my findings in hopes it can help others.

John, that's exactly the type of situation I think a laser could be useful. It could even be used when doing guided jig sharpening with a pivot collar and not necessarily just for freehand. Or like some YouTube vids I watched last night it can be used with a tool rest for just some added guidance.

Thanks
Antz

Once you have been sharpening for a while you will learn to do the same thing with the water going over the edge. I learned by keeping a straight line of water as my hand position changed. A laser guide would be accurate and easy to follow.

I think the laser guide would also be a useful tool when you are doing kitchen knives as well. s you raise your hand to sharpen the curved part you should stay on the line to keep the  grind even. If you do not pay attention to this it is easy to have a wider grind as you approach the tip. While I doubt that it hurts anything it does not look as professional as a perfectly even grind along the entire edge.

When I was looking to by a Tormek I went through a similar thought process and after adding up everything I went with the T8. I am pleased with my decision.

In addition to this forum here are some sites  I have bookmarked. I find them invaluable as a reference:

http://knifegrinders.com.au/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrs9DEOG9tHbxAH50CKINqA

http://www.sharpeninghandbook.info/

The DVD supplied with the T8 is a great place to start. You will learn the fundamentals of sharpening from the experts. You can produce an extremely sharp edge with just the standard wheel and leather hone. I would suggest becoming skilled with this combination before adding the extras.

This is one thing I miss having just entered retirement. We had a fully equipped machine and metal working shop for prototype work. Once you had access by demonstrating that you were competent on the machines you could come in over the weekend or evenings with your metal and make anything you needed. I need to find a new place for little projects.

Hello everybody,

I've been sharpening knives (mainly) and tools for some years already, mostly on fixed angle sharpening devices and freehand.

Now a real newbee with Tormek. I received the machine but still didn't ""dare"" to go and unpack it. I keep watching tutorials before I lay my hands on it...

Some things look most familiar, when watching the vids. Some not that much.

But anyway, i's great to read there's a forum available to users, especially for greenhorns 

Hope I will improve and contribute soon !

Best regards.

No time like today! Unpack it and set it up (takes a few minutes) and sharpen some knives that you do not have any attachment to. You will be amazed how straight forward it is. Take your time and follow the Tormek video's advice especially when you near the tip of a blade where it curves. I also recommend that you double check your jig setup before turning on the wheel. It seems that we all set it wrong early on and grind the jig a bit. Another bit of advice; don't raise the water tray all the way; it will result in a wet workbench. The Tormek is fun to use and it does not take long to feel right at home with it.