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Anyone think it might be a good idea to have the first sticky be called something like:

GSM: Stage

For Getting Started Manual staging area.

If there is not some way to organize ideas up for review, if that is the process, they could easily slip beneath the waves into the abyss of deep history.

I would forego the acronym and call it the "Getting Started With Your Tormek" or "The Getting Started Manual".

Right, bad idea. I am not at home so I cannot test my ideas.

Here it is on eBarf:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-TORMEK-SVM-00-Small-Knife-Holder-Jig-Watch-the-video-and-see-how-it-works-/221205139079?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3380da8e87

I am not endorsing or downgrading this product by making this post.

The first stone I got and it was not a Tormek stone wobbed badly in sideways plane. It was from Rockler or Woodworker or someone else, and they promptly sent me a knew one.

First off, good job. Now, I see you are using the scissors jig with the tool bar in the vertical position. Is this because of an inability to get the proper angle in the horizontal plane? It looks like you could just cut the jig in half across the plane of the jig to include the mounting hole of course and reduce its width to allow control on a small blade such as you picture. I mean to mount the jig horizontally and adjust the angle to the desired bevel and go to it. All this assumes that you can get the jig close enough which I am sure you could. The angle you would need is the question here as I cannot test this theory. I have not tried this and do not have a scissors jig. It looks like the tool rest SVD 110 would work and is cheaper than buying the scissors jig. Also, as an aside; I see a possible use of the square edge jig with a piece of stiff metal mounted in it to replace the wooden guide you have made. Imagine a chisel or go and get one. Mount it in the square edge tool and see if you can place your pen knife in it in such a way to allow you to sharpen it. They don't lock on the tool rod but does it need to lock?  I think UKR is a better name or UKR-13. In my naming protocol the "13" is for the year 2013 and UKR is for "universal knife rest" as you suggest it can be used on anything from pen knives to machetes. What does the "50" represent? Finally, your presentation is so well illustrated that even I could make one, good job!

I have an off brand Japanese water stone mounted on a separate Tormek. It is not necessary at all in my experience and certainly not worth the money. It does put a nice shine on an edge though but so does the honing wheel. I would not recommend its purchase.

You used a wood cutting blade on the metal and it came out fine? THREE tpi on metal? I am a little surprised it didn't get snatched out of whatever was holding it, or just plain snapped into jagged pieces.

On second thought since you ask that, who said that they don't clog? I was purely guessing. Since they heat up so much when dry and fast, I think that is mostly the friction from the contact that does it. Even your hands heat up with just a little rubbing. Forget about the metal loading, it is just plain rotational friction.

Find a wooden dowel the size of the scallops and wrap it in fine wet or dry sandpaper. Increase the "fineness" of the paper by increasing the number of the grade of the paper as in  100 up to 600 or more. The finer the sharper but the longer it will take to achieve the same end result. Stroke the scallops which will by default sharpen the points. The points are there to keep the scallops from being worn down by keeping them elevated above the cutting board. Stroke the back of the blade lightly to remove any burrs resulting from the dowel treatment.

No water, no ground metal removal. Loading of the wheel creates a surface that contacts the grindee and makes it heat up faster because it is full of ground metal filings. I think!

Two words, F Dick. Hollow grinding sharpeners.

RJM,

Thank you for your post!  Very useful to know I'm not the only one with this issue.

It's amazing how "sticky" and dangerous these surface aberrations are! 

One time I was sharpening a large kitchen knife to about 20 degrees.  One of these spots grabbed the blade and, yanking the jig from my hands, pitched the whole thing under the control bar. It was sudden and freightening.

I threw my hands in the air and jumped back from the machine to avoid having the now razor sharp pointy knife impale my foot as it bounced off the bench and fell to the floor. 

As my heartbeat returned to normal, my first thoght was that I might have suffered a serious  wound, but luckily I was undamaged and had not sprung any leaks!

This incident has now made me feel somewhat afraid and intimidated by the machine.  This feeling, in itself, is not necessarily a bad thing around any power equipment as it is a reminder to be attentive and careful, never getting sloppy and taking the environment and equipment for granted.  I am now considering chainmail butchers gloves and steel tipped boots.

These stone surface issues are obviously a safety concern.

If you are stuck with the defective stone, you can always grind with the wheel turning away from you. That way at least it will not throw the knife at when it grabs but rather toward the wall or someone else!

Fellows, I would call this off topic and in no way helpful to the original poster.

I wonder if you could chuck the wheel in a metal lathe and use the wheel dresser diamond tool clamped in the tool post that would normally hold a cutting tool as for turning a metal object.

I am not affiliated with Tormek or anyone else in any way but I can answer that easily. If they were to get about a thousand requests for the same thing, they would look into it. One request/suggestion just will not get it. There is a sound business reason behind that too, so you can't really blame them. They need a lot of movement to justify that kind of plunge. If you were to submit this I am sure you would recieve a nice letter thanking you for your suggestion and they would keep it in mind. Good luck to you and yours.