Messages

Very good post, Mike.  I recall as a boy growing up in New Jersey billboards in Pennsylvania advertising a Pennsylvania Dutch (Amish) restaurant with the slogan, "Get to know what good is".  You have certainly gotten to know what sharp is!  Great work.

Humor is a great lubricant.....We can use more of it.

Photography and woodworking are compatible hobbies.  I did the darkroom work for three of Pat Warner's books on router woodworking.  Pat is a real guru; I learned a lot from him.  i believe he may even have learned a few things from me; after the first book his negatives were increasingly easier to print.

A couple thoughts for making good use of space in your shop:

I love the way the Shakers lined their walls with "Shaker pegs".  They were so functional.  In a workshop, I think the Shaker peg idea, but with French cleats, would be useful.  (French cleats are boards about an inch thick, by about three inches high.  The board mounted to the wall has a forty five degree angle on the top (high side out).  The other board, mounted to a cabinet or base of something, has a forty five going the other direction.  They lock together with gravity.  I think this would work well with something like a small cabinet for carving chisels or slightly larger for turning tools.  The appropriate cabinet could be placed in a convenient location for a particular project and stored away when not in use.

The other thing I use is mounting tools on plywood bases.  They are stored on shelves when not in use, and then clamped on the bench for use.  I use my dry grinder this way; the pocket screw tool; and the Omnijig.  They work OK this way with no need for a dedicated (space using) stand.

One of my photography instructors made the comment that good work can be done with very simple equipment if carefully thought through.  You apparently think very carefully.

Ken

Nice post, Mike.  I think of the hand tool part of the forum as being for anything related to woodworking which does not specifically apply to using the Tormek. 

Quite a while back, I posted a thought on a tool I thought was particularly useful.  I hoped others would pick up on the idea and share their own experiences.

This part of the forum could be both interesting and informative.  I hope we will use it more.

Keep posting.

Ken

Cleancut, I think most of us hone (on the leather wheel) freehand.

Ken

ps I don't believe the actual (exact) amount of oil is critical. The point is not to overdue it.

"I found your comment about preferring to spend time sharpening rather than going through old posts amusing Ken.  Personally, I would rather spend my time woodworking!"

Mike, you gave me a good laugh! Once in a while, in spite of our best efforts, some common sense gets through!  You're right, of course.  I would rather be woodworking, also, or working in my darkroom (which was in my last house).  My wife and I are very full time grandparents for out two young grandchildren.  We chose this commitment, and I would not change it.  My personal time is in short spurts.  I can sharpen a tool or two on the Tormek or make a digital photograph.  Actually building something in wood or doing film photography with my beloved wooden camera is out or the question for the next few years.

So, I do what I can, and I enjoy it.  My last "project" before the Tormek was developing my dovetail router jig.  It started out as a standard issue (old) Omnijig.  It now has eighteen templates and is able to make half blind and through dovetails of several angles, as well as untapered sliding dovetails and dadoes.  I had some custom machining done on it.  I guess I'm a tinkerer at heart.

In my present house I finally have a basement workshop.  I hope to spend mess time sharpening and more time enjoying woodworking.

For better or worse, Mike, you are now a part of this forum.

Ken

Mugs,

I doubt that's the problem.  The 230volt, 50 cycle model is made for European current.  The 115volt, 60 cycle model is made for North America.  I don't know for certain, but I doubt the plugs would interchange.

Please post how things are resolved for you, and good luck.

Ken

Good point, Rob.  We were off to a good start.  I thought we were at the point where Jeff was going to strip off all but the basic statement.  Jeff?

By the way, adding something to the basic statement about oiling and using the leather honing wheel would be useful. 

Mike, I agree the search system can be laborious and unproductive.  Most of us would rather spend our time sharpening than searching through the archives.

Ken

Welcome, Mugs.

I have not noticed my Tormek running hot, although I have never tested for it.  I will make a note to check this during my next sharpening session.  Forum, maybe we could get several members to do this.

Mugs, are you using the fifty cycle or sixty cycle version of the T7? 

Jeff or Sweden, is there a spec for normal operating motor range?

Ken

Interesting idea, Jeff.  This is an example of how this forum works best. 

By the way, how do you shape/reshape the radius?

Mark, I have one of those Wobegon knives sitting on the table with my Tormek.  The poor thing is probably older than I am and has been the victim of very poor sharpening decades ago.  I keep wondering what to do with it.  It may end up a paring knife.

Ken

Mike, this guy is amazing.  How did he do that without overheating the chisel?

I'm more comfortable at a more pedestrian pace.  I would use a belt sander for a major flattening project.

Ken

Mike,

The revolving base strikes me as something which becomes increasingly useful as the user
matures....... Less lifting.

Ken

I remember a question as to whether the revolving base allowed the use of the magnetic feet to "unlevel" the Tormek.  (This makes water retrieval more efficient with the new trough.)

I finally installed my RB-180 yesterday.  It works fine with the magnetic feet.  No difficulty being "unlevel".

My RB-180 was part of a package deal with my replacement T7.  (For new readers, my original T7 was stolen during a break in.)  It's one of those things which might seem a luxury.  I might not have paid the price to order it alone.  However, I must admit, it is luxurious to use.  I don't regret having it.

Ken

[if the process was halted prematurely]

Interesting.  Thanks, Jeff.

Through all the discussion of honing compounds, the concept of the particles breaking down is mentioned, but doesn't seem to have received the attention I believe it should have.

If we start with larger particles, presumably, they will cut more rapidly at first.  This would leave larger scratches if the process was halted prematurely.  However, as the particles break down, the scratch pattern should become more refined, just as using progressively finer stones.

I was looking for evidence to document this and found a good source:  "Dursol is the original metal polish formula of the company by the same name, nearly unchanged for decades. It has slightly coarser abrasives than PA-70, but also contains a blend of sizes (just like PA-70), so that as the coarse grains break down, the smaller grains take over."   (source, Jeff's blog on the sharptoolsusa website)

My original tube of Tormek compound is almost gone.  I will reserve my opinion until I have gone through another tube or two.  With diligent technique, by that time I should have eliminated operator error as a variable.

Ken

You're welcome, grepper.  Keep us posted.

Jeff, your answer gave me a good laugh.  Isn't it amazing what a great motivator staying afloat can be!  In addition to the laugh, your answer also has the ring of truth from experience.

By the way, I would rank studying with Torgny Jansson as more useful than the PhD from Yale in the Tormek field.  I don't recognize the name Geoff Brown.  Please help fill this gap in my knowledge.

Mike, you make a good point about speed.  In a really busy sharpening session I might have as many as three chisels to sharpen and maybe a plane or two.  I can't spend all day!!!

Ken

Thanks for posting the article, grepper.  I printed it out and found it interesting.  I believe the author is heading in the right direction, although I would not consider the article definitive.

I liked the idea of using the jig for consistency.

I was less impressed that he used several types of blades to test the different compounds.  He probably did not want to end up with an unusably short blade at the end.  I understand this.  However, adding blade variables does not help substantiate the research.

I know nothing about the author's background or credentials.  I use both terms because someone like our own Jeff, while he might not have a PhD in forestry from Yale, does have a very extensive amount of field experience.  I appreciate both the academic rigor of Dr. R Bruce Hoadley (author of Understanding Wood) and the "in the trenches" experience Jeff has developed over the years.  We need both.

I would be curious to know how fine diamond paste would compare.  I would also like to know more about the effect of using 90 grit valve grinding compound.

What about the effect of abrasives breaking down with use into finer grits?

Jeff exaggerates the effect of the Tormek compound.  The US Forestry Service, after a multimillion dollar ten year study, that the use of the Tormek compound and leather wheel was only 94.327% as effective as an 8000 grit flat water stone. (Just kidding, Jeff.....) Seriously, I think Jeff's comment deserves some serious consideration.  Any process which can offer results so close to a longer process in a fraction of the time warrants thought.  In the machine trades, operations are not done for perfection ("dead nuts" perfect).  Well established standards of tolerance for different applications are used.  While 95% at one fifth the labor cost might not suffice for the most rigorous laboratory standards, it would probably exceed the requirements for almost all other work. 

One question, Jeff:  How long would you guess it took you to reach a level of high proficiency with the leather honing wheel? 

Thanks,

Ken