Messages

Hello, carver;
 Follow Jeff's advice and you'll be okay. We use a basting syringe to apply the oil to the honing wheel. Then we use a flat knife blade to smooth the oil into the wheel. We've found that new honing wheels drink up a lot of oil!
 Happy sharpening!
  Judith, SFE sharpening

Hello Sharp In;
  Yes, we have. We sharpen only the solid side, like you would any other shears. Don't do anything to the other (toothed) side.
  We enjoy using our machines, and have done quite a few hair cutting shears.
  Wishing you success.
  Judith, SFE Sharpening

Dear Sharp In;

  I second sbachner's comment: The best way to "learn" is to just do it!
  I saw Jeff's videos and said, "Hey, I can do that!"
  After buying our first Tormek with all the attachments and sharpening everything in the house including my wife's precious sewing scissors (you know about them by now, "Don't touch my sewing scissors...") I bought 2 plastic bins of knives from a Goodwill Store for $10.00 each, there were about 350+ knives all totaled (not bad for $20.00!).  We (my two daughters and I) used many of them to practice on and subsequently sold most of those knives at the market.  We began to set up at flea markets, etc. and taking in items at home to sharpen. At first it was kinda slow.  But once people know you're there, you have a system that can do a better job than they have ever been able to do or get done elsewhere, and you are going to be there consistently, they will bring you big knives, scissors, planer blades, meat slicers, etc. then you will really get busy.  There's more money in those items than in just the pocket knives that people have in their pockets.  We bought another T2006 within 6 months, and have recently added yet a third machine (a year and a half after the first one) as we get pretty swamped at the monthly market we go to. That allows us to, say, leave one machine set up for scissors, etc. and still be able to do straight edged items on the two others.  These three machines helped us bring in over $15,000 from our home shop (a 12x16 minibarn) and on-site at markets last year.
   We've bought additional SV-45's, Grindstones, bushings, a spare shaft, honing wheel, etc. and lots of honing compound (we've even sold tubes of honing compound to customers as they see what a good job it does cleaning and polishing).  One thing you may find is if you bear down too hard on the grindstone, the drive wheel hub (plastic) may crack in a line with the roll pin.  It can still be used some, but I ordered an extra, and am looking into having an aluminum hub made for the rubber tire.
   It all started with a machine that allowed me to get CONSISTENT results, some stuff to practice on, and a lot of people who were ready to give us a chance by working on THEIR knife, scissors, etc.  And a lot of credit goes to my two daughters who have pushed up their sleeves and helped in every aspect of the business. The only thing they don't like doing is the very small knife blades, they usually leave that for me  .
  As far as your original question about the convex scissors, they can be done. Even though I have ground them on the stone, It seems Jeff's suggestion may be the best way.  I visited AriusEickert in Ohio last month.  There Uwe, the president (he and his vice-president brother, Ramon are decendents of Old World German Cutlers), explained a lot about that type of shear. When they do their final assembly, they sharpen on a diamond inpregnated pad wheel. If you sharpen on the stone you risk destroying the unique geometry that makes these true convex shears work the way they do. Take your time, think it through then try it out. Remember, these scissors run anywhere from $70 to $450, and most people who have them rely on them for their income.
  Wish you well in you endeavours!
  And Thanks, Torgney for the machine and Jeff for your helpful instructions and demonstrations.

Kevin, and whomever.  While I see this question was posted originally some time ago; I was intrigued by your post.   I bought a 2006 with the works.   I have a small sharpening business.  I wanted to be able to do scissors and knives with precision.   I can now, with my Tormek.   I started going to the farmer's market/flea market to sharpen.   My first day there with the Tormek, boy was I kept busy... mostly with pocket knives.   I, too, have run into problems using the SVM-45 on those small blades.   Most of my customers carry a Case/Buck/Oldtimer, etc. with 3 blades, one of which is far too small for the SVM-45.   After trying (and grinding off part of my SVM-45), I usually just do it freehand.   The results are "okay", but I'd rather have the precise bevel, etc. that the knife jig affords.   If MHO counts for anything, I would second, third and fourth the Petition for Tormek to develop a "Baby Knife Jig SVM-20" as Suggested.   Otherwise I'm going to have to resort to buying another SVM-45 and modifying it as best as I can.   As you pointed out, however, there will be several drawbacks even to that.   In the meantime, I am very, very pleased with the machine, fixtures, manual and all!  It'll take a while to earn back the $790+ it cost, but in the meantime, being able to do this work with this precision has helped bring in other business as well.

Back to Blaine F's question.  Would this be an acceptable machine to add to a sharpening shop to service the scissors/knives my sawblade customers bring in?  I've been doing them on a dry grinder, without fixtures, and I don't like it too well.  What I've read about the Tormek sounds good, but I heard some sharpeners consider it "too slow".  The video seemed fairly quick and easy!  What's your expert opinion(s)?

Also, what fixtures should one get with the machine?  The whole thing?