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Messages - Ken S

#1
Topic movid. Ifound a good video on Japaneseplane irons. Chisels should be similar. Here is a link:

https://youtu.be/0RGfiRghJ7I?si=K9dF25wqqVyXk0oh

I suggest further study and alot of practice.

Ken
#2
Rich, this is a good topic, which really deserves to be in hand tools. I will move it on Tuesday to allow anyone almost ready to reply.
Ken
#3
Good reply, Dan.
Ken
#4
Welcome to the forum, Mike.

This is a puzzle. I checked the included chart with the Woodturner's Instruction Box (Tormek product # TNT300). Your settings, JS 2; hole A; 65 mm protrusion are correct. The Woodturner's Instruction Box has been in the Tormek product line for MANY years. The book was written by Tormek inventor and founder, Torgny Jansson. The accompanying video was done by Jeff Farris, the founder of this forum, using a T2000 machine. Incidentally, if the TNT300 is still available, I highly recommend purchasing one. It is a valuable training aid for both sharpening and actual woodturning.

What puzzles me is that I have religiously followed every posted forum topic since 2009 and this is the first time I recall this issue. Please do not interpret this as any criticism of you. There is definitely a problem to be solved, and it will be solved. As I write this, I am also emailing support (support@tormek.se) Please note, it is almost end of day now in Sweden, and support works Monday through Friday and also has other duties.

The turning kit is designed to work with all Tormek models. The patented two metal wheels auto adjust for differences in wheel diameters.

I will post my reply from support.

Ken
#5
Welcome to the forum, Alexandros.

You did not put too much force on your grinding wheel. The amount of wheel wear you have experienced is not unusual. As you say, you have reground and reprofiled many old neglected or damaged tools. This involves considerably more grinding than sharpening tools which are merely dull. You will find that the next time you resharpen these tools, assuming they are just no longer very sharp and being sharpened at the same profile, sharpening will be much quicker and with considerably less wheel wear.

If you do not already have a TT-50 Truing Tool, I recommend that you purchase one, (The current model is much improved.) Take light cuts with it and use it frequently. This actually causes less wheel wear than infrequent, heavy truing.

One of Tormek's expert trainers told me that the learning sharpening causes more wear to the grinding wheel than subsequent sharpening. Not only are the tools generally sharper to begin with, the skills of the person doing the sharpening are more refined. Congratulations, you have put in the hard work. Youshould have smooth sailing ahead.

Keep us posted.

Ken
#6
One suggestion:

Your chisels and plane irons will be square if you check after a pass or two with a small square. using a black marker helps. Better to course correct early, if needed.

Ken
#7
Welcome to the forum, Cycleguy.

The standard remedy is to gently use some sandpaper on the rubber wheel. Grit size is not critical; 80 or 120 is a good choice. Remove the leather honing wheel and let the motor run with the sandpaper for thirty seconds to a minute. If that doesn't solve your problem, email support (support@tormek.se).

The T4 is the first Tormek with the precision machined zinc top. Tormek later used this top construction on the T8. I really like my T4. I think you will like yours, too.

Keep us posted.

Ken
#8
Knife Sharpening / Re: KS123 vs T1 setting
February 28, 2025, 04:50:39 PM
Welcome to the forum, Malmosyd. We have always had some confusion with angle terminology. I think the clearest way to describe knife bevels is "degrees per side", sometimes abbreviated DPS).

As for tip grinding with the T1 (and T2, which uses the same knife jig), I understand the reservations, since the design does not allow raising the knife to sharpen the tip of the blade. Tormek has always preached the necessity of raising the knife to sharpen the tip of the blade WHEN USING THE TRADITIONAL SVM AND KJ KNIFE JIGS. However, I can not believe that Tormek engineers just ignored this in designing the T2 and T1. No mention is made of this in any of the online classes.
(I hope this will be addressed in detail in a future online class.)

Of the several critical posts about this, I do not recall any from T2 or T1 owners who have actually experienced this problem.

Ken
#9
I have problems seeing the practicality of a specially shaped wheel for serrated knives.

With chisels and plane irons, the same grinding wheel can be used to sharpen the entire range of these. This is not the case with serrated knives. Even with bread knives, where  a given knife will have uniform size and shape of the serrations, I know of no standards for bread knives. This is even more problematic with more tactical knives which may have more than one  size serration on the single blade.

How many grinding wheels would be necessary to "cover the waterfront? Unless these wheels were diamond or CBN, each wheel would require its own dressing tool. How much total cost would be involved? How many serrated edge knives would be a realistic expected volume? What would be a realistic surcharge for serrated knives?

I have a Henckels bread knife which I have sharpened. My tapered DMT round diamond file can sharpen it, although my results have been very uneven. I only used it once for that purpose. My best results have been with using a wooden dowel wrapped in wet and dry abrasive paper. I have used both self adhesive and regular abrasive paper held in place with Scotch tape. Both seem to work equally well.

With the knife resting against a table, sharpening knives one serration time does not require much time and the "tooling cost" will be minimal. if an in between diameter dowel size is needed, a little sanding is all that is necessary for a custom size.

Ken

#10
Thanks for the replies. I am gradually switching from my ipad to the Mac Mini. There are differences, but I am adapting.

The mid range glasses are working very well. In the future, I may look into blended lenses. Part of me is still in the twentieth century (or back in the cave!)

The new clarity of vision reminds me of my early days with my T7. I did not like the Anglemaster. I even redesigned it. I was working in a poorly lit garage workshop. One day I set up on my Workmate outside. The day was bright. I was on the open shade north side of my house. The Anglemaster worked fine as it. I guess the handbook was right about recommending good light!

Ken
#11
Welcome to the forum, Sam. The colors don't look quite "standard issue Tormek"; however, it might work OK. I don't think it would do any damage. I would try it.

Ken
#12
When I was designing the kenjig, I asked Stig of Tormek for advice for a "one size fits all" angle setting. He suggested 15°.

Ken
#13
General Tormek Questions / I can finally see and type!
February 24, 2025, 10:04:57 PM
For several years I have used my iPad to use the forum. My iMac was too far to see well for my bifocals and too near for the distance correction.I tried trifocals with a tiny  strip, which didn't work well.

I finally put the pieces all together. I picked up a second pair of glasses today. They are "computer" glasses with the entire lenses corrected for the trifocals range.These would have worked with my old iMac, although I recently purchased a new base model M4 Mac Mini and a 24" monitor. Using the command key and the + key, I can easily fill the entire screen with the post. My Magic Keyboard works so much better than the onscreen iPad keyboard.I still have to learn how to find some Swedish symbols to do things like Hakan correctly. That will happen. . . .

I am a happy camper.

Ken

EDIT:  Håkan. Success! I consulted a Mac expert at Tormek. Samuel also happens to be the CEO. He had told me that he has been a Mac fan since the 1990s. Even though it was evening in Sweden, he answered my email within an hour. The answer was to hold down the "a" key until the options appear. Then, still holding down the "a" key, press the number key with the desired option. In this case it was number 8.

Thank you, Samuel!
#14
Rich,

Stig once told me about some of the minor improvements Tormek included over the years. Among these were much tougher paint and a patented rubberlike material.

Herman, you have at least two qualities I really admire. You are an experienced, educated physicist who is also what I call a practical "Popular Mechanics Home Workshop" worker (a high compliment!). Your sharpening table not only suits the Tormek very well, like my recycled child's table, it can serve many uses without modification. One humble minor suggestion: Lumber stores sell packs of around a dozen pre cut wooden shims. They are inexpensive and useful for many things, including keeping tables from wobbling on uneven floors.

Ken
#15
Interesting and practical topic, Herman.

I have used several tables with my Tormek over the years. The senior table, which I rescued from a debris pile in 1972, was an old wooden child's table which had lost its legs. Before I purchased my T7, I used it with my drill press, buffer/grinder, jointer, and disc/belt sander at different times. The bolt holes from these machines are still present. I built 2x4 legs and some stiffener boards as well as added a cardboard shelf.
In 2025, it continues to serve me well.

I also have a Workmate and a Tormek Work Station.

All of these benefit from having a Tormek Rubber Work Mat to contain any spillage and a Rotating Base, although an inexpensive plastic cafeteria tray can serve well for both functions.

I would substitute "adequate" for "inferior" in your first sentence. I would also classify your support bar threading as perfectly adequate.

I have several old second hand machinist chests and tool boxes. I like the storage drawers in the Tormek Work Station, although, the actual jigs and Accessories I use could easily be stored in a cardboard box or two. Especially for those of us who primarily (or only) sharpen knives, how much storage do we need?

Don't get me wrong. The Tormek Work Station, Rotating Base, and Rubber Work Mat are well made, useful tools which are used during every sharpening session. They are nice to have, but not essential.

Ken