Messages

As you sharpen, repeatedly check for squareness, and make adjustments as necessary.

It takes some practice, but you'll get the hang of it.

I never cared much for chisels until I got a Tormek and found out what miraculous things can be done with a sharp chisel.

The same applies to plane irons.

My father had a few planes and chisels, and he just didn't sharpen them properly. Same for the knives we used to butcher meat, etc. I grew up using tools that were improperly sharpened and had no idea what a truly sharp tool could do.

I've inherited many of his tools and thanks to the Tormek they are all razor sharp.

Let me also state right here that in my opinion, apart from maybe paper, or kitchen or big fabric scissors, the tormek is not a good machine for sharpening high end grooming or hairdressing scissors.

I agree.

My comments about deburring refer only to scissors that one would sharpen on a Tormek.

My daughter-in-law is a hair dresser. I wouldn't dare try to sharpen her very expensive scissors. I agree that the Tormek is not the right machine to sharpen those.

Over the years I've had no issues with sharpening our office scissors, kitchen scissors, and sewing scissors; with the Tormek.

If you like, you can whet the flat edge of each blade on a fine sharpening stone, but in my experience it's never been necessary. Others may have a different experience.

Where does the procedure/process of deburring by "opening" the blades against each other - after having held them apart so they do not touch when closing them - fit in the scheme of scissors deburring.

As I understand it, scissors are not to be deburred. After sharpening open and close them a few times. To me, this is just breaking in a newly-sharpened pair of scissors. It's all I ever do.

Yes, time has a tendency of passing quickly. It's quite easy for me to walk away from a sharpening session and leave the machine unattended for weeks or even months. I've learned my lesson. Remove the water trough, empty and thoroughly rinse, and remove the grindstone immediately after every session.

I bought a T8 second hand and it had the "stainless" shaft. The SG had rusted on and could not be removed. Always remove the wheel between sessions.

I'm curious, John. Where was the rust? Where the grindstone makes contact with the main shaft? Did the rust penetrate into the grindstone?

Geez! I just hang my grindstone on a 3-inch screw that sticks out of a 2x6 attached to the wall. I know it can't hurt to remove the grindstone between sessions, and I think it helps with the overall health and maintenance of the Tormek. There's grease on the main shaft and water in the grindstone. I know water and grease don't mix, but leaving them in contact with each other causes parts to stick and can make it more difficult to remove the grindstone. And you do need to remove the grindstone occasionally, even if you're not changing grindstones, to grease the main shaft and its bearings.

If you pay attention you'll notice that it takes a lot more water to fill the trough when the grindstone is dry. Even if I haven't used it for a couple of days it still takes less water to fill the trough when I do go to use it. In the humid climate of Houston. I wonder if it would be different if I lived in an arid climate.

The grindstone stays wet, all the way to the center where it makes contact with the main shaft and the spacer. As the grindstone dries out it leaves behind a residue that acts like an adhesive. (Think about a paint brush that you cleaned and left to dry -- the bristles are temporarily stuck together until you bend them back a forth a few times.) This will make it harder to remove the grindstone for maintenance and may contribute to that problem where the EzyLock gets stuck.

The reason I remove the grindstone between sessions is to prevent rust. The grindstone soaks up water and remains wet for hours if not days.

You can read about my adventures with a rusty main shaft here.

There may be other reasons, too.

Good light is important at any age, but especially so as we age. Good light turns makes the Tormek so much easy to use, adjust, etc.

I have been closely following this forum since 2009. This posting is the first I have noticed on this issue in that time.

I've been using my Tormek since 2002 and have never experienced this problem.

Anyone who has experienced a frozen EXYlock (which includes me) would consider a sliding spacer as a minor nuisance. Noticing occasional frozen EZYlock posts over the years, I sent an email to support requesting advice. Support really went the extra mile. They ran tests and discovered that they could get the EZYlock to fail, IF there was no grease on the face of the spacer facing away from the grinding wheel. Putting a thin coating of grease on this face eliminated the failure. Problem solved.

Grease on the side of the spacer facing away from the grindstone would seem to help make the spacer stick to the machine instead of the grindstone, solving also that problem. I have never intentionally greased mine, but it seems it gets greasy from the grease intentionally placed on the main shaft. I will keep mine intentionally greased from now on because I also have experienced a frozen EzyLock a couple of times.

By the way, how did you free it? I used channel locks.

Oh, and by the way, even though the SG is the only grindstone I ever use, I remove it after every session. Those of us who do this are also susceptible to this issue with the spacer coming off.

You really need to take care because you have the original steel main shaft. I would take both the grindstone and the honing wheel off, pull out the main shaft. Clean and lightly lubricate both the shaft and the bearings.

Don't leave water in the tray between sharpening sessions as it will wick up and rust that main shaft. The MSK-250 upgrade mentioned previously is a great upgrade because it's a stainless steel main shaft. Plus it has the EzyLock which allows you to remove the grindstone without any tools. Removing the grindstone between sharpening sessions, as has already mentioned, is a good idea, too.

You mentioned the play in the main shaft. New nylon bearings are inexpensive and easy to replace.

By the way, did you get a stone grader with the machine? It's a must-have.

I found that with a dissecting microscope I can see the size and shape of the burr. Years ago I used this method to refine my knife-sharpening skills. I was able to check whether or not a burr went along the full length of the blade. I can see the size and shape of the burr and as others have mentioned it does indeed depend on the type of steel and the grinding direction, but it doesn't matter.

Nowadays I keep a piece of an old bath towel handy and run the surface of the blade across the towel. Moving the knife away from me with the cutting edge facing towards me. The burr will catch fine threads of the towel and with good light and a magnifier I can easily see them, telling me if there's a burr all along the edge. Then of course I sharpen the other side of the edge and do the same. Now I know the knife is sharp and needs only to have the burr removed.

The knife is usually either a kitchen knife or a pocket knife and is now sharp enough for everything that do with it. I know that other techniques can get an edge sharper than that, but I'm of the opinion that that effort is just for show because as soon as the knife is used it will not be any sharper than it is with my technique. I don't have expensive knives and I've never used anything other than the SG grindstone and the honing wheel with the Tormek honing compound.

I use the same technique to sharpen tools, and modify it slightly for a lawn mower blade.

The importance of good light when setting jigs and sharpening has been mentioned here many times. I find that these newer head lamps are awesome. They have a strong LED lamp and a rechargeable Li-ion battery, and are very inexpensive. I have two so that at least one of them is always charged and ready to go.

Any thoughts from anyone else?

For $400 US I think I'll stick with my homemade jig, described here.

I could be wrong but I'm of the opinion that getting a kitchen or pocket knife beyond razor sharp is not of much utility. They will quickly lose that high level of sharpness after the first use. I get mine sharp enough to do that demonstration where you slice through a sheet of paper held in your hand. That seems to serve me well enough.

A possibility is purchasing a new SG-200. That will make the two wheel diameters much closer. Use your present SG-200 for tools which don't require the SJ-200.

It's not a bad idea to have that extra grindstone. You can use the old one for dirty tasks like lawn mower blades, hedge clippers, pruners, and the like. Use the new one for those chisels you like to keep shiny and your best kitchen knives.