Messages

Hi Gipper
I had this problem as well until I redesigned the tt-50 truing tool. The tool as provided relies on pressure from the stone to hold the diamond in position. So on a light cut as the pressure comes off the diamond can bounce within its carrier and hence you get the radial grooves that take so long to remove with the dressing stone. The other contributing factor is the design of the diamond tip itself which is not optimum for producing a smooth graded surface.
One solution is to move the carriage very slowly and hence give the vibrations time to settle. I found that not effective as any variation I speed gives different areas of the stone with different characteristics.
Recently I got sick of the time to produce a great surface on the stone and I modified the truing tool remaking the carriage so that it has a dovetail slide at the top opposite the diamond. I then made a dovetail piece that fits on the underside of the tool body. This is lightly lubricated with oil and the tip of the tool now moves across the length of the tool with 0.0015mm variation under reasonable variation in load. I next obtained a new diamond tip with a evenly distributed pattern of diamonds and made a housing to fit onto the dovetail carriage.
This solved the problem for me I now can work immediately off the dressed stone. I am considering getting a different diamond tip to produce a fine graded stone from the dressing process
I hope this helps
Regards
Robert

Hi Ken

I dress my wheel whenever I see that its nolonger flat against a straight edge. I find if you keep the wheel reasonably flat you only need to take a light cut slowly with the diamond tool. On average I will take a light cut after 8 to 10 tools sharpened or 2 tools sharpened on the tormek after they have been rough shaped on the grinder. I also keep the water in which the stone runs clean, it helps to keep the stone in better condition. In between I use the grading stone to keep the surface in good condition. One thing I have found is that you need to take you time when you change surface roughness with the grading stone. Especially when you go to the fine finishing surface. Keep grading until it feels smooth. Similarly if going back to rough I keep grading until it feels uniformly rough. It can take a couple of minutes. Hope this helps.

Regards
Robert

Hi Ken

I purchased a new Robert Sorby 1" Skew. After an hour and a half on the Tormek I still had not achieved the shape I wanted. I purchased the BGM-100 and a 8" slow grinder with an 80 grit white wheel. It took about 10 minutes to shape and about 7 minutes on the Tormek to sharpen to a razor edge. It takes about 2 minutes on the Tormek to maintain the edge after use.

I just shaped and sharpened a new 5/8" Bowl gouge, about 12 minutes on the grinder going slowly so as not to heat the tool excessively and about 5 minutes to sharpen.

I would not consider the Tormek for the major shaping its too slow. That said I would not use anything else for sharpening once I had the shape I wanted.

Get a grinder you will be glad you did

Regards
Robert

Thanks Robbo

For the information of others on the forum the "b" dimension is missing from the book that came with the my BGM-100. Make sure you download the amended instructions from the web

Thanks again

Hello All

I have owned my Tormek T7 for 3 days and though still learning am very impressed with the sharpness I have so far achieved. I am sure I have a lot to learn and look forward to exploring the capabilities of this system.

I have a number of new bowl & spindle gouges and have purchased a BGM-100 to do the rough shaping.

My question is about the distance between the centre line of the grinder and the edge of the platform that mounts the BGM-100. While it is not marked I deduce from the diagrams provided in the manual that it would be 20mm for an 8" grinder if the board is 200mm wide. Is this a critical dimension? If so am I correct in my guess?

I ask because my slow grinder has an 8 pole motor (730 RPM) and as a result is large and will require a board 350mm wide to accommodate. Should I offset to the front to maintain the distance between the centre line of the grinderand the platform mounting the BGM-100?

Thanks in advance for you help

Regards
Robert