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Hi Ken,

I'd say that every double-beveled ("V-beveled") knife that gets clamped into the knife jig (long or short jigs: I have no experience with the newest jig for very small knives) has minor angle variances from side to side (anywhere from half a degree to a couple whole degrees variance). This is not as apparent on knives that have a very thin edge to begin with (thus a very small width of bevel), but on knives with a thicker bevel, it becomes obvious quite quickly.

So, on that end, it's a limitation of the Tormek knife clamp system. That said, operator experience can mitigate these issues if they're kept i mind during the sharpening process. It gets finicky in having to stop and measure the angle (or at the very least adjust it) every time you flip the jig over, but with a little practice, you get the flow down.

Travis

Hi guys,

Herman: Interestingly enough, we often keep the stone at the coarser setting rather than fine. It's not the ideal method, but we find that deburring and polishing on the strop after working the 220 grit actually still produces a strong, refined edge. We often deburr with a ceramic steel (or Spyderco Sharpmaker) between the 220 and the polishing wheel which produces even better results.

The time spent continuously grading between coarse and fine would be time (and thus cost) prohibitive, so we have looked for the most efficient way to produce the best edge.

So, to answer your question, I have insufficient data to give you an answer either way. I will say that truing does not seem to take any longer than with the original grindstone.

Jeff: Care is taken to measure and adjust the edge angle on either side of thicker knives. This was a concern at the beginning, but with a keen eye, we've been able to reduce the effects of uneven clamping. Obviously, many of us here on the forum would still pick up subtle inconsistencies in an instant, but you also have to remember that those who pick up those inconsistencies are also the ones who would probably be doing their own knife sharpening in the first place.

Our goal is still to produce the best possible edge within a reasonable timeframe. Most of our customers, as you mention, would not be looking this closely at the evenness of bevel, but we still take this into account in our sharpening methodology.

Thanks,

Travis

Hi guys,

I just wanted to give some information back to a very helpful community after implementing the Tormek in 15 of our knife stores for the past 1.5 years. We made the switch from Catra Sharp 2000 machines to Tormek T-7s after careful consideration and testing to ensure that this was the right tool for our uses.

Our goals:
- versatility in sharpening knives of varying shapes, sizes, and edge angles
- consistency in results between different stores and sharpening personnel
- ease of use and training on the machine
- economic viability: low cost of operation
- reasonable "speed/edge quality" ratio

The T-7 came out as the winner in all categories. I've been the one responsible for training staff in sharpening since the implementation of the Tormek and it's impressive how quickly we've been able to get staff on board with the machine. Although some of you may cringe to think that we have folks other than meticulous craftsmen using these machines, I've found that with a few tips and tricks, we can get most staff producing excellent edges after a day of training. It obviously helps that they have a bit of a knowledge base on knives and sharpening to begin with, but many of these folks have not come from a sharpening background, yet they catch on quite quickly.

Simply put, we love the Tormek for many reasons. It's quiet (unless you're sharpening scissors), leaves a fantastic edge, and is a major conversation starter in our stores (we have it out "on the floor" for customers to see us sharpen). It has increased the quality of our sharpening service in profound ways, plus it has served to educate our staff on better understanding the intricacies of knife edges.

Overall, I have found the machine extremely well-designed and the more I use it, the more I realize how much thought has gone into the making of this unit.

Here are a few bits of information that may help somebody along the way:

- stone life: we average between 6-10 months per stone in each store. This varies depending on how many sharpenings each store gets and whether or not they sharpen scissors (this dramatically decreases the lifespan of a stone). We have switched to using the SB-250 on all our machines. Although our methodology is in no way scientific, we have seen that the SB-250 provides enough increased longevity to justify the higher cost.

- honing wheel life: the only honing wheels we've had to replace were either over-oiled at the beginning of their use or gouged due to staff trying to lead the edge into the leather rather than stropping (yes, it happens unfortunately). Although nothing lasts indefinitely, I honestly see these honing wheels continuing for many years.

- slipping driveshaft: every so often, the motor driveshaft will slip on the rubber wheel. We generally use an abrasive to roughen the rubber wheel and driveshaft to regain that bite. So far it's worked well.

- NVR switch: in two of our stores that have high-speed grinders set up in close proximity, we've had the NVR switch fail due to a buildup of steel dust within the housing. We've been able to fix the NVR switches through disassembly and cleaning. We've lessened the impact of the proximity by using a cover over the Tormek when the grinder is in use.

- WM-200 wear: the plastic bits on the Anglemaster do wear out, especially if folks slide the WM-200 along the stone to get it to contact the blade properly. We probably go through a set of plastics once a year in each store. We've been able to get replacement plastics from our local vendor. I don't know if this is the case for other folks.

- SVM-45 and SVM-140 jigs stripping threads: the brass threaded inserts on the SVM-45 and SVM-140 do not hold up after extensive use (especially by folks who may not understand the qualities of threading in soft metals). We have ended up putting in Helicoils in each brass insert to extend the lifespan of the threads. So far, none of the Helicoil threads have failed, so this is something to consider for long-term usage.

I'm sure there's more information that I'm missing, but I figured I'd get this info out to hopefully contribute back to this community that has helped a lot. Although I'm not a prolific poster, I've often used the information shared here to better utilize the T-7.

Let me know if you have any questions or clarification on any of this. I'll share more if I can think of any points I've missed.

Thanks,

Travis
House of Knives

Have fun with that.

The greatest success I've had with this type of serration is with a fine Scotch-brite deburring wheel on a high speed bench grinder. With the corner of the wheel, light to moderate passes are done on either side to create a burr (ironic that a deburring wheel can create a burr, but that's been my experience) which I then use a ceramic rod system (Spyderco Sharpmaker) to deburr and finish honing.

On the Tormek, I'd experiment with using the corner of the leather wheel. If you had the profiled wheels as well you may have even greater success. Another option is to use a diamond abrasive rod of some sort in lieu of the Scotch-brite deburring wheel, mentioned above, to form a burr, then finish and hone on the Tormek's leather wheel.

A lot of it has to do with the initial quality of the edge bevel. For example, Wusthof makes a knife called the Super Slicer which has reverse scallop serrations (single beveled, admittedly) like the knife above. The quality of finished edge we can get on one of those using my process listed above is exceptional.

For the record, we also use the Scotch-brite wheel for conventional scalloped serrations, but use the corner (radiused, not square) to fit into each serration and then deburr on the flat side.

Travis

Hi All,

Mods, feel free to move or ditch this, but I thought this is way too good to pass up. I know the craftsmen around here will be able to learn a few tips for their next building project from this experienced carpenter. Warning: language/subject matter is PG-13.

http://www.bcsportbikes.com/forum/showthread.php/146566-Build-to-Fail-Fail-to-Build.-What-is-this-I-don-t-even.....

Enjoy.

Travis

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the input. We tend to sharpen consumer-grade haircutting scissors on this system and others (Wolff Twice as Sharp, for example), and we point professional hairdressers to other avenues that can better service their high end "salon" scissors. With more than 10 locations, it's not feasible to have a vast quantity of different sharpening systems at each location, but the Tormek we've found works well for the variety of implements (mainly knives) we receive for service on a regular basis.

It sounds like you've got a fair amount of experience with the Tormek. Any thoughts on the use of the SB-250 wheel as a high-wear alternative to the potentially quick wear of the SG-250?

Thanks,

Travis

Hi there,

Recently, we've been exploring the possibility of using a T-7 for our main sharpening machine in our knife shops. I've been very impressed with the finished edge quality, the quietness, and the entire water-cooled nature of the Tormek machine. Although it does have its limitations (reshaping tips, etc.), other staff and I are confident it's the right tool for our uses. Typical usage includes kitchen knives, hunting knives, and scissors (both fabric and haircutting).

On our tester machine, we're about 6 months into use and have brought the stone down approximately 20mm in diameter (10mm of wear). With the high carbon stainless alloys that we're sharpening, I'm wondering if the SB-250 would stand up better to this sort of use?

I've read that it may not sharpen some steels as quickly, but the wear resistance of the SB-250 sounds quite high.

I'd love to hear some input on the subject.

Thanks,

Travis