Messages

Hi Herman,

Sorry I haven't replied earlier is have just had one of those months!!!!!

Thank you for the tip with the bottle top and flattening the threads that is something I am definitely going to do when I get chance.

Hi Ken,

Yes I did notice wear on the wheel size as well, I have used the putty on this as well and is a bit more tricky to get it perfect. Once the putty was on I carefully rolled it along a metal rule to try to recreate the perfect curve. When I up graded to the T7 I drew around the new angle master parts so that next time I can use the template to see if I have got it right. 

I use the angle master nearly every time I sharpen something because I mainly sharpen knives and with every blade being different it need to re-measure the angle every time!! Unfortunately it's just wear and tear, on thing I might try is to wrap tin foil around the parts to see if this helps slow down the wear on the 2 angle finding parts.

Hi Ken,

With regards to the wheel stopping on the machine this has happened to me before and I figured out that it was a condensation issue on the rubber friction wheel in the mornings so just take the honing wheel off and set the machine running and use some blueroll to dry the friction wheel this normally sorts out the issue for me. This may also solve the squeal!!

I have also had the problem with the angle master and I have used some 2 part putty cement to rebuild the corner once the putty is on press it against a flat object on the 2 sides to recreate the corner, then once dry carefully press on the flat side of the spinning stone to make it smooth.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Chris

Hi Mark,

After re-reading your post a few times and setting the cogs of my brain in motion, I have now used a flap disc on my 4" grinder (as I don't have access to a belt sander) to smooth the cut surfaces on the slim stones. This has given great results in not only the sides but also in making the width more uniformed as it only removes a small amount of stone and is less harsh than using a stone grinding disc.

Thank you for the AO reference.

Hi Mark,

I thought of using a dremel style machine with its various attachments and bits but stayed away from it as I wanted to try and get the same result from the wet stone that I get on straight edged knives.

When slicing the stones it only takes a lapses in concentration for a second and you can get a thinner or thicker part to the stone. At the moment I try to remove any ridges or lumps left on the cut side with the grinder and then rub the stone against an uncut stone to try and smooth the surface.

My main problem is that I used to cut through an SG200 at 6" but after upgrading I will need to cut through an SG250 at 7" and at the moment my at home solution is to use a 12" blade on my 9" grinder( just don't tell the HSE).

Hi Grepper,

As you said the Tormek spins slow, therefore you have complete control over not only the blade but also the stone. I have been using the slim stones for about a year now and have never encountered any problems with flying debris from the stone, they seem to hold their integrity really well. I have some old ones that I have ground down to less than 4" from the original 6" that I cut them from.

The plumbness issues I have with the stones are on the flat diameter of the stone because when using the angle grinder you can only cut so far through the stone then you have to turn it to make the next cut, therefore with the human error factor you can never make the perfect cut twice or even the four times you need to turn the stone!!!!

Thank you for the link it was very interesting, however most of the serrated blades that I come across have scallops of either 6,7,8 or 10mm so the 1/4" and 1/2" wouldn't work.

Bit to be called a true Tormek user is an honour and a privilege.

Cheers

Chris 

Hi Rob,

I can't take any credit for the knife rest, as I said I had been browsing the forum and came across the idea, but couldn't remember or then find it again who had the idea first. But using that jig it meant it gave a more uniformed result.

With regards to my customers being happy with the results, they are!! It took some time and patience to perfect the results, but I am now there. If you or anyone else now wants to uses the slim stone the best bit of advise I can give is try not to make the points of the scallops too pointed as it then either rips what you are slicing or gets stuck in the board!! Also because I am using under sized stones be careful you don't slice through the rubber friction wheel.( I sometimes position my spare support arm in the way so that the knife isn't able to touch it) I will take some more photos and them soon.

Again thank you for your positive responses and I now can't wait to put some of my other ideas into practice and tell you all about them,(even the ones that don't work!!!!)

Cheers

Chris

Forgot to say I am no David Bailey so please don't judge me on the quality of my pics!!!!

Hi Rob,

Thank you for the reply, and the positive comments they have given more confidence in the ideas that whizz around my head!!

I have uploaded some photos to photobucket, hopefully you can view them at this link.
<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://s1369.photobucket.com/user/hiltonchris7/embed/slideshow/Mobile%20Uploads"></iframe>

If not I will try something else.

Hello,

This the first post that I have posted so I hope I get it right!!!!!!

I have used a Tormek machine for the past 2 and a half years, I started with the T3 and in November last year upgraded to the T7, there are a couple of little things that I have adapted over this period to assist myself with sharpening all sorts of different knives for the proffessional chefs which use my sharpening service.

The first thing that I have changed from the guidelines in the handbook is to sharpen the knives at an overall angle of 22 degrees and not the 20 degrees on each side.  having spent time reading articles and speaking to chefs i realised that most kitchen knives are sharpened between 18 degrees and 25 degrees so i am using 22 as a happy medium and all of my customers are pleased with the results

After changing the angle of the sharpening i then noticed that I needed to change the position of the clamp on the blade to closer to the tip to ensure the correct angle was applied to the whole edge (trial and error isn't the most sientific but was the only method i could think of!!!!). i was also struggling to sharpen large bladed knives such as cleaver style knives because vthe legs of the universal support were not long enough. there for i made a new universal support that was 4" longer in every direction, this has helped me sharpen the more unusual knives that have been presented to me.

I cant add the images that i was going to upload, any help?

My last adaptation was to cut through some old stones at different widths to create some thinner wheels. I then packed out the spindle of the machine with some washers and raised to water trough on some wooden blocks so that the stone was then in contact with enough water.  I was then browing the forum and came across a post about using the back of the scissor jig and a piece of wood to create a rest for sharpening knives. After putting all of this together and some more trial and error I was not only able to sharpen serrated knives I was also able to restore the serrations that had been almost removed.  I used a sharpie to mark the back of the blade in the individual serrations so that I could position the knife correctly to sharpen each invididual one. The only issue i have with this is that i have had to used a 9" angle grinder to cut through the stones so therefore they are not always plumb, if some machine made ones at different widths were available from Tormek I would buy them, as long as they were not outrageously priced!!!!

Again i have some pics but cant upload them.

Thank you for reading my first post and I would really appreciate some feedback on the points I have made.