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I've maintained the factory angles... All primaries are at 20d, secondaries around 33d and tertiaries at 35d give or take -- maybe the 1/8" is a bit different, but I'd have to check... The issue is after four or five sharpeningings, the secondaries start to creep and need to reestablish the primary...


My reflection on bulk steel removal was more in response to the post earlier in the thread where the user was attempting to reestablish a primary using the Tormek and had to give-up at 25d... I think this reflects a negative bias on alternative bulk steel removal strategies – there really is nothing wrong with an alternative primary strategy for big steel... After all, on a single-bevel bench tool (with few exceptions), the primary is really just a platform for the secondary... I don't care how my primary gets established (except fine dovetail chisels, Japanese chisels and maybe one or two other items) – as long as it's straight and square to the long axis – who cares? I might not admit to scary-sharp on woodworking blogs --- I'll let the joinery speak for itself

I'm finishing-up a couple of occasional tables today. I should get to the 20d jig by Wed or Thurs... I'll post a photo...

==>When doing a major reshaping, Jeff suggest doing it in stages. Reshaping the primary bevel on your mortising chisels might seem less arduous if you approached it in stages. Five or ten minutes now and again would not be such a chore, and you would get a feel for how your chisels work at different bevel angles.


An interesting idea... But the primary on single-bevel bench tools and the double-bevel carving kit is apples to oranges. Something can be gleaned by varying bevel angles on carving tools, but many bench tools are designed around a narrow window of acceptable primary bevel angles... Incremental grinding is simply not a viable option.

I know this is a Tormek forum ---- but.... For heavy metal removal, it's not the right tool for the job... It can be done, but that doesn't mean its the best tool for the job... You're asking to remove too much steel in a user-acceptable time window... There's nothing wrong with establishing the primary on some other media, then refining and/or finishing with the Tormek -- it's what I do now... In the spirit of full disclosure, the Tormek plays an intermediate-role for my western-style chisels (O1, A2, PMV-11) and plane irons (A2). I prefer a hollow-grind to facilitate a hand-finish on magnesium-matrix waterstones (Chosera 10K). My Japanese chisels are never hollow ground... The rest of my bench and carving kit is sharpened and finished on the Tormek...

To establish the primary on my English-pattern mortisers, I'm going to use a stationary sander... Nothing is wrong using scary-sharp, bench grinder, bench stones, belt-sander in vise (does that have a name?) and/or some other time-acceptable method for heavy steel removal... Spending thirty+ minutes establishing a primary on a big mortiser is counterproductive... Again, it can be done -- but life's too short...

Changing the primary bevel on an English pattern mortise with a Tormek is not really the right tool for the job... It can be done, but that's a lot of steel... An awful lot of steel... Ad if it's Ray Iles, then it's an awful lot of D2...

The 20d primary is a design feature inherent in the proper use of the tool – Chris Schwarz has several articles on the two or three most accepted workflows – and they all benefit from the shallow primary. I suspect 25d will work, just not as well...

When I've got my jig done, I'll post a photo.

Yea, Ray Ile's kit is certainly well made and quite square -- so I'm going to use a positive-holding jig to keep it that way -- one thing about hand-mortising --- you want a square chisel or all sorts of bad things can happen...

Going to go two routes simultaneously...

Looking at the 60, I notice the threaded posts are rusting... I'm going to cut them off, drill/tap the jig's base and use 18-8 threaded rod for the replacement posts -- maybe 1/2 to 3/4 longer... I may/may-not use a nut to hold them – I may just use loctite... I notice that the 76 went that route, go figure... So that should get me a jig that can hold the chisels in question... Maybe it'll look as good as the factory jig after all – who knows...

The second project will be a miter-slot jig for my stationary belt sander to re-establish the 20d primary bevel. I figure it would take forever to grind that much D2 on a Tormek. I may actually make it for the disk sander – haven't decided...

I'll post a photo or two when done...

Thanks for the responses...

While the bench-mounted belt sander is tempting...

I've got some stationary sanders in the shop – disk, edge and belt... If I fashion a purpose-made jig that runs in the miter slot, I could give that a go for reestablishing the primary bevel... D2 is a tough steel... So the belt sander idea is sparking some future jig-activity... Thanks.

Turns-out my dad's got the 60 – which he doesn't use since getting the 76... The chisels in question won't fit the stock 60... However, if I hot-rod the 60 and replace the existing threaded posts with something about ½ longer, it could work... I'm not much of a machinist, but will give it a whirl. I figure a die-grinder, drill press and McMaster-Carr will get it done...

Suspect it won't be quite as pretty as the factory jig, but the goal is sharpening...

Thanks again.

Did a quick search on English-pattern Mortise Chisels and the last thread I found on was around 2010 and referenced jigs that were discontinued even then...

So, is there a straight-forward method of honing an English-pattern mortise (EPM) chisel on the Tormek T-7?

Specifically, I'm talking about the set made by Ray Iles... They are D2 and a bit of a bear to hone on flat stones... Being that they are D2... I've got the T-7 and just about every attachment I could want... The EPM is about the only thing I don't hone on it...

Off the top of my head, the factory primary bevel is 20d, secondary 30d and tertiary at 35d. The secondary and tertiary are quite small – about 1/8" and 1/16" respectively... After several honings, many forgo the secondary bevel and jump from 20d to 35d with the final bevel between 1/8" and 1/16"... So far, I've kept to factory practice....

The primary bevel is quite long – maybe 1" and suspect that could be a problem (or maybe the problem) or jig holding. The Iles chisels are slightly tapered in cross section, while more traditional examples are distinctly trapezoidal.

Here is a link: http://www.wkfinetools.com/contrib/cSchwarz/mortChisel/mortChis1.asp

Any and all help appreciated...