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I bought the Richard Kell one many years ago.
There have been some good points on the shortcoming of these type of devices.
The biggest problem I had is how large the spaces are tapered down to. They do not accommodate thin blades. I just checked to give an example...

The smallest measurable angle is 15⁰ but anything under 20 thou slides right through
The 17.5⁰ angle let's my 24 thou feeler gauge hit the back
They get progressively wider very quickly

Figured I would post this in the off chance it hasn't already been covered and someone finds themselves in a situation without access to calipers.

With a decent flexible metal, polyvinyl, cloth etc... tape you can measure the circumstance of the grindstone. This will reduce any error or discrepancy  by more than a third (π to be exact) when converting to diameter, opposed to quickly measuring the radius where it would be doubled.

*See example figures in the pictures below

The metallic tape is a Starrett Stix. It's 4' with both metric and Imp. I think it was $4

The two others are just run of the mill tapes that are spring wound like a regular tape measure.

Oops, sorry nevermind. I didn't notice CB  already addressed this with a solution.

Also, while I'm here...
Gilles, thank you for sharing your work. It's a great addition and very much appreciated

Rick,

Would something like this help find the center line? Not sure if I'm misinterpreting what you're looking for

I've recently purchased some new supplies for my sharpening room, including this new cabinet to reorganize things and a couple 3/4" heavy duty rubber mats. Figured I would share a couple of them that could be relevant/useful to Tormek users.

I just received this cabinet and threw some stuff inside to show its size to scale with things everyone would recognize, it's not the way I'm keeping everything or in the right location. I have considered using it as an alternative stand as Tormek's Rubber Mat fits very nicely on top but I would use something hard underneath to distribute the weight more evenly because it's obviously not designed for that. It's too soon to judge how well it's going to hold up or make recommendations yet but I will say it was very budget friendly... About $90 to my door.

Just to clarify as to not cause any disappointments; I'm not personally recommending this. Although it's suited what I was looking for it's not for everyone. It might have been a nice economy option if it was at a lower price point. If anyone's interested I'm happy to provide some of the devices' measurements or pictures showing the readings from different blades. I inserted a used Stanley utility blade in the photos where you can see the angle measurements. At least one of the photos was taken outside in daylight to help reduce glare from laser reflection. You can still see the readings in person (not in direct sunlight) even though it's not all captured in the photo

Rick,

I bought one a while ago. I was curious about it's construction, dimensions and if things could be improved upon for possibly making my own.  Unfortunately, I do not have experience with either of the Catra models or the new Goniometer from Gritomatic so I dont have much frame of reference. Regarding the one listed on Amazon, honestly its a very simple yet clever configuration (two pieces of coated plastic with a sub-$10 3rd party laser bore sight (chambered in .223/5.56 that ships in it's original package). I assume because the market is so small they have to price in a way to make it worthwhile. The laser has an annoying flaw; you must unscrew the battery compartment and remove 2 of the 3 batteries to turn it off because it will remain on if more than one battery is inserted even with the cap removed. Likewise, you have to replace the batteries and screw back on the cap to turn it on each time. Regarding the laser appearance, it displays as a thin rectangular line when viewed close up and is fairly bright as is needed for it's original purpose. In the pictures below you can see the line oriented both vertically and horizontally. It's very difficult to accurately represent what it looks like in person through camera. The cleverness of incorporating the .223/5.56 design is that there is an abundance of already manufactured materials specific for those measurements, many that are high precision. This would also allow you to replace the boresight with one from another brand. Unfortunately, by design many of them will have the same power on/off shortcomings.

You are correct that the geometry and precision of the bevel alter how the readings are displayed

This is what I've carried for most of my career, including my time at the CIA. FDick is the only manufacturer I recommend when people ask. They are widely regarded as the best in the industry and the price reflects that, although they do have quite a selection to choose from. The polished steel is a FDick Poliron and the large one is FDick's Multicut, which I believe is the most versatile model around. The Oval shape design is far superior in my opinion, They have many models to choose from. personally i do not use a grooved steel on Japanese knives though.

Thanks for sharing this, looks like a lot of effort was put into making it. I'm excited to try it out

I've been using something similar. It's an oral syringe that included the blue extension tube attached in the second photo. It fits right in the AAC-150 bottle down to the plunger so it won't accidentally fall in. Its easy to draw the specific mL while it rests on top like a medicine vial

These are some of the tools I use to measure pressure and sometimes consistency while sharpening. I also use bands in various circumstances to maintain a preset pressure against a device. The push and pull springs allow measuring in both grams of force and Newtons and with increments of 5 grams or .5 N. They are available in much higher resistances as well. They can be used with the blade while in free hand sharpening and through use of jigs. They can be used not only to preset a desired amount but held during the process to confirm consistent pressure