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New forum member here. Thanks for this. I was reading one of Ken's posts and was totally lost in the acronyms. This will help. I have had my T-4 for perhaps 10 years and have used it once. I have decided to turn more and I need to invest more time and effort in learning how to use this system. The manuals are extremely well written but remain OVERWHELMING. The learning curve is steep. I look forward to lots of reading.

I don't know what jigs you own but I advise that you start by sharpening a chisel or an older knife following the videos and manual for guidance. In total the system appears a bit overwhelming but taken a piece at a time it is not so daunting. Also I advise against going down the rabbit hole of ultra sharpness until you have mastered the stock system. With the standard wheel and honing wheel you can sharpen knives well beyond their initial factory sharpness.

Also don't hesitate to ask questions. Sometimes hearing an answer from a different viewpoint will make things clearer.

Ken do you have any plans to prune or start a new thread for beginners and those that are new to our forum? With the release of new jigs and 6 pages of comments this thread I believe has become dated and unwieldy to navigate. I have not reviewed all the pages but I think Rich Colvin's Sharpening Guide should be linked here as it has been kept up to date and is quite broad in scope.

Few here have either machine, at least from what I read. I would suspect fewer have both to compare. They are mainly bought for commercial kitchens where the sharpen the same knives fairly often and to me it seems like overkill for a single home kitchen.

I don't know your sharpening needs or if they may include other tools, pocket knives,scissors or garden tools but I would suggest you evaluate either the T-4 or even the T-8. With the T-4 you have a lot more versatility for a lesser price. I have a T-8 and have been very pleased with the results. I sharpen for my kitchen, my daughters and a limited group of customers.

14-15° per side is how most knives arrive from mainstream manufacturers. Flexible filet knives often are near 11° and need the Long Knife Jig. I normally use these angles and hone at 1.5-2° more. Proper daily care will also extend the time where the blade has acceptable sharpness.

I lasted a long time without needing glasses but now I require reading glasses. For my monitor I found that I can see better with 1.5 stops less than reading.

It has been a long time since I used the WM-200 I may just get it out and try myself.

I think Tormek did considerable testing to insure that the KS-123 results matched those of the software bar height calculations. I believe members here also participated in the early testing.

On a hunting trip quite a few years ago I somehow lost my knife and I never took a nice knife into the woods thereafter. When hunting there were always at least 3 of us in camp and we knew generally where each other was going to hunt. We carried snacks and some water and means to make a fire. Our cardinal rule was if you ever got lost stop and build a fire and the group would find you. Once a teenager hunting with us got lst and we found him several hours after dark safe and warm by his fire. A Morakniv is all I now carry.

After you use the angle setter you mat want to try coloring the knife edge with marker and rotate wheel ny hand to see what is removed. This is a double check on the setting.

I remember the technical discussions I had with Vadim both on and off of the forum. His work was groundbreaking for those trying to achieve an extremely sharp and longer lasting edge. He worked extensively with meat packers to stretch the time between sharpenings. I think in addition to his knowledge he had the opportunity to find things that did not work so well and to refine those that did. I think he would be pleased that his innovations have made their way into mainstream sharpening.

On Tormek's Honing Wheel page https://tormek.com/en/products/honing-wheels the recommend homing between full sharpening to maintain a knife's edge. I have done this with my own knives occasionally with positive results. Customer's knives require full sharpening as they normally wait too long between visits.

Does anyone use the honing wheel in between sharpenings and if you have a BESS tester how much improvement do you see?

Your friction wheel may be wearing or glossed over causing slippage. I would contact Tormek support.

Here is the Tormek training video on scissors

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlScXCdisAo

I have only peeked down the rabbit hole of honing and use an extra leather wheel with 1µ diamonds followed by a hanging strop. I believe the key to increased sharpness is using progressively lighter pressure as you move along each step. With my final diamond hone I exert not much more than the knife's weight. Since I do not have a means of accurately testing this theory other's opinions are welcome.

I agree that those new to the Tormek system should develop a strong base in the fundamentals before venturing down the rabbit hole in search of an ever sharper blade. While it is tempting to buy every wheel and accessory I would hold off until you reach a point where the stock system can't provide what you need. While watching the YouTube videos from Tormek is a great starting point nothing beats sharpening a bunch of old knives and yes Ken a chisel.

I don't have a BESS tester, however using Vadim's chart I can (with effort) achieve 100-110 using the SG-250, leather wheel with Tormek compound followed by another leather wheel with 1µ diamond then stropping on barber strop. I don't go for this sharp all that often mainly on my better personal knives. It is sometimes frustrating as I have found a little too much pressure while honing on one side or the other can undo what you have achieved. I think the last bit of sharpness requires a light steady touch and in Vadim's case muscle memory from hundreds of knives. With my small group of customers and my daughter I think they value edge retention over extreme sharpness. The mainstream point of reference for sharpness I think is out of the box sharp. If you can easily slice a sales receipt or newsprint most people will rave about your work.