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when you flip the jig to when the knob faces down, using sharpy mark position of jig on blade, then undo jig and flip so knob is facing upwards and tighten jig same place on blade.

I do this method on thick blades to get even bevels

There has been some interest in the modified SVM-45 holder with adjustable offset that I made.

But before I can move forward on getting quotes for CNC'd parts I need to get some feel on the number of people that would be interested in purchasing one.  Unfortunately I haven't any idea of final price so I don't want to throw out any numbers just yet.

If you think you may be interested in purchasing an Adjustable Offset SVM-45 please email me at Mpeppard246@gmail.com

This is just to gauge interest, you are not committing yourself to purchase (final price will be a big factor)

Also I know a lot of people always use the Pin Pivot Collar on their holders so I am thinking of offering the option of not having the shaft threaded for the handle since some don't use the screw on handle-stop anymore.

RickKrung a long time forum member and also the inventor of the Pin Pivot Collar is helping me out big time on getting parts made.  Rick's help should greatly increase the chances moving forward with this due to his previous production experiences.

Howdy.  Just wondering if there has been any traction on a production run of the adjustable jigs?

I have been up and running for the last 6 months and this was the first time I had encountered 'exotic' knives. They where a mix of Shun and V10 and Vmax blades, but were owned by a chef.  Most of my business comes from kitchens.

I appreciate everyone shedding light on my findings, I want to be prepared for the next time I come accross such knives.  Although its going to be an expensive outlay


Thanks for the advice

That makes complete sense, when I was grinding I felt I was getting nowhere

I was presented with Various Japanese knives to sharpen the other day and brands included Shun which used 420J2 stainless steel material.  I found it quite tough to grind and burr even after a freshly trued SB-250 wheel.

Question - Would a CBN or Diamond wheel have better grinding abilities with this kind of steel? or should I stick to the SB-250 wheel.

Thanks in advance

Ken,

I definately don't enjoy using the angle master and time is of the essesense when setting up before sharpening.

I'm using Wootz software ATM and knife block jig to measure knife projection from jig. 

I'm going to see if I can marry all 3 items together in an attempt to create efficences.

Mat,

I recommend you consider using the kenjig, not just the jig itself, but the whole concept. Used as I designed it, for the majority of kitchen knives, you only need to set the Distance between the grinding wheel and the support bar once, at the start of the day. As this does not change day to day, the microadjust is probably already correctly set. This part of the setup should take no more than a few seconds. ((This speed assumes a standard bevel angle. I use 15°.)

I chose a Projection of 139mm. My paring, slicing, and chef's knives all work with that. I use the 140mm long knife jig for the chef's knives. I can almost always align them with the 139mm pencil mark on the jig without needing to adjust the jigs. I preset my 100mm knife jig (no longer in production, but readily available used) for my slicing knives and the same 139mm. Again, I rarely need toadjust this jig. I use the 45mm regular knife jig with the small blade tool for paring knives. Including the small blade tool keeps the paring knife Projection at the uniform 139mm with little or no adjustment.

I don't use the Anglemaster for this, nor do I use the black marker. This method is very fast and repeatable.

If you spend more than thirty seconds setting up the knife in the jig, you are spending too much time.

Rich Colvin has included my Knife Setting Tool (kenjig) in his sharpening handbook, or do a google search.

Ken

ps If you are sharpening 400 knives in a day, you might consider a second Tormek and a helper.

Thats great Ken and makes total sense.  I generally try and sharpen knives in groups anyway as mentioned, 20dps for chef knives first, followed by filleting knives, pairing knives and so forth.  I will def check it out.

Sometime ago a friend asked me the exact same question, to which I said 'no idea"

Jeff Farris wrote somewhere in this forum that the Truing Tool prototype didn't have as much play, but as users found the head too tight to move across, more play was added. I can imagine, that when Tormek later introduced the Japanese stone, it would be too costly for them to modify production line for TT-50, even if chipping was reported.

By now I've trued 6 stones (Japanese, SB, SG) using Ionut's approach, and the results are fabulous, minimal grooves and no edge chipping.
Below I detail my truing procedure, where I shamelessly use Ionut's ideas to reduce the Truing Tool play, and even wording, as why should I change a word in what had been said well enough.

- True on a stable non-vibrating base, e.g. for truing I move my Tormek to a different bench that is heavier and more stable than what I use for sharpening.

- Mark the shaft, the washer, and your grindwheels and always mount the stones aligning all these marks to compensate for manufacturing or wear imprecision that may result in non matching edges of your blade; so when you change the stone the grinding surface of the new mounted stone will match the other one in relation to the universal support. Doing so I don't end having to true the stones needlessly as I change them.
(Now and then I refresh the markings.)


- If the grindwheel  hasn't been used today, before truing let your Japanese stone run idle for about 30 min to soak water (SG or SB stone for 10 min).

- Locking down the truing tool on the Universal Support, press the Universal Support downwards over the left post with the adjusting wheel. Don't press left or right of that point. The Universal Support has a bit of play and the only reference point or surface that you can rely on is the adjusting wheel and the base in which the left post is being inserted. The Universal Support play translates on its horizontal bar into up to probably 2-3 degrees in the effective sharpening area. Because of that, if you apply pressure on the extremities you may start out of square from the beginning.
This step is stated in the Tormek Manual, but often overlooked.
Unlike shown in the manual, press with one finger only.


Remember to do the same each time you mount the Universal Support for sharpening.

- To minimise the TT-50 diamond head play, I used 2.5mm wide x 200mm long cable tie (a 150mm long may just suffice as well). You only need to tie it moderately, enough to back up the diamond housing to it's riding platform and to allow you to rotate the knobs.

(The ragged grindwheel edge you can see in this picture is from previous truing done before using the method I describe.)

- Do not rest your hands on the Universal Support or TT-50 while truing - only rotate the truing tool knobs with your fingers with no downwards pressure on them.

- Start from the side with the highest point on the stone. Turn the US adjusting wheel by 1/12 (half a digit) when adjusting the depth of truing.
Having finished the first run across the stone, lower the diamond tip by a quarter of the digit, and run in the opposite direction; you have to run in both directions because of the wear of the diamond tip by the end of the first run you finish somewhat higher.

- The manual suggests for the truing not going slower than 90 seconds, but with this modification I'd say spend at least  90 seconds, I usually spend 2 minutes to move across the stone.
While truing, do not pause and maintain the same speed.

- Lower the Universal Support on the stone to check they are parallel (remember to press over the left post with the adjusting wheel). I just take out the Universal Support with the TT-50 locked on it, and use another Universal Support for this so that I could resume truing if need be.

For declogging & cleaning Japanese stones I use the following (in order of preference):
- a diamond plate  in the Tormek Square Edge jig;
- Nagura stone;
- fine side of the Tormek grading stone, flat only, but never corners, and parallel to the wheel, not accross.

As the diamond plate I use the cheapest plates I could find on eBay; the one in the picture is 1mm thick  and cost me $5 delivered. Had to clamp it together with a plane iron on the top for rigidity.
#80 diamond plate for the #200 stone;
#400 diamond plate for the #800-1000 stone;
#1000 diamond plate for the #4000 stone (SJ).
Make sure the plate contacts the stone by its surface, not the end, and lightly press with fingertips.

The diamond plate is preferred because this method will keep the surface of the stone always parallel with the universal support.
A quote of Ionut's about the diamond plate: "In fact between sharpening when using finer stones I use this method to cleanup and flatten the grinding surface of the stone about 50 times until I will use the TT50 again to make sure the wheel is not out of round."


You will soon discover how much sharper your tools get.

Just discovered this post.  What an essential mod, using zip ties to take 'free play'out of diamond cutter head.  Addtionally, using diamond plates to grade and refresh my wheels has stopped the need to re-true stones as often.

[mark the wheel and then always mount it in the same position]

By the way, do you know why Tormek stone wheels never run round out of the box, even if they are perfectly round in shape?

Yesterday we were measuring the arbor hole (bore) in the wheels, using a Telescopic Gauge Micrometer.
The stone wheel hole diameter showed 12.08 mm.
While the Tormek shaft diameter, measured with a micrometer, is within 12 - 12.01 mm.
The SG, SB and SJ wheel arbor hole is made a bit wider on purpose, for the ease of mounting and so that the wheel won't get stuck on the shaft if left sitting on it for prolonged period.

You see now why you have to true every new wheel?
When you mount the wheel, it will sit on the shaft a little off its center, and because of that will be rotating out of round.
To make the wheel run round, when truing the new wheel, we are to mark the wheel and then always mount it in the same position.

I discovered this variance sometime ago, although small it can really make a differnce, especially when changing wheels all the time. 

I have drawn an arrow on the drive shaft and always ensure it's pointed up and mount wheel with writing up the right way.

So I finally got around to completing my pivot collar. Welded some 316 stainless steel rod to a 12mm 316 stainless clamping collar. It wasn't to hard for my first try. Here's some pics. I tried it out on several knives it works great. Much easier to get even bevels all the way to the tip. Thank you all for your advice and for paving the way for people like me.

Thanks,
Antz

Well done!, where did you get your 12mm clamping collar from? and did you use Mig, Tig or Arc?

Mat, when I saw your set up, I remembered that there exist a compact sharpening station SM-111 manufactured by knife producer company F.D.Dick in Germany.

It is a water cooled machine with very small power consumption (only 130 Watt). The knife is guided but not mounted in a jig. It has a pair of deburring wheels. It is not as versatile as Tormek and more expensive than Tormek.

Jan

Hi Jan,

I have witnessed a mobile sharpener using the Fdick and it didn't impress me the way it appear to fuction.  There was a lot of variance (play) with the angle guides and you are unable to sharpen right up to the handle.

I have found that the Tormek doesn't consume a great deal of power either, even at start up.  My paper wheel grinder is the most taxing with 750W to drive machine and what ever start up wattage is.

I am very interested and I have sent an email.

Thanks

Mat

Hi All

I just wanted to share my mobile sharpening setup using the Tormek and Razor sharp paper wheel.

I have only been established a couple of months and all of my customers have been exceptionally happy with the sharpeness I can achieve and how long their knives stay sharp.  A lot of clients I have met have only experienced belt sharpening methods, with some scarred for life.

As we all know, the Tormek isn't a fast means of sharpening a knife but I have been able to get my times between 5 to 8min per knife which includes grinding, sharpening and honing once I am set up. I am pretty good at changing my stones (SB and SG) as quick as a pit stop at the GP!

I use a lot of Wootz's methodolgy in sharpening and I'm greatful on the research and information he shares.  I am currenty running knifegrinders; software, pivot collar and FVB, all which compliment the Tormek way

I have attached a couple of pictures of my setup on site, along with pics of my extended knife jig rests I have recently made.

I am running a 240V 2500W invertor with twin 100aH batteries to power the machines and my paper wheel is mounted to a 1HP 1/2 speed grinder with my home made tool rest.

I also thank everyone else who shares there knowledge and experience

Cheers

Mat's Sharpening Services