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Hi JAM,
and welcome to the forum.

There are two possible reasons for that behaviour I can think of.

- dirt or grease  between the motor and the drive wheel (under the leather wheel). Clean it and try to use some sandpaper on the surface of the drive wheel. A rougher surface with some "new" rubber exposed will give new grip.

- if that's not the reason, it might be a faulty capacitor.

Is your Tormek machine older or brand new? In any case I'd contact Tormek support, they'll help you find what causes the problem ...and how to solve it, too. 

I'd rather think about some tubing or pipe to reduce the bore. Might be easier than re-drilling the hole into that epoxy perfectly rectangular and centered, although that can be done with the appropriate machines, of course.

That's where the 'patience' part comes in.

Of course you have to move the jig between the two stops, but it was easier and the edge came off more consistent than I had expected. I'll try to take some photos soon...

I've also been reluctant for a long time, the Fällkniven A1 (very similar to the one in the video) was one of the few knives where I finally gave it a try.
Results, however, are promising. And it worked easier than expected. Not difficult to grind, but takes some patience, so second your skepticism...

In addition to all the good thoughts mentioned, please keep in mind that the USB and the surface of the stone have to be parallel and the stone surface should be dead flat.
Despite the T-8 being new, trueing the stone before sharpening chisels might be a good idea.

Then we can make an app for the phone that controls everything.   

Of course! Including live monitoring, automatic wheel changing, cleaning and maintenance.  
There are still many rabbit holes in Tormek Wonderland...(waiting for their discovery by real march hares like us)

Chris,
I basically agree, stones should be kept in good shape.
But in that picture, well, that's just how the SJ-250 looks after polishing the edges of 2 carbon steel chef knives. I use to clean the Japanese stone with a 1000 grit diamond plate rather than often trueing it.

It's just an alternative method to measure distances. You can still move the USB by hand or by the EzyLock nut, respectively. There is no considerable resistance in sliding that black sensor box along the rail.
The only advantage is that you don't have to operate rulers or calipers while setting the USB height, it's a bit more hands-free.

Now adding a stepper motor will be a logical next step

Thanks for your interest and the kind words, guys.

@tgbto: Yes, there wasn't any interference so far. But if some problem occured, it could be avoided by just pulling out the DRO from the hinge and put it back in place afterwards. (Values are still precise enough after doing so)

@Ken: Do you happen to have that picture around? I'd love to see it

@cbw: I'll probably add a little platform protruding the FVB and just mount it in the opposite direction. Then it should fold down 180°, however, otherwise it could get in MY way . BTW: Thanks for adding the USB height calculator in calcapp !

@Rick: You're right, I always use the machine from the front. Machine is rather high, so I can stand somewhat comfortably. The linear scales don't have a display on the units themselves. Here is an example, identical in construction and with the same parts supplied.

Here's mine from the opposite perspective:
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So there are just two completely independent displays on a wire .  I made a frame which keeps them in place and allows for decent readability:
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Adding another point to thoughts and observations, which I forgot to mention:

- the attachment of the hinge required two M3-threads in the zinc housing (might be an issue with warranty), maybe shouldn't be done carelessly.

(Guess I'll add that in the first post, too.)

Regards,
Mike

Dear fellow Tormekers,

I just want to share my attempt of adding DROs to the machine. It's still kind of beta-testing - but so far I'm very happy with the results.

I had thought about DROs for a while, when I found some with very reasonable prices. I ordered one just to confirm it would do the trick.

This is how it looks now:
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I wanted something that could remain mounted but wouldn't get in the way somehow. So I printed some hinge and added a clip for the usb. After some trial-and-error it works really well. It can be folded back (and even down) easily.
(As you can never know the whole device can be taken out from the hinge, it's just press fit.)

The clip coupling, after being reinstalled, gives the same values as it had before. It's repeatable and reliable and precise enough. 

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Because it worked so well, I added another one on the FVB. Maybe I'll change the fixture so that it can be folded down the other way, but I've had no problems yet. (And it can always be removed with one hand, if really needed)



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One thing to keep in mind is that you won't be able to move the readout to a real zero position. Of course there is the hinge and the housing, so you'll have to work with an offset. I calibrate the system by setting the USB to 10cm with a height gauge, then set the DRO to zero. Now I just had to add that offset in the calculator - using TormekCalc made that easy. Recalibration is usually only needed if you change the batteries. (For some reason the DRO notices movements even when it's switched off.)

Well, I know that this may seem a very over-engineered way of doing things.  Anyway, I enjoyed the challenge and the tinkering. And now I have to admit I don't really miss all that fiddling with gauges and calipers while sharpening.

Other thoughts and observations:
- I never turn the machine around, if you do, that might be something to consider as there are some additional wires

- The DROs are Rear:20cm/8", for the FVB: 15cm/6" are more than sufficient

- Both of the DROs were less than 80 $, the plastic parts were 3d-printed as needed.

- the attachment of the hinge required two M3-threads in the zinc housing (might be an issue with warranty), maybe shouldn't be done carelessly.

I hope the concept is fairly comprehensible, if not, please feel free to ask.

Regards,
Mike

CBW,

I think a platform calculator is an interesting idea, (which, for me, has nothing to do with the absence of an adjustable stop collar in the KJ-45 design, btw.). I sure appreciate your efforts.

I just have some trouble with imagining some of the requirements. Are we talking about a strictly horizontally levelled platform here? And in the first measurement to enter, I'm not quite sure what "bottom of platform" refers to. Shouldn't it read "top of platform", too?

Maybe it's just due to my morning coffee not having done its job yet.... 

Tim,

I'd try contacting the company, usually these screws tend to be anything but standard.
Gingher belongs to Fiskars now, so warranty@fiskars.com would be the right place to ask.

Peter,

in my understanding the dünnschliff is not the same as a scandi grind. It's more about the geometry of the blade itself.
That doesn't mean you wouldn't put a standard 'microbevel' edge on it.
Sharpening can IMHO be done following the standard procedure, at least that's what I do with mine.

Mike

Rich,
you can use https://www.printables.com/model/188557-tormek-drip-tray-for-fvb instead.

Mike

Very expensive but the clamping may be better?

I actually own either of these jigs and can confirm the KJ-45 clamps even better with less force, because the clamp easily adapts to the taper of the blade.
That's what the rubber shims are for in the Schleifjunkies model, which is still a good jig for bulky and wider blades with little taper.