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From a theoretical standpoint, using the MB-100/102 with a coarse (then fine) diamond plate clamped in the straight-edge jig with a robust backing (such as a plane blade) could work.

From a practical standpoint, I doubt it will be easy to make it square to the top surface. Maybe use a laser as a guide...

The only system I advise for people not interested in learning basic sharpening technique is a rod-based system where fine-grit ceramic rods are set at a fixed angle and the knife is held vertical.

It's rather foolproof and will not damage the knifes too much, while keeping the edge in an acceptable shape. Alternate strokes on each side, not more than 3 strokes when the knife feels dull. And it occupies very little real estate when stored.

I think it was automatically recognized and sent.to our forum Just because the space was missing.

If what you are looking for is the replacement tip only for the truing tool, you can lookup "Tormek ADV-D" and find countless sites that sell them.

But I'm not sure that's waht you're looking for...

I saw a documentary about Victorinox where they mentioned that they were going to make specialty blades with harder steels.

Which would be welcome, as they state that their current standard for knife steel is 52 HRC. This is quite close to what we use to call "Fer à ferrer les ânes" (Donkey shoeing iron ?) in my material engineering class.

Surely you mean 60 HRC ^^ Which is still a huge step up from standard SAKs.

I do not own a T1, but creating a burr should not be that much of a hassle if you use the sharpie trick to match your sharpening angle to the actual edge angle... and you did not make the edge uneven by sharpening it freehand.

I doubt however that sharpening your knives on a whetstone might have created that much of an uneven edge. If you're not careful with the angle at which you hold your knife when sharpening it, you will probably end up with a convex edge. To make it uneven yet sharp, you'd have to change your angle exactly the same way along each stroke.

With new knives, that shouldn't be an issue as long as you use the sharpie trick. You might experience a bit of variation in the tip area, but nothing that cannot be overcome.

In my opinion, if you need to sharpen two knives in a kitchen every week, the T4 is a bit of an overkill, it will require more of a learning curve than the T1, you will have to manage water, it will be much more expensive.

If I were in your shoes I'd try to see how the T1 works on new knives with the sharpie trick, and if I'm still not happy with the results I'd change course entirely and look at one of those small belt sanders that will get your knives sharp in a matter of seconds. You might want to be even more careful with steel dust than with the T1 though.

How large is the delta between the T8 shaft OD and the wheel hole ID? Is it large enough (>0.4mm) so that one could simply 3D print a sleeve (e.g., using a 0.2mm nozzle) to slide over the shaft whenever mounting a wheel, or perhaps turn a thin sleeve on a lathe?

I would be wary of anything that might increase strain on the stone, as it seems to be rather fragile. I wouldn't want to initiate a crack in the stone when the stones expands ever so slightly because it is wet.

As to the wobble in the stone, tightening the nut when the label is upright has become second nature. I don't even think about it anymore, it really is not that much of a loss of time.

In that case, maybe it would be a good idea to just use a microscope, and give the knife back with a before/after emailed picture of the bevel ? There are cheap usb microscopes that will still make adequate pictures.

I use bench binoculars with the left eyepiece replaced by a CCD sensor, and get fairly good images in a matter of seconds.

I'm not 100% sure your intuition matches what actually happens at the edge.

What happens at the edge is a local phenomenon : Whether the edge is prone to rolling/folding or not depends on the material and the edge angle.
Even a .1mm high bevel is still orders of magnitude bigger than the small elementary deformations that happen when an edge rolls or not.
So changing bevel height will not modify the robustness of the edge. You can have a look at the excellent Science of Sharp blog to get precise measurements.

On the contrary, I can direct you to a bunch of traditional japanese knives who have like a 20+mm high bevel, but the edge will never roll.

As for whether a smaller bevel will make the knife wedge itself into the food, remember the primary bevel is more acute than the edge bevel. So if it indeed has a discernible effect, it is the other way around : the higher the bevel, the more you have to wedge into the food. I attached a drawing of the same blade sharpened at the same angle, but the right one has been ground to get a higher bevel. It gets intuitive which one will put more strain on the carrot ^^.

In my book, the lower the bevel the better, because you get lower sharpening time and amount of metal removed. So you push back the time when the knife needs to be thinned.

Hope this helps !

Nick.

I don't think there's an absolute answer to this question. It will mostly depend on what steel the blade is made of.

First of all, the bevel height is not an issue per se :

• The more obtuse the angle, the smaller the bevel is. So a 10dps bevel might look higher but will probably be weaker than a 15dps bevel with standard steels
• Many japanese knives (called sujihikis/sujis/lasers) come very sharp out of the box, with barely a visible bevel because the blade is so thin, and no robustness issues. But they are not made of the same steel as Walmart 3-for-20-bucks kitchen knives, and they will hold a 12 dps angle without an afterthought.

In your case, you're in a very different position as - IIUC - the blade is thin because of prior abuse on a bench grinder. I would consider it the same way I'd consider a knive with half-inch-deep knicks along the blade : damaged beyond repair.
Assuming you're willing to invest the time and effort required to reprofile the blade to where it might perform adequately, you will have removed so much steel that the knife will look awkward, with a bulky handle, a weird bolster, a stumpy blade and either scars from the bench grinder, or a much higher thickness behind the edge.

That being said : you've sharpened it to 15 dps, don't worry about bevel height, that's as good as it can get. If it holds the edge well enough, well done ! If not, then repurpose it as a paperweight.

These wheels cost around $70US, and one is enough.

In France, I couldn't find those aside from Amazon, priced at a modest EUR 200. The BDX line of wheels is more widely available and more reasonably priced. Does anyone know how they compare to the 3X ?

And if you have access to a 3D printer you might want to take a look at this :

https://www.printables.com/model/394577-m6-knob-randelschraube-m6-fur-zb-tormek/comments

ABS/ASA are ideal for this use, PETG will do, CF-GF are optional.

I agree with Ken, compare the price of a DF-200 and your Tormek Black. If they are similar and you have real estate to spare, by all means go for the Black, you might even get to use your T4 as a honing station.

If the T8 Black is significantly more expensive than the DF-200, it's up to you to value having a limited edition T8 (that most non-sharpening-nerds will be clueless about).

A file will indeed work well, as will the rounded out SG. The worst that can happen is that you'll round it out some more. And you don't need any of the precision that comes with the Tormek for this : most of this part of the blade has such a low velocity relative to the brush being cut that it won't matter anyway.

And it would be a shame to risk your diamond wheel for this.