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   Edge-Master sounds pretty arrogant. In the "Diamond Wheel" post I spoke a bit about my experience in sharpening. I have been fortunate in my life, and I appreciate my education and opportunities to learn many skills. I was a hunter and fisherman, and was taught to shoot at age 10 (I was shortly shooting a 1911 .45 ACP with my father in our basement range, and my maternal grandfather taught me rifle and shotgun)  My 1st personal firearm was a S & W K-22; a birthday gift for my 10th. Until I proved I was mature and trustworthy, I was supervised. Dad got me the classic gunsmithing books and I began gunsmithing at around 12, doing custom gunstock work and moving on to metal work in a couple of years. At the same time I learned to work on cars and that skill served me well in under-graduate and law school. Many years later I learned to weld and build engines and chassis (4130 CrMo) for open wheel race cars. I was an owner-driver for 16 years first in midgets and then winged sprint cars. After graduating from law school, while I was figuring out where and what I wanted to do (jury trials) for a year I worked as a full-time professional gunsmith. There I was first taught to weld and run a mill and a lathe. In 69-70, I learned to build acoustic guitars and now in retirement that is what I do; also now, the occasional electric guitar. While glue is drying I do some sharpening as a small business. ( I tried to attach a picture of me in my sprint, a "jpg" but it will not attach.) It was a beautiful car and the photo is the lap before I flipped it, as we say "out of the park." I got lucky on that one; only a dislocated shoulder and a concussion. Eight years before, I crushed all 5 lumbar vertebrae in a similar crash- not paralyzed, but even with surgery and every big needle catheter "procedure," nothing really worked very well. But, like most racers, I have no regrets; 3 1/2 months after surgery, I was in my sprint car, racing.

   I got some WD 40 into the area of the center---used a tube and had access; just a little squirt. It now rotates but is very stiff. I am still going to take it apart and add a teflon washer and the silicone grease.

Thanks to all. Mike ( my lifelong nickname )

 I just joined and have already posted as though I am an Edge-Master for real. Well, I am honored to have been permitted to join this group. I have been invested in "sharpening" for about 65 of my 75 years. I used to be active in the "Woodnet" hand tools sub forum and those folks assigned me the nickname "sharpening guru," and I taught a class on the Tormek T7 and freehand sharpening (I supplied jigs for those who asked for that option.) I still do sharpening for others. I often combine Tormek shaping and finishing on stones; waterstones and Arkansas. I have a large collection of stones, including DMT diamond plates. For all of these years, I have worked with steels, including having a forge. My father and his father were engineers associated with the steel industry and they passed on their expertise to me and I have kept up with the development of modern steels.

I do not claim to know everything, but if I see a topic in my "ballpark," I will usually try to be helpful. And, if I am wrong on something, I expect to be corrected.

Again, I really appreciate the opportunity to share information and learn here. My best regards to all, J.E. "Mike" Tobey III

  TGBTO---It refuses to rotate by the handle, "now." I cannot rotate it even when I grab the whole unit and try to turn. It surprised me because it worked as expected and then just got nearly impossible to rotate. I have also closely examined the placement of the unit so it sits properly on the top "plate." The problem appeared instantly and the only change I did in between was swapping wheels.

 Thank you. I barely "tweaked the nut. There must be a spacer that maintains consistent top and bottom components to avoid the interference. If I am correct, the load bearing surfaces may be quite small. I am assuming that because I carefully checked for a change in top and bottom relationship. I'll likely fully disassemble the unit and pack some silicone grease around the bolt and hope that fixes the issue. I will use extreme care because I also assume that the head of the bolt nests in a formed plastic pocket. Given the overall construction, I think my assumptions are reasonably logical but I could be all wrong. Sure would not be the first time in my 75 years.

Monocrystalline is superior to poly. Monos retain their cutting effectiveness far longer than poly. It is why I stick with DMT brand plates/stones and other diamond tools. I would suggest that with the price of the diamond wheel, Tormek has taken care of us well.

My wheel settled in with just a major knife restoration. It was a knife in the lower Rockwell C scale, but when I started, the wheel was so rough I was startled. Since this was my first use of the diamond wheel, I intentionally chose an inexpensive Chicago Cutlery chef's knife. I worked it over for a friend who liked his hardware store knife.
Based on my experience, I suggest a grinding project on a tool in the 50's on the "C" scale.

Even broken in, it is aggressive and I would never use it for a good Japanese gyuto. I am saving up for the Japanese waterstone wheel. The extra fine diamond wheel will still be too coarse for sharpening high dollar knives. For those knives I would only use the diamond wheel for correcting severely damaged knives.

I recently bought the rotating base. With the standard T7 wheel, it worked well. When I installed the fine diamond wheel, I found that it would not rotate. I think the diamond weighs more. I lubed it and very slightly loosened the nut to free that up. Still won't turn. Any ideas out there. Thank you for letting me join you and for any efforts to diagnose.