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This is common since the knife may wear unevenly depending on the usage. It also depends on how the knife was sharpened previously. Even pressure throughout is best but with maybe a little less in the centre of the knife. Sharpen until you fell a burr along the whole length of the knife.  Also make sure you watch the Tormek Innovation videos on knife sharpening.

The grader is not included since it wears at a different rate to the wheel. How fast depends a lot on the use but you will typically get many wheels out of one grader. So in fact they are stopping you wasting your money.

Yes, small knife jig should work fine, but I find the small knife jig too fiddly so I end up doing things like pocket knives by had and get good results.

I would do that one freehand. You have to be very careful. I have years of practice under my belt though, so I am confident of a good outcome.

My son raised the markings, paused the print, and changed the colour to help them stand out.

Sweet. Sent to my friendly 3D printer guy (AKA my son)!

Having said that I have wondered myself which standard they use. I assumed FEPA P since wheels generally use the bonded standard. You could ask them. Alternatively watch the next Tormek Innovation class and ask a question live. Probably not until next year.

As an aside I am preparing a new Tormek tip video diving into the science behind the regrading.

I think you are waaaay overthinking this. Having said that the SF and SG graded are purportedly about the same and probably give a similar finish more or less. One of the differences would be in (MOHS) hardness and the sharpness retention of the grit. over time, within the sharpening session, (depending on the steel) the SG would be less grabby whereas the diamond would stay the same.

Most "Damascus" steel knives from China are usually laser etched and not actually Damascus. In fact the descriptions are typically completely unreliable. Having said that I get my leather tools from an AliEx store and although they are on the pricier side they are much cheaper than the equivalent quality from other Japanese or European brands.

If it appears too good to be true then it usually is. If you do find a trusted brand then good but otherwise caveat emptor.

PS Not sure why he would conflate scratch resistance with deformation resistance, they are separate characteristics. I think his RHC test set looks a bit dodgy.

Looks good. Will have to dig into it. Painting of the shed ceiling waits for no man!

Saw this James is one of my favourite woodworking educators. Having said that it is a thinly disguised advert for Narex, but he is up front about it, unlike many others! I have a set of those Narex Richters and absolutely love them. The best value for money for the harder steel chisels. The Diamond wheels are invaluable for sharpening them due to the high MOHS hardness.

Great video and well explained.

The screw and nut is the pivot point for the three fingers. All three need to be touching the wheel when the angle is set. I put a few drops of lubricant on the jig to get it to slide smoothly

Many of them were my grandfathers tools.

My brother got the majority of my dad's tools. He did his apprenticeship in the 1910s but I got a few and have accumulates some others in the mean time. I seem to spend most of my time these days setting up my shed rather than doing actual woodwork!

Completely agree Ken. This is my default for most things. However, I do have an over abundance of wood working tools with harder steels which makes the diamond and CBN invaluable

I am considering a DF-200 for the planer blades.
It has been recommended by Tormek in their Video's for the T-8 - 4 years ago, when there were no diamond wheels for the T-4 - but I would like to learn from community members if that would be the right choice.

The DF is a perfect choice for HSS planer blades. If they are badly chipped then it may take some time to sharpen but for a resharpen only the DF is perfect.