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Since my last post about grinding stones, I have been practicing on my new-to-me T-4 with a new SG-200 stone.  My wife volunteers at the local Disabled American Vets (DAV) store and has been bringing home donated knives that are basically slightly sharp screwdrivers.  Here are some of my observations.

Using a Tormek is harder than it looks and there is a learning curve, although not that steep.

My first few jobs were a bit ragged, but I am getting better.  Not good enough to put my really good knives on the machine yet but getting closer.

After working on six or so knives I can now achieve an edge that cuts paper reasonably well, but not like some of the experts I see on YouTube.  My edges cut the paper but are "noisy" whereas the expert's edges really glide through the paper in near silence.  More practice is indicated.

Advice from forum members about delaying the purchase of finer grit stones like the diamond or Japanese water stones is spot on.  I will continue to practice until I achieve that really smooth edge.

I am a hobbyist and don't plan to start a business, but some friends have already expressed an interest in having their knives sharpened.  I may do this.  Do any of you do so?  Do you charge, or do it as a favor?

Lastly, the edge I am getting with the T-4 takes just minutes to produce as opposed to a significantly langer time with my waterstones.  I like that a lot!!

Today I made my first attempt at sharpening a knife on my new-to-me T-3 with the well-worn smaller diameter SG-200.  I chose an old, mistreated military K-bar knife that I've misused over the years.  It had a number of small chips in the blade and was not much sharper than a screwdriver.

I used the KS-123 angle setter to set a 20 degree angle and had at it.  In just a few minutes all of the chips were gone and the edge began to look pretty good.  Unfortunately, I discovered that the small stone diameter resulted in the knife handle bumping against the honing wheel, preventing me from obtaining the same bevel on both sides of the blade.

I stopped sharpening and I am now awaiting my new SG-200 stone which should arrive this coming week.  I believe that I will be able to get symmetric edges on the blade after I have the larger diameter new stone.

To say that I am thrilled with my first foray into Tormek-world would be an understatement.  The work I did today on my T-3 took minutes and would have taken hours on my water stones.  I am hooked!

I will continue to practice on my older knives to improve my technique before moving on to maintaining my precious favorites in the kitchen.

Best regards,

Dennis

Thank you, Integrale.  After some further research I found a number of threads that lead me to believe that my stone IS very worn, so I have a new one on order.  I may try the existing stone in the meantime just to see what happens.

[for a T4]

Thanks for the advice, John.

I just picked up the used T3 today and it looks to be in good shape.  I lowered the support bar until it nearly touched the SG-200 stone and rotated it manually and it looks like it is running true.  While doing this I decided to measure the stone's diameter with a tape measure and it is very close to 6.5 inches.  The Tormek website says the diameter of the SG-200 stone for a T4 is 8 inches.  Am I missing something?  Are the stones for a T3 smaller than those for a T4?

Thank you for the advice.  I will work with the stock SG wheel until I become somewhat proficient and then decide if I want to acquire other stones.

Dennis

Hello all.  New member Dennis here.

Please forgive me if this subject has been covered.  I tried the search function with no success.

I currently sharpen my knives using a set of Japanese water stones, 400 grit, 1000 grit, and 3000 grit, followed by stropping on leather using a 2.5 micron and a 0.5 micron paste on the strops.  I am striving for a consistent 15

I am reasonably satisfied with my current process, but it is time consuming and I am struggling to maintain consistent angles, hence my decision to buy a Tormek.

I am about to buy a used T-3 and set it up to sharpen my kitchen knives for a start.

Can I get the same quality of edge using the SG-200 stone and stock honing wheel?  Or should I start looking for a finer stone on which to finish my knives?  If so, what stone(s) would you recommend and why?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.

Dennis