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I got my TORMEK rubber mat about 2 years ago and have to say I'm very happy with it. It was a lot, $70USD, but it's built to last a lifetime, does a great job a containing any water that runs off the machine, and due to it's heavy weight and type of rubber it doesn't move around at all.  I'm pretty confident I'll be able to put my T8, all the jigs, and tools in my will to my grand children...

Tungsten carbide steel is very hard, so it makes for a long-lasting and durable edge on a tool. But it is brittle. You cannot sharpen it to a fine edge because it so thin that it chips. You can notice this on new carbide tipped tools.

Yes, it's important to put a small radius on all the edges and finish with a 220  grit finish on these chisels. To coarse a grit on the finish could lead to small cracks.  I should also mention these chisels cost $130-40 each.  As you can imagine, when they get dull they slow down the work for the mason quite a bit. I checked back with the mason I did the work for a few days later and he was very happy with the "new" chisels and that he has a place to bring them for sharpening.

So I finally got to sharpen the carbide tipped masonry chisels and it went very well!  All the pads I used are 4" diameter diamond pads, they use velcro to attach to a backing pad that is attached to the end of a variable speed drill, set at a medium speed.  The end of the chisels had about a 1/4" or more radius on them, very rounded, almost flat. The goal is 45 dps, the final "edge" should have about a 1/16 radius to it. To make the edge durable and resist chipping or fractures, you don't want a sharp end, the left and right ends should also have a very slight rounded edge. I started with a 80 grit, then 120, finishing off with a 220.  Total time spent was about 15-20 minutes. I'm sure I'll be able to cut a few minutes off on future sharpenings. The customer was very happy with the results, said they look brand new.

I will definitely keep you posted.  I hope to get the chisel back for touch up sharpening in a couple days. I'm doing this more out of curiosity than anything else. I'm convinced that I can make the chisel like new again without going to "chisel hell"...lol.  Wish me luck

One of my knife customers recently asked me if I could sharpen his masonry chisels with carbide tips. One chisel with 2" wide, the other was 1.5" wide, the handle area about 6" long, 1" wide hex diameter on the handle. The striking end of the chisel was rolled over quite a bit from being hit  with a heavy hammer.  I had to use my angle grinder with cut off disc to remove most of the roll over, then I used a bench grinder to clean up and dress the end with a 1/4" chamfer. Important to keep the striking end cool with a dunk in cool water after a few seconds of grinding. Moving on to the tip end I used to pieces of 1"aluminum angle stock clamped to the shaft with a kant-twist clamp to make a stop that would rest against the top of the USB. Set the angle up to 45 deg on each side.  At first I tried my SB-250 stone to grind with but this was going very slow. I then switched to a 200 grit CBN while using PB-Blaster on the wheel to prevent the wheel from loading up with carbide. That worked much better but later found out CBN should never be used to sharpen carbide...ugh.  The best TORMEK wheel to use for these chisels would have to be the DC-250 (360 grit). A coarser grit, closer to 200 would be better.  If your looking for another tool to add to your list of things to sharpen, this would be a good one.  Stone Masons spend about $140 for a 2" wide chisel w/ carbide tip. The masons I've talked to found these very difficult to sharpen and would often just replace than spend time trying to sharpen. 

Thank you cbwx!  I kinda of thought that was the case but had to check with the experts

Any news when the TORMEK Angle Adjuster will be available?

Hi,

I have a question about what the horizontal distance of the FVB from the front of the T8 should be when I'm honing?  I'm using the FVB from Schleifjunkies with the USB, mostly for honing on the leather honing wheel LA-220. I'd like to use the Calcapp calculator to improve my final honing, it's been very helpful on the sharpening side.  I can figure out the distance from the USB to the wheel using the calculator but not the horizontal distance of the FVB.  Thanks all, and Happy Father's Day to all.

I can't say I've had much improvement in my BESS scores when using my 90 gcm felt wheel with 1 micron diamond spray.  I have noticed it's good for polishing up the side of the knife though..

Hmmm...just guessing, but that looks like a constant oscillation pattern that might be related to  manufacturing?  Did you notice any oscillation while truing with the TT-50? It would be interesting to run a dial indicator over that stone while rotating it by hand on the motor shaft. I would send those photos to TORMEK product support to hear if they have a good explanation.

Perra, very impressive! You singlehandedly, and unknowingly, came up with the same tool that TORMEK was working on. One question about the function of this more precise angle setting tool. If I set it up to sharpen  at 12dps on a 250mm wheel, can I then use it on the 215mm leather or composite honing wheel to accurately hone the same knife by just changing the wheel diameter setting?

Hmmm...interesting. There's a used market, or at least a second life for the 250mm wheels after they get to small for the T8.

Ken, thanks for checking that out.  Not that I was in the market to buy another T8, but if I was, being able to transfer that warranty to grandchildren would be a must.

The T-Wootz edition..

Thank you all for your responses.  Most of the time I'm using the marker method for grinding and lately I'll try out both methods for honing, Sharpie the blade edge, then adjust the FVB height/distance to just get to the very edge the blade on the leather wheel coated with the TORMEK honing compound.  On a Wustof or Henkels I usually see a BESS in the 140's. If the BESS reading is in the 150's, I'll try a few more passes over the honing wheel by hand, thinking I didn't quite get to the burr with the first passes. Sometimes this works, I get a lower BESS reading, and sometimes not...I still have so much to learn.. .  Part of the problem is I'm reading Vadim's book about deburring, it really is the art of getting a edge that stays sharp for a long time, but it can also be a rabbit hole without all the tools that Vadim used.