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Hi Herman,

I know Lee Valley has a pack of small pieces different sizes and thicknesses, you will have to check to see if any of them would fit. Last time I got a bunch of 1/4 " and a much thicker than needed one.  If I remember correctly they have bigger pieces sold individually, check their site. There is another company that caries large sheets and different thicknesses of it you can really find it there, It is called Industrial Plastics but I am not sure if you have one close to your place. Unfortunately the hardware stores not only don't carry something like this but if you ask them about it they have no clue what are you talking about, at least that was my experience. Let me know if you can find it close to you anywhere, if not I will stop one day at the store close by and will get a piece for you and send it by mail.
I think a 3/8 thickness would be enough to clear most of the handles but you can always go thicker.

All the best,
Ionut

Herman, I understand you are aluminumizing your small knife jig. I know is too late but another option maybe better one would be to use UHMW polyethylene to build the platform. It is easily workable, does not clog grind stones if you plan use grind it, it is impervious to water and the best part as I see it is the fact that is very low friction, the blades would slide very easily on it. I believe a 3/8" thickness would provide enough rigidity but it can be even thicker.

All the best,
Ionut

Be careful with the concrete though it will grind your grader and flatten it. If your grader took the wheel shape and you rely on it, then maybe the concrete stuf is not the best idea.

Ionut

Yes Herman, you should be able to clean the stone by truing it with the diamond tool. For the grader try a stiff steel wire brush or any stiff wire brush you have access to, it should be cleaning it but you may have to work for a while depending on how much aluminum you have there. I use a wire brush to clean my files and works pretty well.
If that doesn't work for the grader, I never tried this but you may try to rub it on a not very rough concrete surface that would not mint to end with grinding marks, until it gets cleaned and then use the brush to clean it from cement and sand  particles left by the concrete.

Ionut

  that looks interesting, I didn't  believe they would do something considering that this small knife jig is a very old story.
In my opinion though a platform type of jig offers a couple of major advantages.: It is easy to set the angle, you set the angle for 20 similar knives and you are done all that remains is simpy sharpening; It allows for sharpening microscopic knives as well and Samurai swords, Viking swords and everything in between; On the top of everything there is no special hand move involved for the curved tips of the knives where you would have to rather lift the knife handle than pull it towards you to get consistent bevel width and angle.
But if this was triggered really by the forum discussions it is really great, it means someone is still listening.

Ionut

Hi Herman,

I would keep aluminum away from the Tormek stone, aluminum would clog everything and if you clog the Tormek stone, the grader will get clogged as well if you try to clean the stone with it.. I saw in one of the pictures you have a dry grinder not far from your Tormek, I would use that or if it is not too much grinding I would use a file.

Ionut

Hi Herman,

You may also try this if you want, I used it in the past to revive one honing wheel the local dealer had that had more oil than leather on or in it. If I remember correctly I have also wrote about it before and this is pretty much what I have done.

- Scrape off as much of the gunk as you can while the wheel is on the machine.
- Soak the wheel in mineral spirits for few hours.
- Scrub well with a stiff plastic brush. Let it dry when you are done.
- Wash the leather well with dish detergent and water.
- Let it dry until is perfectly dry. The leather will look a bit darker than when new, smoother and a bit stiffer. From this point on use only honing compound.

If yours has enough drag while you hone it is better to just use honing compound as Jeff said, I bet your wheel wasn't as oily as the one I dealt with and you already used it for such a long time.

All the best,
Ionut

Hi Herman,

That really looks great, and you did a really great job documenting it. I bet not long after this we will see a small/huge knife jig in the Tormek accessories lineup.
Wood is good for prototyping, but not long lasting if you want to have a definitive solution. Aluminum is the best as you say it in the video, you can also rout it, and a short routed socket in the center along the length of the platform, where there would be a knob to tighten it would allow you to move the platform closer/further to/from the stone without having to disturb the universal support adjustment. But I don't really believe that would be needed, you have all the adjustment required.
Also if the jig would be 1/4" or a bit more thick you would have enough clearance from the scissors platform in case of knife wooden handles.

All the best,
Ionut

Hi Rob,

I make and sharpen my bandsaw blades all the time. The last blade  I've put together was a couple of years ago and since then I re-sharpened it 4 times and after each sharpening the blade is cutting better than when new and I simply didn't have to change it yet. I use a dremel like in that article sent by Grepper but I use a diamond burr for chainsaw sharpening. That allows me to touch up the gullet side of the teeth as well not just the back which maintains the shape of the teeth. My blade is 100" and sharpening takes at the most 10 min.
It seems though that your blades don't last very long for you, maybe it is a good idea to make sure the blade is set up properly and tacks well, also make sure you are not to heavy on feeding, once they get too hot they quickly lose their efficiency as the temper of the teeth is gone. If you smell slightly burned wood while cutting, your feeding is too heavy for the thickness of the wood you are cutting.
Of course you will not be able to re-sharpen the blade indefinitely, the teeth will become smaller and their shape will change beyond the point where they will be able to do proper cutting work, that would be the time to change the blade.

Ionut

That looks great Herman, and it is much better using it against the blade, it is much easier to control. I am glad it works well for you.

Ionut

Hi Herman

That looks good, if you grind a bevel on that metal piece, to a very thin edge,  it will allow you to get very close to the stone and then you could rest the entire blade of a small knife on the support and control the angle perfectly, That would only needed for very small or narrow knives. And if you turn the clamps upside down they'll be out of your way. Your version is cheaper than mine
I am not much of a knife sharpener, but when I put that thing together I had a very small pocket knife and it all went perfectly almost the entire blade width was supported by the rest.

Ionut

Hi Herman,

You may want to try this http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=1191.msg3308#msg3308 for small knives before you invest more, it costs about 2.37 cents and a couple of minutes.

All the best,
Ionut

I didn't want to put you in a defensive position Rob, I apologize if I did, that wasn't my intention..

Those were some of my observations during the time of using the machines, related to the subject. They may not apply to everyone and not everyone will expect from the machine what I expect.
I agree, there are a number of fettling things when it comes to woodworking, but any of these fettling actions take the person out of the real occupation which is working the wood and for me that's not what I want or like,. We can't avoid this but we can acknowledge it and minimize it or learn how to deal with it.

If I would be participating in a sharpening contest to get a molecular edge on the tools then I would probably be fettling all day long to get the best results, and on the top of it I would like doing that, but luckily I am not participating in such contest.

Ken, if it would be me I would true the stone as the first step so I would avoid frustrations, questioning anything about the machine construction or quality, with my first sharpening and definitely when or if  am new to the machine. Making sure the abrading device is flat or round or true to the tool surface that is being sharpened is the first requirement of any type of sharpening for any tool.
Usually the low spots on the stone tend to get lower faster that the high spots get leveled and the results are getting worse.
The truing takes no more than a couple of minutes. I never get a full adjusting wheel gradation bite in one step, if someone would worry about wasting the stone, you can take as less as possible or as needed. The goal is to bring the stone to a perfect round shape and the grinding surface to match the universal support.

All the best,
Ionut

I have 4 stone and none were true in any direction. I have unboxed a couple of other machines and the stones were not true. If any had by coincidence a parallel surface with the universal support the stones were not perfectly round. On the top of everything I doubt all the universal supports are perfectly the same or the that the frame connection renders the exact same position for the universal support. Also I have seen one universal support which had the adjustment wheel not perpendicular to the post axis, that made the universal support ending every time at a different angle in relation to the grinding surface of the stone.
So the first thing to do when a new machine is put at work or a new stone is installed is to true the stone using the TT-50. I would even go further as I described in an older post, to mark the stone, the shaft and the washers so if down the road I would install a different stone I would install it in the same way so I don't end having to true the stones needlessly.
I am speaking from the point of view of fine woodworking tools,  if the intention is to hit concrete or open cans with the tool or other interesting things, then I doubt you would ever have to use the truing tool.

Thanks,
Ionut

Hi Rob,

You are not supposed to use the wheel dry. The wheel is wet but not in continuous contact with the water in the tray. That way the slurry is not washed constantly away and that slurry makes grinding much faster. The same when you dress or clean the stone. In fact there is plenty of water to see it piling up over the edge of the tool and getting dirty with the mixture of steel and stone particles. On the top of everything the stones glazes slower. The color of the slurry it is also a good indication for when you lift the tray and flush the stone.
The exact same principle as when you sharpen things with bench waterstones by hand, nothing different.

Ionut