Messages

Thank you Ken and Herman.

You're welcome Rob, I am really glad the information in that post helped you.

All the best,
Ionut

Hello Everyone,

- Make sure the stone is true and soaked, let the machine run until the water in the tray remains at the same level if the wheel was completely dry.
- Lower the tray so the stone will not be touched by water.
- Dress/grade your stone, the dressing is much faster as the stone particles will help the process.
- Put your tool on the stone and grind/sharpen. There is enough water on the stone without being in permanent contact with it. The best stone product, the slurry, remains on the stone and helps the process.
- Use your common sense and don't let the water disappear completely from the stone, after a minute or so of grinding lift the tray enough to have the stone flushed and then lower it back.
- Repeat the process if needed until your grinding/sharpening is done. For touch-ups the process is very fast, you don't need to wait a minute.

Good luck and al the best,
Ionut

Hi Bill,

The adjustment wheel has 6 gradations on each universal support I've seen, it is also documented as having 6 marks.
I usually go with a depth of cut of half the manual sais (1/12 by eye) especially on finer stones than the original one, even if I have to make multiple passes. You can safely co with one mark for depth of cut but you may not need to take that much.
I always find the highest point of the stone and start from there with the depth until I get to cover the entire grinding surface.

Ionut

I don't do much grading but when I do I prefer to use the grader parallel with  the grinding stone not across it. That way I minimize the risk or crowning or un-squaring the grinding stone.

Ionut

Hi Gipper,

It may be the grade of the steel  but I think is more the grain of the steel, the grade would be related to edge retaining properties, the grain would be related to the quality of the edge.
Chasing the burr few times is normal, if it takes you a long time to get rid of the burr, it is not. Make sure the stone is graded properly close to 1000 so the burr would be smaller and easier to remove.

Ionut

Hi Gipper,

When sharpening knives you have to pay more attention to holding the shoulder of the jig against the universal support, than concentrating to applying pressure on the knife. It happened to me too. I usually keep my palm on the jig pressing it on the support and the fingers on the back of the knife holding the knife flat on the stone. Also if you had to apply so much pressure it means your stone wasn't cutting properly, you may need to use the grading stone more often to make the cut more effective.

Ionut

I understand you but this Tormek machine is a very simple machine and very effective, you do not have to know anything about sharpening and still be able to get good results first time. When it comes to edge square difference of a  1 -2 degrees than the complication comes up too, but 15 degrees difference between the left corner of 1 inch chisel compared with the right corner is far too much or I do miss something.  If I would try to replicate that difference just by adjusting the height of the universal support and using the WM I would have to make a big change. Does the chisel stay approximately in the same plane while grinding and moving it left –right over the stone? Was this chisel grinded before on a dry grinder and is possible to have lost its tamper? If that happen differentially it may be an explanation  of the angle difference but you should still see a plane change of the chisel while moving it left to right over the stone.
There may be another cause but still would not explain such a difference. The back side of the chisel is not flatten, and the area you clamp it in the SE-76 is not in the same plane with the cutting edge but even then the first thing you will see would be a very un-square cutting edge in relation with the sides of the chisels.

Ionut

Hi Gipper,

How wide is the chisel you are working with? 15 degrees difference is humongous that would lead to a very large degree of un-square edge compared to the sides of the chisel. Is the chisel body badly twisted? At that degree the un-squareness of the wheel would be more than obvious and your side to side movements would be wavy, I mean the chisel would not be moving in the same plane as you would move it side to side. How did you measure the bevel angle?
Is the universal support securely tight at the time when you start sharpening?

Thanks,
Ionut

At the point where you actually measure the angle (the gage has to be flat on the back of the tool) the grinding angle happens on a totally different tangent line that the one you are trying to set the angle master for when you set in on a flate surface (the line that unified the diameter wheel gage with the angle setting one). That is the reason why using a flat surface will add an offset to your angle measurement.

Thanks,
Ionut

Hi Gipper,

The angle master is very precise, in my case when I needed to use it I didn't see any difference between the sharpened bevel and the protractor set for the same angle. As Jeff has already said it regardless what setting for the diameter of the wheel you have on the angle master when used on a flat surface you will not get the same angle you can read on the angle master. It has not been designed for flat surfaces. If that would be the case you would have a flat reference surface on the angle master, but there is none. If you want to verify its accuracy I suggest you to take a chisel that you trust of being flat, measure the diameter of the stone with a ruler, the body grid for this purpose may add an error depending on your reading position, set the angle master as the manual explains and grind the chisel. At the end verify it with a protractor, if it is out the angle master you have may be defective or not in within the parameters. I got mine set it for 250 wheel diameter and set it on a flat surface and measured the angle and I got approximately the same reading as you did.

Thanks,
Ionut

Hi Ken,

I don't really see the issue here. Differences of opinions between responsible and serious people always lead to good things.

Ionut

Hi Steve,

I use a big plastic bowl with enough mineral spirit, I take the wheel off and soak it in the bowl and use a plastic brush to clean the wheel. From time to time using a metal rod I roll the wheel on some paper towels or shop towels leaning on the wheel to allow the mess to come out and then I soak it and scrub it again in the mineral spirit. I repeat this process until the whole mess is removed and  I can see the brown color of the leather. It will never get to look light orange as it was when new but it will get pretty light brown when is dry. After washing it with mineral oil move to the sink and wash it thoroughly with hot water and dish detergent until the leather is not slippery anymore. Then let it dry over night.
That's what I've done a couple of times while playing with different honing compounds and it worked fine for me. You only have to do it if you got it over oiled or like me I was trying all kinds of mess on it. Be careful do not use other solvents like Lacquer thinner or Xylene, they will dissolve the plastic.
"I am just a lowly cook"...

Ionut

What exactly do you mean by "washing" in mineral spirits? I used 3 in 1 on my big wheel and honing oil on the profile wheel. Honing oil is better.
Steve

Steve,

I was referring to a cleaning alternative for the wheel in case it got over oiled, as a response to the previous two posts.
I use honing oil too, is thin and works perfectly, I have tried the pharmacy mineral oil but I find it too thick and until I've tried it I didn't understand how a wheel can get over oiled. Being thicker it is easier to over oil the wheel as the leather does not absorb it fast enough and by the time you think is enough it is already too much.

Ionut

As I said in a different post before, besides the scrapping method I have found that washing thoroughly the wheel in mineral spirits, and then with warm water and dish detergent and letting it dry for a day will bring the wheel to close to a new condition.
I have used this method with my second wheel while experimenting with different home made honing compounds. It is faster as it does not have to be repeated so many time and it is easier on the leather and of course more effective.

Ionut

Hi Patrick,

You shouldn't worry because the rust spots are only on the surface of the stone, also the surface being wider you would not be able to press so hard to remove a lot of stone. Besides, the manual suggests flattening the tools on side of the stone which I personally completely disagree with, but for that particular case the only means to restore or prepare the side surface of the stone is the stone grader. Scrubbing may be ineffective and I wouldn't get a wire brush close to it, but again that is me. The rust spots are only on the surface so it is just a matter of cleaning the surface of the stone, I don;t believe you will affect the grinding surface of the stone by using the grader on the sides, unless you do it much to often.
You are saying that your guides are rusty too, what worries me is the fact that all the critical T7 parts, shaft, nuts, universal support, are supposed to be stainless steel, they should get oxidised that badly, most of the different guides are from aluminum casting or machined so they shouldn't be a major issue from the point of view of oxidation.
It is weird because I don't clean much the machines I have, I just use them, I leave the water in the trough sometimes until it evaporates if I don't have anything to sharpen for a long time, which doesn't really happens, but I still didn't experience any rust on all these components.
Yes I was suggesting to add the grader as an option to the pool.

Ionut