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I have a couple plastic handled "butt" chisels dating back to the late fifties.  They have a Fuller brand on the handle, and may have been made by Buck Brothers.  They certainly qualify as "garden variety" utility chisels.

I recently ground the bevel on one (1" width") to thirty degrees instead of the usual twenty five degrees.  (New Lie-Nielsen chisels come ground to thirty degrees.)

I have since used that chisel for a couple jobs which would scare off a finely tuned top drawer chisel.  The last job was removing some long dried caulk on a flat window surface.  I have also used it for some mild prying.  Sorry if I offend the purists on the forum.  We all have those jobs to do from time to time.

I was surprised how well the edge has held up.  With the old twenty five degree bevel, I'm sure i would have needed a regrind by now.  A gentle rehoning might be in order, but the edge is still very functional.

By the way, I only ground the first third of the old bevel to the new setting.  Butt chisels are short enough without overgrinding.

Any thoughts?

Ken

Hi, all.  Sometime in the last week my house was robbed.  Among the stolen items was my Tormek.

If anyone finds a nice used Tormek T7 for sale in the Columbus, Ohio area, please post it on the forum.  It has a blue cover, the EZY  lock shaft, but no water pan, wheel dresser, angle guide or instructions.  If anyone finds a Tormek like this at a pawn shop in the Columbus area, please notify the store owner that it may be stolen and post the name of the store.  The Columbus police department has a report on this, as well as some of my other Milwaukee and Porter Cable tools.

Thanks.

Ken 

This weekend I transported my Tormek to my new house (a hundred fifty mile trip)  I know it's overkill, however, I removed the grinding wheel prior to moving it.  The EZY Lock shaft made wheel removal a snap.  Removing the wheel made carrying the lightweight Tormek a pleasure.  Five stars for the EZY Lock.

Ken

I finally purchased a DVD and measured shop drawing of Norm Abram's Sharpening Station for the Tormek.  It seems a well designed cabinet for the Tormek and accessories.  (Jeff, does it have enough drawer space for the new extra wheels?)

Watching Jeff's demonstration, I had forgotten that the angle master is supposed to contact the wheel at two points, not just on the rounded part.  As I may not be the only dummy to overlook this, I am posting it.

Ken

Those of you who have read my past posts know I am a believer in starting with a simple chisel to become familiar with the Tormek.

Last weekend I repaired some dinette chairs.  Cleaning out some old broken tenon parts from mortises was the kind of job one would not do with a prize chisel.  This afternoon I resharpened those chisels.  My shop is presently in flux, so I set my Tormek on an old countertop sitting on two saw horses in the shaded front of my garage.  This sounds quite primitive, but the open shade daylight was excellent light and the day was comfortable.  The importance of really good light cannot be emphasized too much.  Before I tried setting up the Tormek outdoors, the angle master seemed very iffy and poorly designed to me.  I was amazed how much difference really good light made.

The first chisel was a one inch Fuller butt chisel. It  bears a remarkable resemblance to some of the off brands manufactured by Buck Brothers.  It is about fifty years old and has seen jobs a prize chisel wouldn't touch.  The blade length is barely long enough to work in the SE-76.

I carefully squared the chisel in the jig, and noticed the jig would not slide properly.  The problem was that I had inadvertently inserted the chisel backward.  (mdelgado, maybe this might have been part of your problem, too) 

Given the rough nature of this chisel's work, I decided to change the bevel angle from 25 to 30 degrees.  (New Lie-Nielsen chisels leave the factory with a 30 degree bevel.)  With the stone graded coarse, the new bevel was established in reasonable time.  Actually, due to the short length of the blade, I only ground the new bevel about halfway. I ground until the bevel not only looked good, but raised a burr the whole width of the blade.  I graded the stone fine and ground a little more.

Then some stropping with the leather honing wheel and some rust preventative spray.

The second chisel was a quarter inch crank neck Buck Brothers.  It is not as long as some of the patternmaker chisels, but is very useful.  The chisel was not really dull, but the edge was not quite square of straight.  The Tormek made quick work of it.

This afternoon reaffirmed my belief in the value of beginning with a chisel to become familiar with the operation of the Tormek.  I would repeat Herman's suggestion of beginning with a chisel which isn't too far away from being sharp.

I'm not completely sold yet on the leather honing wheel. Since Jeff uses is so successfully, I will leave the jury out for a while.  I am sold on the Tormek for grinding which never overheats the steel, and is easier on my hands than stones.

I would welcome your comments.

Ken

Does anyone have either the Lie-Nielsen or lee Valley drawbore pins?  My question is are they tapered concentrically or eccentrically?

Thanks,

Ken

Steve,
I put this note in woodworking because it does not pertain to the Tormek, but, I believe, may be of interest to you and other members of the forum.

Brian Burns sent me an email advising me of his new online video.  Here is the link:

http://www.planetarypegs.com/doublebevelsharpeninghirez_video_page.html

Brian is a luthier (guitar maker) who has devised a very good sharpening system.  As you mentioned you plan to attend a guitar making school, I thought Brian's ideas might interest you.  His system is clever, well thought through, and very well fitted to work like instrument building.  Essentially it is designed for mostly honing planes and chisels and adapting planes to the specialized woods used in instrument making. While it is not as versatile as the Tormek system (no knives, turning tools, planer blades, etc., it does seem very well suited for its purpose.

Enjoy.

Ken

I had an unusual situation this week.  The ends of my lawn mower blade were rubbing against the side of the mower.  I'm no expert mechanic.  I ground off a little over 1/8" from each end, put the mower back together, and it worked fine.

This only relates to this site because of the wheel on my grinder.  I use a Norton 3X 46 grit wheel.  It runs cool and cuts very quickly.  I don't use the dry grinder anymore for sharpening; that's the domain of the Tormek.  So, the general advice of an 80 grit wheel doesn't seem to fit. 

If I was going to shape turning tools with my dry grinder, The Norton 46 grit stone would seem (in my opinion) the ideal stone.  It would be very fast.  Used lightly, it should be controllable, also.

The original application for my choice of this wheel was grinding off the mushroom from a couple splitting wedges.  The gray wheel was slow.  The 3X 46 grit did the job quickly.

Comments?

Ken

My turning has been very occasional over the years.  Also, I purchased my two modern (high speed steel) gouges from the instructor at a week long class.  He had already reshaped them.

I realize the Tormek's strong area is sharpening rather than reshaping turning tools.  My question is how much longer does reshaping take with a Tormek versus a high speed dry grinder for the average tool?  And, how many turning tools would an average home shop need which require reshaping?  Built into this equation is the assumption that the Tormek wheel has been maintained at full efficiency with both the grading stone and the dressing tool.

For a one time operation like reshaping, does the real world time saved justify the cost of a second grinder, including the adaptor kit and an extra fifty dollars for a good stone?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Ken

I have never read any posts about a Tormek unit needing repair of just being "shot" from overuse.  The troubles seem to develop from carelessness and/or idleness.

Here in the upper midwest, it is standard operating procedure to "winterize" the lawnmower and run the gas out of the snowblower at the end of winter.

Good machinists always wipe their tools and gages with an oiled cloth before returning them to the drawers in their toolboxes.

Chefs clean and dry their knives before returning them to the slots in the wooden blocks.

Why do Tormek users leave their grindstones sitting in dirty water?  Why do we allow our honing wheels to become encrusted?  We clean our finish brushes, which cost a fraction of a Tormek grinding or honing wheel.  We clean our saw blades.  Why do we allow our Tormek units to get into such states of disrepair?

We are reluctant to use the stone grader for fear it will wear out our precious grinding wheels, the same wheels which sit in swarf water until the water evaporates, leaving a rusty shaft.  (Don't count on the stainless shafts not rusting in this environment; stainless will rust in the presence of rust....the metal particles floating in the water.)

Dumping the water trough and wiping it clean is such a simple and quick task.  We don't lubricate our oilstones with used crankcase oil.  Why do we soldier on with swarf laden water with the Tormek?

Watching Alan Holtham change the shaft on his Tormek made me realize how simple it would be to remove the honing wheel after use.  I believe the great forum debate about oiling or not oiling the leather wheel would not be an issue if the honing wheel was removed after use and placed in a ziplock bag.  Diamond paste users do this regularly.  Why not us?  I'm not talking about doing this before lunch.  How many times do our Tormeks go unused for long periods?  If we stored our honing wheels in the ziplock bags, dust and sawdust would not be a problem, and dried honing compound would certainly be much less of a problem.

For those who regularly move their Tormek about (mobile sharpening services or commuting to a shop), the EZYlock shaft makes removing the grinding wheel a snap.  In fact, for longer periods of storage, maybe we should routinely remove the wheels.  The shafts and "innerds" would stay very dry, and no tension would remain on the driveshaft bearings.

Lots of use, but no abuse.

Ken 

Three new youtubes with Alan Holtham have recently been added to the Tormek website.  They are well done and useful additions to the existing demos done by Jeff.  They are well worth your time.

Ken

I received a sample DVD from the Woodworkers Guild of America.  The EVE seems well done and informative.  The price is $12.95, which seems fair.  Future DVDs would be at "full price".  Shipping charges seem vague, as does the total cost.

Does anyone on the forum have any experience with WWGOA?

Thanks,

Ken

I touched up my Henckel bread knife with a ceramic rod, which helped.  I tried gently honing the back edge, which also helped.  I still was not satisfied.

I ordered a sheet of 3M 15m PSA micro abrasive.  I cut a couple inch wide strips and fastened one on a 3/8" dowel.  It worked well with the scalloped knife.  I wore out two strips sharpening the knife.

Ken

This past Saturday I spent a day in Holmes County, Ohio.  One of my favorite haunts is Keim Lumber in Charm.  Keim caters to local contractors and small shops in the area, which has significant a Amish and Mennonite population.  (Among other things they sell air powered routers.)

In their dealer display I saw a T3 for the first time. I was impressed with the smaller model.  I certainly don't regret purchasing my T7.  I like the larger diameter grinding wheel, the heavier duty motor and the metal housing.

However, for someone needing a wet grinder with space and weight constraints on on a very tight budget, the T3 looked like a good choice.  It would provide the Tormek "burn free" wet grinding; the much more comfortable grinding for older hands; and the Tormek quality and versatility in a smaller, lighter and less expensive package for home use.

Without the constraints, I would certainly opt for the T7.  In a more constrained environment I would favor the T3 over other choices.

Ken

I am curious about what the letters in the jig and accessory designations.  The numbers seem to be the largest size the jig will handle (in millimeters) or the length of the platform (tool rest).  The letters seem to make more sense in English than Swedish.  This surprises me.  Is there a chart explaining what the letters signify?

Ken

I recently grumbled about the lack of good instructions with the EZYlock shaft.  The instructions provided with the DBS-22 are much better.  In fact, the DBS-22 seems like a class act start to finish.

Ken

In the Woodworking post ("a note to Steve", Jeff made this comment regarding changing the grinding wheel from the general wheel to the 4000 grit wheel:

"If the diameters are different (and they are) you will have to readjust the Universal Support height, but there's no reason to make any adjustments to the jig."

I have been investigating the possibility of using the TTS-100 for setting the height of the universal support bar when sharpening chisels and planes.  Its two point design automatically self corrects for wheel diameter differences.  When using just one wheel, this seemed overkill.  However, it might simplify switching back and forth between different grit (and diameter) wheels, and also with the honing wheel.

Here is how the procedure works"

1)  Using the TTS=100, set the universal support bar to the lower setting (the thirty degree setting).

2)  Set the length of the tool projection from the SE-76 to the correct angle, using either the Angle Master or black marker.  Note this length and make a gage block or cardboard marker.

3) After switching grinding wheels, set the new wheel with the TTS-100 just as you set the first wheel.  The two point alignment system should automatically realign the tool at the original projection length.

Ken

Steve,

Leonard Lee's Sharpening book has a very informative chapter on chisels, both Western and Japanese.

IMHO, it should be part of a sharpener's reference library.

Ken

My faithful old Henckel knives are very sharp.  Unfortunately I am talking about the backs of the knives.  They have sharp "ninety degree bevels".  I suspect they would make good (but very expensive) hookless scrapers.  Unfortunately, they are also uncomfortable on my hands.

I have thought about softening the edges with a mild radius, much like is often done to turning skews.

Do any of you have any experience with this situation?

Thanks.

Ken

I like Dan's idea of sharing useful items with the forum.  In that spirit, I will add a favorite, one which many of you might not be familiar with.

The product is called "mesh sleeving".  It is available from Reid Supply (reidsupply.com).  It is available in eight different diameters, each size being a different color.  it is sold by the foot and is quite reasonably priced.

I first encountered it being used to insulate bonding (grounding) material for telephone cable.  I found the scraps were very useful to protect things like router bits, threaded components and things with sharp edges like chisels.  The weaving allows ventilation, visibility and protection.  I also use it to protect my files.  It just slides on and protects my Nicholsons from the abrasive world whlle in toolboxes.

Three feet of each of the four smaller sizes should set one back less than ten bucks.

Reid is also a useful place for all sorts of jigmaking materials, knobs, wheels, drill bits, etc.

Ken