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Martin,

A little directed practice should have you sharpening like a champ.  Draw an angle of about seven degrees on a piece of paper.  Get a dowel that fits in your scallops.  (Quarter inch should do the trick)  Add one piece of about 400 grit wet or dry sandpaper.  Tape it to the dowel at each end.

You can begin by getting a feel for the dowel without the sandpaper. Hold the dowel at the angle you have drawn. Use the sandpaper dowel like a file.  Once the motion seems natural, add the sandpaper. 

Work slowly.  There is no rush.  Very soon, your bread knife will be very sharp, and you will have added to your skill base.

Keep us posted.

Ken

Rob,  my Yankee screwdriver which only tightens is not broken.  It is old enough that it predates the models which work in both directions.  Also, neither of my oldies have return springs.  I suspect they date from either the thirties or forties.

I don't use big screws much anymore either.  Once in a while, and the impact driver is nice to have in ready reserve.

I wouldn't worry about being off topic, especially in handtools.  There is no overabundance of "on topic" posts being crowded out.

I do enjoy the old Yankee tools.  (In the interest of international good will, I am also partial to my Black and Decker carpenter's mallet I bought in a hardware store in London forty years ago.)

Ken

Interesting video, Justin.

Ken

Jeff, I'm sure the F Dick tools are professional quality.  A quick google search shows them starting at about two grand.  That kind of money would buy a T7, a Baldor dry grinder and a nice belt grinder.

Look at the Multitool on the sharptoolsusa site.  Mounted on a good dry grinder, it should do the job at a much more hobby compatible price. 

Ken

Good thought, Mike.  Actually, I did snap off a three inch screw.  I thought I would try using one longer one.  My pre-drill bit must not have been long enough.

I purchased a combination kit with the impact driver and a hammer drill.  The hammer drill has a clutch.

For many years I used a Makita 9.6 drill driver.  It gave trooper service.  the old ni-cad batteries were dying, and replacement batteries required a replacement charger.  It didn't have the power of the 18 volt Dewalt drill which replaced it.  However, the compact size was quite nice.

My forty year old Stanley level still gives trooper service as well.  I would not be without it.

Ken

Rob,

I have used the middle size Yankees for decades.  In fact, the older of the two only tightens.  Both are North Bros. tools which have been in the family longer than I have been.  I found they work much better with Phillips heads, although I believe the robertson square heads would work even better.

Lee Valley sells a nice selection of bits for them at reasonable prices.  They also sell adaptors to adapt standard quarter inch hex tips.

In recent years I picked up the small and large sizes on ebay.  I haven't really used them.

I did use the middle size Yankees to install the Closetmaid shelving in my former house.  The extra labor and time with them seemed a good trade to the increased risk of camming out with my drill driver.

The Yankees have decades of memories.  The new kid impact driver will probably see most of my future work.

Ken

ps A "five in one" tool works great for paint, although a screwdriver gets the job done when the 5 in 1 is AWOL.

This may be heresy, so I hope the Norse God of Sharpening, Thormek, will not strike me dead:

I remember a post several years ago where the guy took the wheel from his dry grinder and put it on his Tormek.  As I recall, he ran it wet.  He claimed very good results.  I wondered what the results would have been if instead of the cheap wheel from his dry grinder he had used a Norton 3X 46 grit eight inch diameter wheel.

I have not tried this.  It would require some spacers to match the two inch thickness of the Tormek wheel.  Nylon spacers or washers might work.

The coarse grit of this combination might be dangerous.  I don't recommend it, and I especially don't recommend beginning with the stone revolving into the blade.

anonymous

Martin,

Welcome to the forum.  I found an older post, which I revived.  I'm not computer savvy enough to quote it in your post.  Look at nearby posts.

Ken

This post and answers should help you.  Several methods are suggested.  I am modestly partial toward my suggestion, as it is how I sharpened my scalloped bread knife.  It worked very well, although the actual sharpening took longer, perhaps ten minutes.

Ken

I have several JA Henckels serrated edge knives that are no longer sharp.  Basically they are now trash, unless I can convert them to straight edge.

I recently purchased a T-7 and in the past few hours sharpened evey knife I own to razor sharpness!  I started with an old kitchen knife that would not cut a thing and it can now slice anything paper thin. Next on the list are my wood working chisels.  The machine is simply amazing! 

Has anyone converted a serrated edge knive to a straight edge?  If so did it work and how well?

Thanks in advance
-Eric

I am in the process of rehabbing my closets.  I really like the versatility of Closetmaid adjustable shelving.

In the past, I have hung the vertical supports using a level.  Since the move last year, I am now starting with the horizontal support bars.  That lets me place the vertical supports without being so dependent upon screwing them into a stud.

I finally purchased a twelve bolt impact driver.  What a tool!  No more aerobic exercises with a screwdriver.  I have an older drill driver, but never liked worrying about camming out the screw.  The impact driver does a much better job.

As a homeowner, I appreciate the smaller, lighter size of the twelve volt tools. The new llithium batteries seem much improved over the old ni-cads.

I purchased a close out.  The company (Milwaukee) has redesigned the tools with improved brushless motors.  Ideally, I would have purchased the improved models.  However, for my use, last year's tradesman models are more than sufficient.  I don't predict much use for my longtime favorite Yankee screwdrivers in the future.

Ken

I second Rob's thoughts.  Keep posting, Elden.

Ken

Trevor,

Welcome to the forum.  You post a very good question.  When considering whether to choose a T7 or T3, it is important to factor in the cost of the stone grader and diamond wheel dresser. These are included in the initial cost of the T7.  They are not with the T3.  They are really not "optional extras".  The necessity of occasionally truing the wheel or removing glazing is just a fact of life with grinding.  It would be possible to get by without a stone grader.  However, not being able to switch stone grits with the Tormek would necessitate purchasing another form of finer grit abrasive. 

For a hobbyist woodworker sharpening planes and chisels, I'm sure the T3 would be a good machine. Adding in the cost of the diamond dresser and stone grader, I'm not convinced it is really a better bargain.

I would not use a Tormek alone for making knives. My first suggestion for you would be to purchase a copy of Ron Hock's sharpening book.  Do a google on "Ron Hock".  Ron has a very informative website.  I consider his book a must have part of every sharpener's library.  While you are at it, look into Leonard Lee's book and DVD, as well at Tom Lie-Nielsen's book.

We don't expect to turn with only one chisel.  We don't expect one hammer to do it all.  Even a highly tuned jack plane with multiple blades is no real substitute for individual tools.  We should not expect the Tormek to be the tool for all seasons.  It's great for many kinds of sharpening and minor shaping.  Expecting it to handle major shaping on a regular basis is like expecting your car to haul lumber.

Joel Moskowitz has written an excellent article on using a dry grinder more effectively.  You should be able to find it with a google or on the Fine Woodworking site.  I use a very coarse Norton 3X wheel on my old dry grinder.  I once had to remove decades of mushrooming on some wood splitting wedges.  With the mass of metal as a heat synch, I wasn't worried about overheating the metal.  The coarse stone did the job in very acceptable time.  If I did not have the Tormek, I would also dress the wheel with a crown (instead of flat) as recommended in the article.

For knife shaping and hollow grinding, I would use a belt grinder.  Mine is an old Dayton factory grinder which I found in need of TLC for $25.  For a nicer version, check out the Multitool on sharptoolsusa.

Do keep us posted.

Ken

This post brings up a couple side issues: 

While the Tormek removes much of the hard manual labor of sharpening, having good working conditions is very important.  Having the machine at a comfortable working height is critical to long term success.  I have found the same thing when using kitchen knives as well as when sharpening them.  Find a comfortable height and keep your Tormek there.

Another overlooked important issue is working in good light.  I had a lot of difficulty using the anglemaster gage until I set up my Tormek outside one day.  (I was working out of a temporary garage shop at the time.) The proper light made all the difference.

I fully intended to sharpen my jointer blades (4").  A local repair shop replaced the bearings, and while there, had the blades sharpened.  So, I have not gone the route of the marathon jointer blade sharpening.  for those of you who have gone that way and had problems, did you change out the water during the operation?  I have been amazed with the amount of swarf generated by sharpening just a couple chisels, and the amount of steel clinging onto the magnet.  Clean water couldn't hurt, and it might keep the stone cleaner and working better.

Ken

Sorry, "spidered" isn't part of my vocabulary.  I guess my last millennium roots are showing.  Three thousand hits on  three year old posts does not seem unusual to me.  The one post was about a guy trying to save some money by buying a less expensive Grizzly base to go with his Tormek accessories. I suspect there are many, even many on this forum, who considered going the less expensive route.

The other post concerned the Tormek being slow, another popular topic.  I think this post would be interesting to revive, as it seems to have merit. 

I wonder what happened to the initial poster who had purchased all the stuff, but no machine.  I suspect he has moved onto buying other things to store in his basement.  I feel sorry for him; I don't think he will ever experience the joy of creating a really sharp edge or creating anything except credit charges.

Ken

While becoming familiar with my DBS-22 (drill bit jig), I used both stones.  My unscientific opinion is that the Tormek is essentially designed for the original SG general purpose wheel.  I did not notice a difference between the SG and SB on a 3/8" drill bit.  Both did fine.  I might feel differently with larger bits or more of them.

Since I have both, I would use the SB stone for high speed steel drill bits, planer/ jointer blades and turning tools.  If I only had the SG, I would use it for everything and not worry about it.  While it may not be specifically designed or harder steels, it does a very adequate job. 

Ken