Messages

Good post, Jeff.  Would it be possible (practical?) to do the entire operation with a well maintained roughing gouge?

Ken

David,

This is probably an unusual sharpening recommendation.  I do most of the chopping part of the food prep at home, and my wife does the stove work.  I'm no professionally trained chef.  However, I do find it enjoyable using good (and sharp) knives on a daily basis.  Over the years I have also spent a lot of time using dull knives, so I appreciate the difference.  I believe the daily hands on use of knives adds another dimension to understanding how and why to sharpen them.

A side benefit is my chopping lessens the cooking workload for my wife, so I eat better.

I hope you enjoy the journey from being new to everything with your new Tormek to becoming an old hand.  You will have to learn some things through trial and error, but having a fine and versatile tool will help.  I believe this forum can also be beneficial.

May your journey be as fulfilling as the destination.

Ken

ps to Keith,

Welcome to the forum.

Ken

Keith,

Your idea would indeed be a quicker way.  However, I was not thinking of a "few days" time interval.  I suspect most of us, including me, often go much longer between sharpening sessions.

Ken

Welcome, David.  Sorry that I can't answer your question (I don't have the SJ stone...at least not yet).    Questions are not stupid.  They  reflect inexperience.  That's something we all have to varying degrees, and (hopefully) it lessens with time.

Do watch Jeff's knife video, and be careful with the coarse stone.  There is an old story about grinding wheels making chef's knives into paring knives.  We recently saw on this forum that the coarse Tormek stone can turn a Swiss Army knife into a pen knife.  A sharp pen knife, but still a smaller blade.

Careful and regular practice will carry the day.

Ken

Thanks for the replies, guys.  Just out of curiosity, has anyone tried shaping turning tools with the SB grinding wheel?

Ken

Good post, Robert.  Just curious, but did you frequently dress the wheel with the diamond tool?

I happen to have a dry grinder.  It's a six inch (high speed) Sears I bought almost forty years ago.  Replacing one of the wheels with a Norton 3X 46 grit stone really improved performance.  With a light touch, the stone is very controllable.  With a little more pressure, it cuts very quickly. Of course, it isn't as cool cutting as the Tormek, but the coarse grit 3X stone is both faster and cooler than the standard stones.  I think it's well worth the cost.

Ken

Good idea, Gipper.  (at least in theory.....and theory does work sometimes)  I have been kicking around the idea of using the TTS-100 to set standard wheel distances for regular chisels and planes. I placed a piece of white tape inside one of the slots and marked the distances needed for different bevel angles.  I like your 10 mm spacer idea, less chance of measuring error.

I don't expect every idea to work, but I do believe these ideas are a way to push back the frontier of knowledge.

Keep up the experimentation.

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

Hi, Gipper,

I had the same thought and also purchased a second universal support bar.  I believe the idea has merit.  The theory seems sound. 

I suspect in the real world, we will eventually switch to doing most of our honing freehand.  The image of removing the training wheels from my grandson's bicycle comes to mind.  Until that time, however, consistent honing should help develop a good sense of what really sharp is.  I'm sure we will both find other uses for the second USB.

Ken

Elizabeth,

Your frustrations with using the Tormek remind me of going through the same process with a mat cutter.  I have done black and white photography most of my life.  After a number of frustrating experiences with framing shops, I finally bought a C&H mat cutter.  It cost as much as a Tormek today, and this was twenty years ago!  It's a fine, professional machine.  I could not get good results with it for several months.

By the six month mark, I had developed a good technique with it.  I combined my hobby interest with machine tool layout with mat cutting.  After that, I was able to cut mats with far more precision than the average pro shop.  Not only more precise, but quickly as well.  The most fascinating thing was that after all the struggle, I reached a level where solutions to special matting applications came very quickly.

Do not become discouraged with using your Tormek.  You are correct; the instructions are often sketchy at best.  This situation is slowly improving. Jeff's turning DVD is very good instruction.  Tormek's latest effort with Alan Holtham and the DBS-22 drill grinding jig is also very informative.  I hope Tormek will follow through with some better instruction of the basics.  I have good reason to believe they will.

Your initial speed bumps will help to build a foundation of good experience.  None of us come out of the womb knowing how to sharpen.

Here are a few specific thoughts:

Spend time getting the most basic things right.  Jeff's "LEARN" is right on.  Herman's suggestion about starting with a basic chisel is excellent.  When you can produce a razor edge on a chisel, and are able to easily repeat the process, you will have become proficient with setting up your machine and truing the wheel.  Your hands will start to feel the sharpening process.

When you can do that, try working on your half inch spindle gouge.  Don't even look at your other turning tools until you can sharpen your basic tool well and repeatably.  Build on a solid foundation.  Your confidence and pride will grow.

Keep your stone refreshed often with the coarse side of the grading stone.  Also, you can get the best coarse surface by using the diamond truing tool.  Use it lightly and often to refresh the edge when you are shaping.

  Enjoy the journey. Learn from your journey. You will win Zamora.

Ken   

After about six months   

Gipper,

These are only my thoughts and opinions, with no research to support them.  I believe every craft has its myths and legends.  They usually have an original foundation of truth, but often can become distorted in the dreams of enthusiastic hobbyists.  These myths often revolve around the volume of work we hope to produce.

Before I bought my Tormek, I spend a lot of time modifying my Omnijig (dovetail router jig).  The old myth there was about the guys who "make forty drawers in an hour".  Impressive.  However, in the real home shop world, few of us have made more than forty drawers over a lifetime.

The turning myth goes back to the bodgers.  They were itinerant turners who worked outside in England a century or more ago.  They turned out thousands of parts for chairs.  (Just like today's trim carpenters who "leave the nail holes for the painter", the bodgers did not finish the chair rungs.)

Jeff makes an excellent case for more finished edges.  Would we rather spend our time making our turning tools razor sharp or smoothing the turned pieces because of ragged edges?

To Gipper and Jeff: Excellent posts.  Let's shed the light of day on some of these old myths and move forward.

Ken 

I recently had an experienced furniture-maker and turner tell me that "turning tools" needn't be sharpened more than with a 60 to 80 grit stone.  Other opinions appreciated.  Gipper

Gipper, I have heard the same thing from another expert (who teaches turning).  I would suggest trying both ways with some practice turning.......My gut tells me sharpen is better, or should at least stay sharp longer.  Give it a try.

Ken

Elizabeth,

Welcome to the forum.  There is an old Spanish proverb:  "No se ganó Zamora en una hora."  (Zamora was not won in an hour.  The battle of Zamora, I believe in 1492, was the last Moorish stronghold in Spain.)

Give yourself the luxury of a much of a much longer time period to learn sharpening and turning.  With regular work, you should be amazed in a year.  It is worth the effort.

Best wishes,

Ken

Brett and Herman,

I finally bought one of the Tormek covers.  It works well, although I suspect the old bath towel I was using before worked just as well.

Yes, Alan's Tormek did seem to "field strip" very easily.  Probably by the seventeenth take, Alan could do it blindfolded.  It was likely stainless, and the wheel looked like it was almost new.  None of this detracts from the video.

I can see where Tormek might not want to show a video of Herman using a hammer (and perhaps some appropriate language) to remove a rusted shaft.

Removing the honing wheel is probably overkill.  I would prefer this to some of the horror stories of encrusted wheels.

When I changed my shaft, I found a 19mm box wrench was a better fit than 3/4".  I wish I had drawn a simple diagram of how the thing went together when I disassembled the shaft.  I was able to reassemble it, but only with an element of luck.

Ken