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[as long as you maintain yoursubscription]

My apologies. 

I had used and recommended to members of this forum to use Photobucket for third party hosting of images in forum posts.  Photobucket used to be free.  Now Photobucket has changed their policies and are demanding payment.  If you don't pay, all previously linked to images in forum posts are blocked.

I have many posts in this forum that are now ruined.

Photobucket's excuse?  From their website:

"Moving forward, new and legacy free account users will NOT have third party hosting available."

Additionally, it appears that even if you were a paying member but let your account lapse and don't continue paying indefinitely, your linked to images will be blocked:

"If you were a Plus Account subscriber in good standing as of June 1, 2017,
you will continue to have all the privileges you have enjoyed including 3rd
Party Hosting until December 31, 2018 as long as you maintain your
subscription."

Here is an example of what Photobucket has done.  I remember making that post and it took a considerable amount of time and effort.  Now ruined by Photobucket.  I posted this more than two years ago.  Now Photobucket is demanding a ransom payment???  Ironically it is a post I made attempting to assist fellow members on how to post images:

https://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=2342.msg11402#msg11402

And check this out:

https://www.dpreview.com/news/6875746538/photobucket-breaks-billions-of-photos-online-upsets-millions-of-users

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=photobucket+screwed&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=&as_occt=any&safe=images&as_filetype=&as_rights=

Herman, looks like your avatar is another victim of Photobucket. 

I used and recommend Photobucket to members of this forum, but no more.   Now forum posts that I had Photobucket linked images in have the images showing up as just a big message about upgrading.  Not happy about that way of going about it at all, and will not "upgrade" or use the service again. 

I've not thought of including a microscope into my sharpening routine.  Sounds like a worthwhile idea.

Question :  what magnification should I buy ?

I have a 200 X optical magnification USB microscope that I have found works well.  Look for the optical magnification spec. Ignore the digital magnification stuff.  It's meaningless. 

Here's a link to some images that I've taken with the microscope:
http://bessex.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=68&pid=510#pid510

Whatever you do with the slurry in the water trough, don't dump in down the drain.  The sludge goop is heavy will accumulate in traps and low areas of the drain pipes. 

I like to dump and clean the trough when I'm done sharpening.  If the water dries up the remaining crud can be very cement like and difficult to clean.  Nothing like a clean machine. 

Plus 1 for the BESS sharpness standard.

The first instrument that I purchased to help me to understand sharpening was a USB microscope.  There is nothing like being able to get a good look at the edge of a blade to see burrs and the scratch pattern of different abrasive grits. 

Then I got a PT50B (BESS) sharpness tester.  The two instruments combined are amazing.  If a blade is for some reason not testing as sharp as I think it should be or is super sharp for that matter, I can check it under the microscope and see why.  With the sharpness tester I not only know how sharp a blade is but can also put a standardized number on the level of sharpness that can be communicated to others.  With a microscope I can understand why.  Very cool stuff!

I'd love to have a nice tabletop SEM, but it would stress my discretionary income just a bit. 

Image file uploads directly to this web site are limited to:
4 per post, maximum total size 192KB, maximum individual size 128KB

That's pretty limiting.  You will not be able to take pictures directly from your camera no matter what the in camera settings are.  You will need to scale the image files to smaller dimensions in an image editing program.  If you search around there are free ones, but you could use Photoshop or whatever image editor you might have.

Most image editors have the ability to scale images by defining just one dimension, say the width, and the height will be automatically calculated for you.  There may be a setting to Keep Aspect Ratio or something similar.

Try scaling to 400 wide, (horizontal pixels), then save a JPG and see what the file size it.  640 x whatever is about as big as you ever need have on the forum to fit nicely in a post.

But, there is another way to post images, and that is to have them on Photobucket or some other hosting service such as Flickr etc., and then linking to them in your post.  I explain it in this post:

https://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=2342.msg11402#msg11402

Inexpensive $10.00 grocery store knives and even ones costing less can be a surprisingly good value!  One of the ones I got in that batch of knives for $6.83 was
https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/cuisinart-reg-classic-triple-rivet-5-inch-santoku-knife/1016093564

You know, it's really not a bad little knife.  A little light weight, but well built with a great rounded handle that is very comfortable to hold.  And, it takes a very sharp edge.  110g on a PT50B sharpness tester.

I don't know how great the steel is or how good the edge retention is, but for $9.99 who cares?  I'd actually recommend it for someone who wants a very usable, low cost Santoku knife.  I think its a deal.

The one I go to used to be $0.25 too, but in the last year or so it appears they have raised their prices!    Now small knives are $0.99 and larger ones are $1.99.  How dare they!!!

I've never seen Tormek make sloppy, out of spec parts.  They are much better machines than that.

If the shaft is not bent, then something is awry, or possible amiss, or maybe even askew!  I suppose it's possible that the wheel could be defective.  That happens even with the best of equipment, and if it is I'm sure Tormek will replace it.  Tormek always stands behind their machines. 

I know you have checked for the obvious, but obviously something is wrong.  That's a lot of wobble.  It sounds like the shaft is not bent, so, obviously, something is up with the wheel or the way it is seating on the shaft.

It will be interesting to hear what you discover.

I recently ran out of knives for testing and started having to use my regular knives.  So I went to my local thrift store and picked up a bunch of knives for a total of $6.83.

That little paring knife is currently available for $39.95:
https://www.jbprince.com/wusthof-german-cutlery/paring-knife-35-inch-Grand-Prix.asp

It's in excellent condition, it was just dull. Obviously it is no longer dull and is reborn and back into use in my kitchen. 

Gotta love thrift stores!

Doh!  Thanks for the heads up Ken.     Fixed! 

Beautician scissors are often both convex and radiused, and require specialized equipment to sharpen.  The Tormek does a great job on paper, kitchen and general purpose shears and scissors, but should not be used for beautician scissors if that is what you are talking about.

Ditto Jan's reply.  My blades always need more than just "refreshing". 

I just always hand wash and dry knives.  Harsh detergents and the heat cycle of a dishwasher are at least not beneficial, especially to handles.  If the handles are glued it can't do the glue any good either.  It's pretty simple to just avoid any possible issues.