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Have to agree with Ken's post free'ish'hand sharpening with the Tormek is an essential skill and because it's a slow wheel actually pretty easy to achieve without much risk of chewing away a lot of expensive metal.

I often just use the guide bar set somewhere close even for bowl gouges (especially those that have been used so much they don't really fit the jigs anymore)

Negative rake scrapers are so easy to freehand just marker pen the end, move the guide bar so you get a comfortable standing position to the correct angle on the wheel, and touch the scraper to the wheel often to maintain the burr so much easier than setting it in a jig if you are doing it regularly you soon learn and it is literally a single pass of the blade on the wheel to maintain, rather than re-profiling which is when I would reach for the jig.

In woodturning time sharpening is non productive time, keep it short by doing it often.

There is a lot of ideas on saving the cost on this thread https://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=3906.msg26454#msg26454

I also agree, I don't use the 40/40 grind but the thing with woodturning is you need to sharpen often so quick repeatable and accurate are the watchwords. plus you really wouldn't know the difference between a 40/40 and a 39.5/42 when in use anyway, so get the basic profile that works both for you and for your jigs, then you won't be tempted to continue with a blunt tool rather than fussing around with jigs!

Those experienced with freehand sharpening may get an almost perfect angle on sharpening but it is only ever almost

I wouldn't leave my bike jacket in that dry heat for too long... would certainly not hurt to add an extra oil change for the wheels to keep the leather from drying out

That's weird as we literally get NO snow  . Only snow is on the summits and don't see a reason for clearing that. Any way sorry for hijacking your thread for a minute Rich.

Antz

That is to keep the states allocations fair, goes along with Colorado's coastal erosion defense fund a Alaska's drought reserves.

I did quite fancy a diamond wheel at one point, however I primarily maintain a sharp edge on HSS wood turning tools, and occasionally resharpen the kitchen knives, I don't sharpen things for other people or have a great range of things to work on, Very occasionally I will get a new tool and want to change it from a 45 degree to a 55 degree and will moan about the slowness of the standard wheel, but once done it stays as 55 forever, and it's back to polishing up to sharpness again.

I suggest making several spacers. You only need one, however, locating it can be frustrating. Also, they are a practical, inexpensive gift for Tormek friends.

Ken

keep pit next to your pencil's guaranteed to find it whenever you do not need it then

The only type of knife I have not sharpened on my T7 is ceramic, though if I had a blunt one I would expect it to work. Knife size can be an issue. I carry  2" blade Swiss army knife which I find hard to get in the jig, so I do that by hand.

Just wanted to say I wasn't trying to pass someone else's idea off as my own. I really did think of it at home in my garage. But apparently I was far from the first person to think of it. I'm new to tormek's. Great links and thanks for everyone's input.

Thanks
Antz

Ideas come to many of us, I suspect that 99% of the home made gadgets in my workshop exist in other workshops, I may have a go at the laser I do like lasers 

Hi Alf, I cant talk to the T4 to T8 specifically as I have the T7... but I am sure Ken will be along soon who can give good answers on that.

BUT Duty cycle I can talk on, it is standard for all machinery to have a duty cycle, this is often down to heat generated and the effects of that heat on the machine, a 50% duty cycle is pretty good for the type of machine it is, and more than adequate for your use, as if you are spending more than 50% of your time on sharpening that means you are spending less than 50% of your time woodturning which is not your intention.

People who just sharpen things all day long would possibly have an issue with it that is why bigger motors with more heat handling materials exist.

Under UK law, it is the retailer who needs to be responsible for claiming from the delivery company, they have an obligation to ensure it is in perfect condition when received, if not they would need to send a replacement arrange collection and make their claim. Much better for the consumer, and puts an obligation of careful packaging on the retailer.

I get where you are coming from Rich, and as a techy geek type I find playing with Raspberry Pi with a Linux install is quite fun.

But ant old TV or Monitor is a relatively high heat source, so is cooled by open vents which is not good in a wood work shop where dust is kind of the point 

Make a simple picture frame style bracket you can slide a tablet into fix it to the wall and connect to a 4.8v 2amp power supply via USB and you can't drop it... if your hands are greasy then spend $5 on a bluetooth keyboard charge the battery once a week or so and that problem is solved too.

Only problem left is you then can't have a 48" screen, but sub $100 10" tablets flood the second hand market or you can get this one which is brand new 11.6" for less than the Raspberry Pi alone https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2F12-MTK6737-Phablet-Competitive-Tablet-Computer-Support-TF-Card-Android-6-0/302984541595?hash=item468b49359b:m:m-CEA4CChjvnaq1a7uelabg

In this use the browser and internet connection are the key functions required so one of the problems may be in getting your Internet connection to the workshop. For this I would recommend a powerline connection as a prime way forward.

However I think I will just keep my computer near to the coffee machine in the kitchen, that way if I need to watch a YouTube video on how to make x joint work, I can enjoy a coffee while watching it 

...
Recently, there became available a very good, low cost option.  It uses :

• a Raspberry Pi, with
• Ubuntu MATE as the operating system.

Really fast performance, and cost me less than $100.
...

Thank you for this proposal.
Other suggestions apparently missed the price point.

Sorry, price point, second hand 10.1" unbranded Android tablet as listed today £4 or $4.99 and no need to buy / own monitor keyboard or mouse 

Not sure I would want a computer in the workshop, I have mine positioned in the house near the coffee machine and check it when getting coffee, so quite often.

However if I was to take computer out to the workshop, I think I would just go with an android tablet or ipad, slim and easy to mount on the wall, has a camera built in so you can take photo's of your work as well as use the internet, and not many places where dust will cause problems. Also one of the main reasons these end up in the second hand stores is battery problems, if it's in the workshop you will want the charger lead plugged in as it is one of the holes dust can get into, so no problem 

It should make quick work of gouge and skew reshaping.
Ken

Why would you be reshaping them? once shaped avoid nails and keep them the same shape... if you need a different shape buy another tool 

[BUT]

Ken, I was just getting a bit concerned that the bread in the UK was sub standard, and should have texture like rubber or leather thus requiring a higher level of sharpness 

But on that subject, sharpness is always to an appropriate level my skew chisel, or bowl gouge will require anyone touching them inappropriately to apply sticking plasters. BUT they are are not as sharp as my hand chisel's or carving chisels.

Simple mathematics says if I am turning  say an average of a 10" diameter bowl at 1000rpm I am looking to take about 15 yards a second in shavings, that would take me about a month to cut by hand, so therefore an appropriate amount of extra time will be put into the sharpening of hand tools... also if I was to aim to have such a razor edge on my lathe tools they would be too fine, and worn after a matter of seconds meaning I would spend too much time maintaining the edge, and not enough time reducing trees to sawdust and shavings, which is the principle use of sharp things in my world.