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I received a sharpening order with 11 knives (two cooks who got married!). Attaching knife jigs takes up a lot of table space. I pulled out my pliers organizers from my toolbox drawer to reduce the table sprawl.

The pictures speak for themselves; they work great! There are a few on the market; these are made by Ernst Manufacturing (www.ernstmfg.com), under "Plier Organizer". Apparently they just released a version in hi-visibility yellow! Retail is $15 USD.

I like the Ernst for a number of reasons:

1) The slots are wide enough for a SVM-45 to fit vertically.
2) Rubber feet prevents it from moving around.
3) Top of the base is also rubber coated, protecting knife edges.

I place all knives on one end; then, after a step (grinding, deburring, cleaning edge with odourless mineral spirits, etc) I then start racking them on the other end. I find that if I get interrupted (phone rings) it helps me remember which knives I have performed a certain step, and which knives still need to do that step.

I will be taking them tomorrow to my farmer's market booth.

Vadim talks about the CW-220 composite honing wheel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSDybo0KrzQ

The Tormek works because it's a tight tolerance machine. I know because I first tried a Tormek "copy". That bad experience actually caused me to shy away from Tormek for a couple of years!

I now have a T-7. It's great, but for my sharpening business, it's WAAAAAAY too slow.


Somewhat following Vadim's protocols, I am considering:


1) shaping the bevel/grind off nicks with my Viel S-5, at 30 degrees.
2) continuing on Tormek machine A with a 400 grit stone
3) setting apex on Tormek machine B with a 1000 grit stone
4) deburring on felt wheel on a half-speed buffer
5) de-rooting on Tormek machine C with a rock hard felt wheel


Such a proposed setup is of course faster, as I then don't have to keep changing three wheels. But 


will there be significant sharpening BESS score increase if three Tormeks are used?

Looks like Wootz is carrying some new products:

1) a 250mm x 50mm rock-hard felt wheel with diamond emulsion. Looks to be a bargain price, as I was quoted $55 USD for shipping from the US to Canada by another supplier.
2) a device that, "DISCLAIMER: This is not a Tormek part, and use has not been evaluated by Tormek. If your Tormek machine fails for whatever reason, telling that you used it with the "RPM increaser" may void the warranty.

Still no kangaroo strops. Perhaps Wootz should also start raising kangaroos? (Ok, just kidding).

Looks like Wootz (Vadim) has updated his Deburring Book to the 5th Edition:

http://knifegrinders.com.au/11Shop.htm

An article about the pros and cons of CBN versus diamond wheels by Vadim ("Wootz") just published in Australian Knife Magazine: http://knifegrinders.com.au/Manuals/CBN_AKMarticle.pdf