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I've been sharpening a few Victorianox blades recently that are very thin (0.6mm behind the edge).  I would normally use 15 or 20dps but I've been disappointed with the sharpness I've been achieving.  It could be that I need to optimise my honing more, but I was wondering also if such a thin blade would be better suited to a narrower edge (10-12 dps)?  Maybe there isn't enough 'room' for 20dps?

Thanks in advance for any advice...

Hi Paul,

Regarding measuring, I have a jar that holds 250 mL that I've labelled up, and a small plastic cup that I marked with a 10mL line.  When I need more ACC I simply fill up the jar with tap water, fill the plastic cup to the line and combine the two...

For recovering ACC, I find if I pour from the inside corner of the plastic trough it is very reliable.  I've never spilled a drop (until the next time I try, now that I've said that out loud .  When I finish sharpening I pour my diluted ACC back into the jar (sediment and all), and next time I sharpen I decant the clear solution off the top, leaving the sludge in the jar. 

I replace my diluted ACC either when there is too much sludge in the jar, or if I've left it too long (usually 2+ days without use) it develops a film on top (see photo where the film is just starting).  There is probably some antimicrobial agent that could be added to prolong the life of the diluted ACC, but I've not looked into that yet...   

I do find I lose ACC over time - it's not a perfect recovery... As I draw the knife across the top of the Tormek some lands on the housing and doesn't go back into the tray, and also when changing diamond wheels.  I'm too impatient to wait for all the solution to drip off the stones...

Wow - I'm happy to see this thread!  I looked around locally (in the UK) and couldn't find any so spoke to a cardboard supplier that I know...  Minimum order would have been 2500 units!  These options will be great for me, even when adding in charges for overseas shipping/duty... 

A separate but related issue here in the UK is that all couriers seem to list knives as banned items for shipping... So if they find them in their network they will be confiscated. But there are several sharpeners here offering postal service, and it's also possible to buy knives online and have them delivered...  So I'm not sure if that means couriers just turn a blind eye, or whether there are exceptions for professional services.  But it's one of those things that if I ask about it that might trigger a policy review and game over for all. So for now I just deal with sharpening for local customers.

Hi Ken,

Thank you for sharing this news directly from Tormek.  I bought my US-430 in June this year (in the UK), but who knows how long it's been sitting in a warehouse...  As Micha says, easy enough to fix, but a bit out of character for Tormek to let something like this past their QC...

Interesting that this same issue is on other US-430s...  I'm surprised Tormek haven't picked this up yet.

I love that knife rest by Herman - will have to make myself one soon. 

I tried with the long knife jig and managed 24.7dps... Wide for a slicer but created a decent edge - 170 BESS. 

Thank you cbwx34 - I'm going to try that freehand technique on another knife and if my hands are steady enough then I'll try it on this salmon knife.  I'd like to get it down around 15dps and sub-100 BESS, though I only have the standard Tormek honing paste for now so I don't hold hope of getting to silly BESS levels.

Thank you Mike... I do actually have the long knife jig, and if I just clamp the very edge (See photo) I can manage about 24dps without grinding the jig too...  I'll try that and see how it goes sharpness-wise.

I plan to round the corners off on my SG250 since I mainly use diamond stones these days... But looking forward to when I get my PPC.

Best,

Brad

Good to know, thank you JosuV.  I will keep an eye on that section for rust...

Hi All,

I thought to share an issue I had with my US-430 extended support. The welds holding the horizontal bar to the supports weren't very tidy, and the blobs sticking out interfere with passage of the knife jig if you're using it at a low angle. 

I should have taken a photo before I started grinding the excess weld off, but you can probably get the idea.  Anyone else have this issue, or was it bad luck for me? 

I've gone as close as I dare with my grinder, and will now finish it off on the DC-250.



 

Hi All,

A new one for me...  This is a salmon knife brought to me for sharpening and I've never done something so narrow before...  The blade looks to have been sharpened extensively to the point where it's now very thin, and combined with its length makes this tricky to set up...  The only way I can think to get a grip on it is with the SVM-00 as per my photo... But it is probably going to flex when I get out towards the tip.  I could possibly grip directly on the blade if I went for a very high angle (>25 dps) but I don't think that edge would suit its intended use...  And with the curved heel I'm wishing I already had my PPC.  Any ideas on how to tackle this would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks and all the best,

Brad

Hi All,

Thank you for the replies and I'm glad it can work with wood - I was thinking metal would be necessary.  The wood I've used is probably just too soft as it's just a scrap of pressure-treated 2x4 that I happened to have already cut at the right size.  I can't seem to load a photo of my setup as the file size is too large...

Hi All,

I have an BGM100 mounted for use on my grinder but initially it sat a bit too low and so is set on a block of wood. Unfortunately the wood seems to flex a bit which spoils precision and gives away some of the advantage of having the BGM.  Are there any pre-fab solid blocks available for boosting the height of the BGM, or does it need some DIY engineering?  It would be useful to have such a thing for the XB100 as well, to use for paper wheel honing...

Thanks in advance.

B

Hi All,

This is perhaps a silly question and could only really get asked amongst Tormek junkies. The question came to me because I realised after using the stone grader and then grinding a knife the stone is wearing away, and so presumably the grit is changing.  If graded to 250 then presumably the grit goes up, and if you've graded to 1000 the grit would go down.  Presumably then if one kept going for long enough in those two situation the stone would eventually reach some sort of equilibrium.  I'm sure it depends on what is being ground by the stone, but lets say for a stainless steel knife, where would the settling point be? 

All the best,

Brad

Just came across this 7 YO thread and I was wondering if anyone has tried clipper blades now that Tormek has released diamond wheels?  I've not tried sharpening clippers before but seems to me that it would work on the side of a diamond wheel...

Thanks!

Side note as I can't answer the question, but I'd really like a paper wheel setup like that but can't find any slow/medium speed grinders in the UK...  If anyone knows a source apart from $150 shipping charges from US I'd be grateful...  B