Messages

What happens to me, when I change the grinding wheels,is that sometimes the water tank of the T8 falls over and everything is covered with water. This always happens at an inconvenient time. The water tray is fall-prone, due to its shape.

So I made a stand from some leftover plywood, on which I slide the water basin. Now it can't fall over anymore.
I slide the water basin between the two guiding laths towards the bolts (6mm). There it slides in line with the T8 itself.

I finished the plywood with Danish oil, because water and wood are not friends.

It works simply. Important is the dimension distance between the bolts (180mm) and the height of the bolts above the bottom plate (5mm)

Thanks for this valuable addition Ken! Especially the addition about how far you should continue with honing. And there is definitely room for multiple techniques of sharpening planing chisels.

For a Tormek sharpener, it is important to ask what phase the planer is being used for. If that is unclear, then phase 2 is a good middle ground.
Phase 3 is nowadays - as Ken wrote - taken over by sanding.

I don't know if it's the same in the US, but here in the Netherlands the chisels for phase 1 don't have a chipbreaker?

I am surprised how many knives I have to sharpen do very damaged. Then it's a new customer. So far with me, restoring a damaged cut goes on a belt sander (stationary). The last part of the restoration process then goes on the Tormek.

You really don't want a hollow grind on a Japanese kanna blade (or Japanese chisel blades either...)  The blades of Japanese tools are made from two different types of steels...  there is a very hard steel that is brittle (the cutting edge...) laminated to a much thicker and softer iron...  the thicker iron keeps the more brittle cutting edge supported, and if you use a Tormek to hollow grind the bevel, you will be significantly reducing the thickness of the supporting iron...  mostly because of the thickness of the overall blade, and the length of the bevel...  (most of my kanna blades are around 25 deg. or so, and almost a half inch of bevel...)  Same goes for Japanese chisels... 

On western blades, the whole blade is the same type of steel, so hollow grinding isn't a problem...  but I would think that if and when you go to tap out the blade (which you will have to do at some point...) it's stressful enough to do it with the full support of the softer iron, but I would think that the possibility of cracking the hard steel would go up many times with a hollow grind...

Also, the main advantages of a hollow grind being to keep a narrower bevel "stable" when honing and not needing to hone as much steel on each sharpening pretty much go away with Japanese blades...  I've found that the wide bevel makes it very easy to keep the blade flat on the stones, and the softer iron hones so easily that they are much easier to sharpen on stones than western blades...

I use my Tormek all the time for western blades and knives...  but wouldn't touch one of my good kanna blades on it...

Also, no micro bevels or ruler trick bevels on the back on Japanese blades... 

Hope this helps...

JH

The plane iron but also the chisels of the Dutch brand 'Nooitgedagt' were also made of laminated steel until about 1950. I still use these chisels today. Grinding at, say, 25 degrees has never given me any problems.

It is true that the softer steel will grind away faster, but on the other hand the softer steel is also thicker. Theoretically it may be a difference, but in practice I don't notice it.

When I started in 1975 and worked with carpenters who were much older and also worked with the same chisels, I never heard that this was a real problem either.

The sharpening used to be done first on a large sandstone running in a large tank of water, just like Tormek. Then the chisel was honed on a 'Belgium Coticule'.

As a carpenter, I never use a micro-bevel.  For harder wood, 30 degrees is indeed a better angle, but then the whole chisel is sharpened at 30 degrees.

But if he wants to do that, then he also needs a honingguide, (for example from Veritas) to do it carefully. Sandpaper I don't think is a good option. Then use a fine whetstone. Myself use this one. Has been used for over 400 years in Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg. Barbers also use it for their razors.


https://www.knivesandtools.com/en/pt/-coticule-selected-150-x-50-mm-6-x-2.htm

Im old school and despite seeing someone far more experienced than me, im still not tempted to put my planes down on the bench that way! (But im guessing thats not what you are referring to!)

With me, the same is true.

51 years ago I was learning to be a carpenter and one of the first things you learned was: put the plane away on the side.  And after each planing stroke, lift the back and then pull the plane back.

But I also agree with content of the video.
We sharpened on a large spinning sandstone and then the chisel was honed on a Belgian whetstone (about 6000 grid). It was done that way here in the Netherlands for hundreds of years.

Planing by hand, has three phases:
1) the quick removal of a lot of wood
2) planing the wood straight, square and to size
3) after the piece is finished: smoothing it with the smoothingplane

For phase 1, you don't need a finely sharpened chisel. The wood is also dirty and any chisel is also soon blunted. The chisel is often slightly round.

For phase 2, you do need a well-sharpened chisel (e.g., 1000-2000 grid). More important in this phase is that the chisel is and stays straight and sharp! Sharpness is important, because you will encounter counter-rotating wood at knots, for example.  Only a sharp chisel, can handle this well. Not all wood is as nice and straight as Peter Sellers shows in his video!

For phase 3, the chisel must be purely straight and very sharp. The wood surface only needs to be smooth now. Only then is 3000 to 6000 grid important.

But phase 3 is now done with sandpaper. In the old days there was no sandpaper and that's why in the old days people actually needed a 6000 grid more than they do now. 15,000 is really excessive. I completely agree with Peter Sellers on that one.
Much more important than the fine grain of the whetstone is, regular honing.

It is not easy to find a square that you can use on a round stone. The easiest way to do this is to lay the stone flat on a table and place a square against the table and the stone. Then you can use any accurate (!) square, to get an exact 90 degree line on the surface of the stone.

Is this something like that?  (the smallest one)

https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/32975871450.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4d5jN4FO

[With a chisel, it is very important to keep the back of a chisel cleanly flat.]

As a carpenter, I now use the Tormek only for correcting the bevel of the chisel.  Sometimes a piece does snap out, or I have to sharpen the chisel to a different angle. When that's done I use a flat whetstone to remove the burr.
With a chisel, it is very important to keep the back of a chisel cleanly flat.  Deburring is therefore not possible with Tormek's round stones.  The bevel of the chisel can be done on the Tormek. This is similar to a knife.

But because you are always alternating both sides, this combination is not useful. The entire deburring process is therefore done on two flat whetstones.

Use a flat whetstone (2000 grid, diamond) and then a 6000 grid (as a Dutchman I use the famous Belgian whetstone from the Ardennes. But a Japanese stone can also be used). It is important that the stone remains flat.  So you must use the entire surface of the stone. Diamond whetstones always remain flat.

All carpenters in the Netherlands learned deburring by hand. That is difficult to explain. You hold the chisel still and the stone turns over the chisel. But it might be better to lay the stones flat on the workbench. Paul Sellers does have a good video on that about sharpening chisels (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6ykVzL2VAM&ab_channel=PaulSellers)

I don't use a micro bevel. That encourages inaccurate sharpening. I do regularly sharpen on the whetstone.
My chisels are always quick (razor)sharp with this method of sharpening.

(I hope the translation is readable)

Hello,
I have made a measuring block for the correct measurement of a knife, in combination with the Tormek SVM-45.
I refer to the one used by Wootz for its use and function.

It is made of 18 mm birch plywood. The essence is that I mounted two measuring rulers, so you don't have to scrape a rabbet. from the top sliding block, or from the bottom plate, where the measuring ruler lies.

On the upper block I have mounted two aluminum strips, so that this block is nicely parallel and therefore excact 90 degrees. With a bolt and nut the block is tightened.

I made it myself from leftover pieces, but it is easier to have everything cut to size in one go with a circular saw. That is more accurate and faster if you have no experience with woodworking.

I hope my translation is clear.

I have adjusted the pictures to a 1024 x 960.
This is better. 

Thank you very much!

Hi Mike

The nut I carved into the wood. That does take some skill. You can see it slightly in photo 3, directly to the left of the black rotary screw on the Tormek XB 100.
(Unfortunately, the holes are just not covered by the Tormek XB 100)

You can also take a (slightly recessed) carriage bolt.

(Hm, when I click on the picture it enlarges enormously, how can I fix this?)

As a new Tormek grinder, I have already learned a lot through this forum and through Knife Grinder and Schleifjunkies.

As a woodworker, I made the 'Frontal Vertical Base ' (FVB) partly out of wood. It worked very good, and I want to share that with you.
See the photos and the sketch.  Here are some remarks about the making:

1) It is important to use wood of dense composition with annual rings (quartersawing), that are close together and that is dry (photo 2). I myself have chosen maple. But beech, or oak can all be used as well.

2) It is important to be able to plane and drill to an accuracy of 0.5mm. For planing you better use a piece of wood twice the length (about 300mm). That planes more accurately. It is also important to plane the wood at right angles (90 degrees) and to plane it at the same thickness.

3) The measurements I used are on the drawing (photo 4). The sizes that are double underlined are important. The other sizes may vary slightly.

4) The measurements must all be plotted from the right angle and also from the center of that right angle.

5) Very important is that the 16mm from the right angle, for the 12mm holes, is completely parallel to this right angle.

6) For drilling, use a pillar drill. I pre-drilled the 12mm holes first with a 2mm drill bit.

7) Because of the water usage with the Tormek, I finished the wood with 3 coats of Danish oil.

8 ) On the front I screwed the Tormek XB-100 Horizontal Base from Tormek (photo 3). It is important that the top of this XB-100 is exactly flush with the top of the wood. I personally chose to place this XB 100, 1mm higher, because I want to measure from the XB-100 and not fromt the wood, if necessary.

I have only named the essential points of interest. You could also have a woodworker plane the wood to exact dimensions.
(28mm x 53mm, length: 300mm).

Good luck in making it and I hope the translation is clear.

Good tip

Thank you Ken,

This way I will fill my water tank with water and ACC. I start with the ratio as indicated by Tormek, because I cannot substantiate why a different ratio is just as good. 
But you consume a lot of ACC I notice, unless you leave the water longer (under the stone).

Wim