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Topics - RodC

#1
I got a T-4 recently and have been using it to sharpen woodcarving chisels.  My T-4 has the SG-200 stone.  I am using the SVS-38 jig.  I am sharpening Pfeil flat woodcarving chisels (#1 x 18 mm).  It has been taking me a long time to sharpen a chisel - about 40 minutes or so.  Note that a woodcarving chisel has a double bevel - the same bevel on each side.  So you are doing twice the sharpening work when compared to a regular wood chisel.  After reading on the forum, I see that there is a learning curve and I am trying get the process right.

When I see the various videos demonstrating the Tormek sharpening process, I hardly see any swarf at all on the wheel.  In contrast here's what I see: First I clean the wheel of swarf if needed by using the coarse side of the stone grader for as long as it takes - a lot longer than the 30 seconds that the manual says - I probably take at least 60 seconds, applying heavy pressure.  Then I set the grinding angle using the magic marker method.  Next, I proceed to grind the bevel angle with the coarse grit.  The wheel almost immediately starts showing streaks of swarf.  These build up as I keep sharpening with the coarse grit.  It takes around 5 - 10 minutes per side to get the coarse sharpening done.  Is this normal?  Should I stop and periodically remove the swarf with the stone grader?  You are supposed to use the horizontal USB position with the SVS-38, but the recommendation is to use the vertical position for the stone grader - I guess to deliver more pressure onto the stone.  Does this matter?  I can't see moving the USB when in the middle of a sharpening session.

When I transition to fine sharpening, I use the stone grader long enough to remove the swarf - as already said, this is a lot longer than 30 seconds of heavy pressure.  The fine sharpening takes awhile, too - maybe 5 minutes per side, but I do not usually see any swarf on the stone during this step.

Note that I complete one face of the chisel, doing the coarse and fine sharpening, before removing it from the SVS-38 to do the opposite.  So I am using the stone grader 4 times per chisel.

I have tried some things to minimize the swarf problem, since I suspect that it is slowing down the sharpening process. I move the chisel across the stone when sharpening to try to use the whole stone and possibly distribute the swarf.  I try to keep the water reservoir clean.  I empty it when I am done sharpening and I clean it out when moving from coarse to fine sharpening.  These things may have helped some in reducing the time it takes to sharpen, but I still wonder what is going on and what I can do to improve things.

Any insights would be appreciated.