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#1
General Tormek Questions / Re: T-4 Limescale Cleaning
Last post by Dan - Today at 02:19:22 PMI haven't got any expereience with this on my T8 but limescale is easily removed by soaking in Acid.
Not sure if any of the parts you want to treat are OK to soak or not.
The time needed depends on the strength of the acid you may use and the amount of limescale.
Lemon Juice and vinegar all the way up to more potent treatments are available
https://www.dynapipe.co.uk/how-to-remove-limescale.htm
Not sure if any of the parts you want to treat are OK to soak or not.
The time needed depends on the strength of the acid you may use and the amount of limescale.
Lemon Juice and vinegar all the way up to more potent treatments are available
https://www.dynapipe.co.uk/how-to-remove-limescale.htm
#2
General Tormek Questions / Tormek Jigs?!
Last post by Alston - Today at 02:10:04 PMSomeone asked ChatGPT to generate this image of the full range of Tormek jigs.
I'm struggling to recognise most of them?
I'm struggling to recognise most of them?
#3
General Tormek Questions / T-4 Limescale Cleaning
Last post by bacallado - Today at 01:18:20 PMHi there to everyone. First post here and is asking for knowledge on how to get out of a messy situation.
My T-4 has been left to its own devices, used by not so careful employees and most importantly, and in hindsight, used with a very strong tap water containing lots of scale that has left an indelible mark in the machine. Now I wonder if people who lives in areas with such a type of water uses bottled water to avoid these issues?
When I started fixing the machine my first trouble was getting the SG-200 grindstone out, as the ezylock was completely stuck and no standard procedure or pliers would unstuck it. As it turns out, I had to end cutting the plastic ezylock with a saw just to realise it won't come off because the grindstone was stuck in the shaft, like if the stone itself has grown and the tolerance between stone and shaft doesn't exist anymore. Eventually and using moderate force brute, I managed to get the stone out.
As you can see in the pictures the stone has a lot of color variations due to, I assume, limescale buildup. I try to wash it with clean water but it won't go away.
-So my first question will be: what will be the best way to bring back the stone to an acceptable looking condition? Any known way to remove the limescale marks?
Moving onto the next issue, the machine head is also heavily affected by limescale probably beyond the possibility of bringing it back to the original state. The close ups look like remains of the titanic´s hull.
I disassembled as much as I could but information on how to remove the motor assembly from the head is scarce and I don't want to mess this. If anybody know how to take these two bits apart, it would be great so I can clean the head properly.
I can´t find any retailers that have the head part for replacement although it has part number in the parts diagram. That would be the best solution if the price makes sense.
-Otherwise, what you guys reckon would be the best way to make this part look better that this sad state is in? I tried a bit if vinegar and sponge, but as the motor assembly is so close to it, it doesnt make the best setup for a deep cleaning. Maybe submerging the entire part in a de-scaler product + sanding?
Please hit me up with ideas if you have ever experienced this problem with your machines!
Also, open to buy a machine head replacement if anyone has one laying around
My T-4 has been left to its own devices, used by not so careful employees and most importantly, and in hindsight, used with a very strong tap water containing lots of scale that has left an indelible mark in the machine. Now I wonder if people who lives in areas with such a type of water uses bottled water to avoid these issues?
When I started fixing the machine my first trouble was getting the SG-200 grindstone out, as the ezylock was completely stuck and no standard procedure or pliers would unstuck it. As it turns out, I had to end cutting the plastic ezylock with a saw just to realise it won't come off because the grindstone was stuck in the shaft, like if the stone itself has grown and the tolerance between stone and shaft doesn't exist anymore. Eventually and using moderate force brute, I managed to get the stone out.
As you can see in the pictures the stone has a lot of color variations due to, I assume, limescale buildup. I try to wash it with clean water but it won't go away.
-So my first question will be: what will be the best way to bring back the stone to an acceptable looking condition? Any known way to remove the limescale marks?
Moving onto the next issue, the machine head is also heavily affected by limescale probably beyond the possibility of bringing it back to the original state. The close ups look like remains of the titanic´s hull.
I disassembled as much as I could but information on how to remove the motor assembly from the head is scarce and I don't want to mess this. If anybody know how to take these two bits apart, it would be great so I can clean the head properly.
I can´t find any retailers that have the head part for replacement although it has part number in the parts diagram. That would be the best solution if the price makes sense.
-Otherwise, what you guys reckon would be the best way to make this part look better that this sad state is in? I tried a bit if vinegar and sponge, but as the motor assembly is so close to it, it doesnt make the best setup for a deep cleaning. Maybe submerging the entire part in a de-scaler product + sanding?
Please hit me up with ideas if you have ever experienced this problem with your machines!
Also, open to buy a machine head replacement if anyone has one laying around
#4
General Tormek Questions / Re: What is the height of the ...
Last post by KaithyHong - Today at 08:24:54 AMOne thing that's helped me is making very small adjustments and then testing on a cheap blade before touching anything important. It's surprising how much difference a tiny tweak can make. Once everything is dialled in, the repeatability is one of the best parts of using a Tormek.
#5
General Tormek Questions / Re: Review of the Tormek TS-74...
Last post by John_B - Yesterday at 06:08:00 PMseems like a political post
#6
General Tormek Questions / Re: T8 user, starting to get b...
Last post by av8r - July 23, 2026, 08:08:46 PMQuote from: John_B on July 23, 2026, 07:08:52 PMIf you are sharpening customer's knives I would recommend against altering the bolster unless you have shown them what it will look like and have written authorization. Some knives also have a hollow bolster that you could grind into. The other thing I do to prevent scratching is to use painter's tape beneath the clamping area.
No customers, just our knives and those from friends/family. No charge, ever.
"Never make your hobby your work" or something like that.
#7
General Tormek Questions / Re: test
Last post by John_B - July 23, 2026, 07:10:33 PMQuote from: KaithyHong on July 23, 2026, 11:43:53 AMOne thing that's helped me is making small adjustments and testing the edge after each pass instead of trying to correct everything at once. It makes it much easier to dial in the setup and avoid removing more material than necessary.
I think you posted in the wrong thread
#8
General Tormek Questions / Re: T8 user, starting to get b...
Last post by John_B - July 23, 2026, 07:08:52 PMIf you are sharpening customer's knives I would recommend against altering the bolster unless you have shown them what it will look like and have written authorization. Some knives also have a hollow bolster that you could grind into. The other thing I do to prevent scratching is to use painter's tape beneath the clamping area.
#9
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - July 23, 2026, 06:50:36 PMSpyderco Southard with CTS-204P blade, which has been in use for a few years now with a Dutch scout leader.
It has already been sharpened several times by him on stones, plus two times by me on Paper Wheels (once up to 6 micron diamond compound, and once up to 15 micron diamond, the latter performing noticeably longer for the owner)
This time the knife was reprofiled from about 30 degrees inclusive to 25 degrees inclusive with a standard Paper Wheel with 220 grit SiC, then deburred with a second Paper Wheel with 0.25 micron diamond compound.
This produces a polished semi-coarse edge with an aggressive bite, as the knife is going to be used to cut a lot of 10 mm polyprop rope in the coming weeks.
The owner just informed me how the edge on his Southard is doing so far.
He had used the tip of the knife to cut open about 50 dusty/dirty cardboard boxes filled with porcelain mugs, and this resulted in blunting that tip to a point that it could only barely cut copy paper.
But according to the owner this was most likely due to the fact that the tip hit the mugs every now & then.
After all 50 boxes were opened & emptied the Southard was used to cut down each box, which he measured to be a total of about 80 meters or 262 feet of cardboard.
Afterwards the edge was still able to easily shave the hair from his legs (except about 15 mm of the tip), and the owner feels that the knife isn't due for a touch-up yet.
He also noticed that the CTS-204P steel holds this edge noticeably longer than the S30V steel in his Spyderco Sage, which he had sharpened himself and used earlier for the same job
It has already been sharpened several times by him on stones, plus two times by me on Paper Wheels (once up to 6 micron diamond compound, and once up to 15 micron diamond, the latter performing noticeably longer for the owner)
This time the knife was reprofiled from about 30 degrees inclusive to 25 degrees inclusive with a standard Paper Wheel with 220 grit SiC, then deburred with a second Paper Wheel with 0.25 micron diamond compound.
This produces a polished semi-coarse edge with an aggressive bite, as the knife is going to be used to cut a lot of 10 mm polyprop rope in the coming weeks.
The owner just informed me how the edge on his Southard is doing so far.
He had used the tip of the knife to cut open about 50 dusty/dirty cardboard boxes filled with porcelain mugs, and this resulted in blunting that tip to a point that it could only barely cut copy paper.
But according to the owner this was most likely due to the fact that the tip hit the mugs every now & then.
After all 50 boxes were opened & emptied the Southard was used to cut down each box, which he measured to be a total of about 80 meters or 262 feet of cardboard.
Afterwards the edge was still able to easily shave the hair from his legs (except about 15 mm of the tip), and the owner feels that the knife isn't due for a touch-up yet.
He also noticed that the CTS-204P steel holds this edge noticeably longer than the S30V steel in his Spyderco Sage, which he had sharpened himself and used earlier for the same job
#10
General Tormek Questions / Re: test
Last post by KaithyHong - July 23, 2026, 11:43:53 AMOne thing that's helped me is making small adjustments and testing the edge after each pass instead of trying to correct everything at once. It makes it much easier to dial in the setup and avoid removing more material than necessary.