Recent posts

#1

Gardening Tools / Re: Burr Removal

Last post by RichColvin - Today at 04:22:11 AM

An article by Larrin, "How Chipping of Edges Happens at a Microscopic Level" (on Knife Steel Nerds), debunks the idea of coarse edges due to the increased propensity for chipping and faster dulling of the blade. As noted by Dr. Vadim Kraichuk, "Meat plants are well aware that knives with coarse edges worsen product presentation and increase operators' fatigue and repetitive strain injuries. On the contrary, polished edges improve product quality through higher value cuts and increase throughput."

It is a common, but quite bad, practice of drawing the newly sharpened knife edge through a piece of wood or some other media to "rip off" the remnants of the burr. When this is done, the ripped off metal builds up on the front of the slice, and you then drag the rest of the edge through this crud. This crud, together with breaking off of ledges of material along the edge, will roughen the edge and worsen sharpness.

The scanning electron microscope (SEM) images to the pictures lined show the burr on a knife in the 1st image, that was then "ripped off" by cutting cross-grain into a piece of redwood in the 2nd image - loss of the sharp edge is obvious.

https://sharpeninghandbook.info/GT-Knives-Ripped-Burr.html

Key take-away from these photos : don't skip the honing step.

Dr. Larrin Thomas' book, Knife Engineering: Steel, Heat Treating, and Geometry (2025), discusses burr removal quite well.

#2

Gardening Tools / Burr Removal

Last post by Rossy66 - Today at 03:05:29 AM

I am starting to do a fair amount of lopers and pruning shears and was wondering if it's worth removing the burr? Since they are used for outdoor and heavy work, I thought maybe the burr would help "grab" the vegetation, similar to regular scissors.

#3

General Tormek Questions / Re: Blackstone grading

Last post by Ken S - Yesterday at 09:55:58 PM

Rossy66,

Here is a link to the video by Knife Grinders Australia describing which diamond plates to buy and how to use them. They are inexpensive and readily available.

https://youtu.be/141hD1d1zj0?si=oiDzZ1dNtQqO7Cdw

Ken

#4

General Tormek Questions / Re: Blackstone grading

Last post by Rossy66 - Yesterday at 05:57:03 PM

Thanks, so I guess my question is, would I buy two diamond plates, one to rough it up and one to smooth it out? if so, what crit would you recommend I buy. I use my SG250 but I am finding I need more cutting power and a bit more cutting speed as I am coming across a lot of damaged knives.

#5

Knife Sharpening / another KS-123 Tormek video

Last post by Ken S - Yesterday at 05:48:36 PM

Here is another auto dubbed German to English Tormek video.I believe each presenter is influenced by questions from the field. Here is a link:

https://www.youtube.com/live/4DrtIl0SRZc?si=ohwuTzsyRHX6W9g2

Ken

#6

Knife Sharpening / Re: iOS app to calculate Torme...

Last post by Dan - Yesterday at 09:35:26 AM

OK thanks for the reply.
As I understand it, Calcapp is usable on all platforms as it is web browser based.

https://knifesharpeningcalculators.wordpress.com/

Danny

#7

Knife Sharpening / Re: iOS app to calculate Torme...

Last post by VijayDoshi - Yesterday at 05:31:09 AM

Hello,
Very interesting.
Can I ask how it compares to (or how it differs from) Calcapp which I use?

For info, I do not have an iphone but use Calcapp on android which I find extremely useful and well thought out for knife sharpening and also chisel/plane sharpening.
One more question if you don't mind...
Why do you have a choice of grinding wheel setting as well as the current diameter setting? Not sure I understand??

Danny

Hi Danny,

I used to use KnifeGrinders App till it got pulled from the app store, I havent found an app on the Iphone app store for this. I've never used Calcapp, and I can't find it in the store so, I'm not sure how it works or how it compares.

The various wheels are for folks who want to have some presets or have multiple machines they work with each with a wheel of a different size, just to make it easy to switch.

-Vijay

[Link to App Store for Perfect Edge Angle Finder]

#8

Knife Sharpening / Re: iOS app to calculate Torme...

Last post by Dan - Yesterday at 01:16:51 AM

Hello Sharpeners,

I've built an app that calculates USB height or knife projection for Tormek-style sharpeners. Dial in bevel angles, wheel size, and machine geometry for repeatable edges.

Currently it's only available on apple (iOS) but if it gets some adoption I'll add additional platforms.

Try it out and LMK if you have any questions.

Link to App Store for Perfect Edge Angle Finder

Hello,
Very interesting.
Can I ask how it compares to (or how it differs from) Calcapp which I use?

For info, I do not have an iphone but use Calcapp on android which I find extremely useful and well thought out for knife sharpening and also chisel/plane sharpening.
One more question if you don't mind...
Why do you have a choice of grinding wheel setting as well as the current diameter setting? Not sure I understand??

Danny

#9

Knife Sharpening / Re: iOS app to calculate Torme...

Last post by VijayDoshi - Yesterday at 12:59:49 AM

Special thanks to @cbwx34 for spotting an error in the calculation! It's fixed, and the update will be out soon!

#10

General Tormek Questions / Re: Blackstone grading

Last post by RickKrung - Yesterday at 12:39:38 AM

Select diamond plates of the coarseness you wish to use for said grading.  The Tormek stone grade supposedly can be used, I bought a second one to dedicate for the SB stone, but it didn't seem to do anything and just got glazed (the grader).  A 1000 grit diamond plate is what I use for the SG grading, when I do any.  I think a lot of others do similar.