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#1
Knife Sharpening / Re: Sharpen workflow for ‘mid-...
Last post by Ken S - Today at 03:17:10 AMWim,
You ask a very practical question. In the real world, I suspect most of us sharpen mostly midrange knives.I had the good fortune to watch Tormek expert, Stig Reitan, for a couple days. Stig has sharpened countless medium grade knives when demonstrating for Tormek using a T8 with an SG-250 and a leather honing wheel with Tormek PA-70. At home, he keeps his wife's Japanese knives sharp and well honed with a T-4, SG-200, and leather honing wheel with PA-70.
Stig is the master of pressure control, from heavy pressure for heavier grinding to finishing with very light strokes. He uses the stone grader more often and more skillfully than anyone I have met.
Ken
You ask a very practical question. In the real world, I suspect most of us sharpen mostly midrange knives.I had the good fortune to watch Tormek expert, Stig Reitan, for a couple days. Stig has sharpened countless medium grade knives when demonstrating for Tormek using a T8 with an SG-250 and a leather honing wheel with Tormek PA-70. At home, he keeps his wife's Japanese knives sharp and well honed with a T-4, SG-200, and leather honing wheel with PA-70.
Stig is the master of pressure control, from heavy pressure for heavier grinding to finishing with very light strokes. He uses the stone grader more often and more skillfully than anyone I have met.
Ken
#2
General Tormek Questions / Re: Jig collar bumps leg of su...
Last post by Ken S - Today at 01:30:45 AMAs you say this issue is just with longer knives, I suggest that the standard universal support is not long enough. The extended range US-430 support should solve your problem. Having a second universal support will be useful many times. Here is a link:
https://tormek.com/en/products/accessories/us-430-extended-universal-support
Ken
https://tormek.com/en/products/accessories/us-430-extended-universal-support
Ken
#3
General Tormek Questions / Jig collar bumps leg of suppor...
Last post by BPalv - Today at 01:06:28 AMAs I pull the jig along the Tormek Universal support, when the jig gets to the support, the collar of the jig bumps the support leaving a corresponding bump on my bevel. This is just an issue on longer knives.
Does anyone have a technique, modification or different jig that alleviates this?
Does anyone have a technique, modification or different jig that alleviates this?
#4
Knife Sharpening / Re: Sharpen workflow for ‘mid-...
Last post by WimSpi - January 07, 2026, 08:36:53 PMThank you for your answers. That's very helpful. For me, it's also important to be able to carry out this type of grinding work at a reasonable pace. I also think standardization (reducing variation and making processes repeatable) is important in this regard.
Any further tips are very welcome.
Any further tips are very welcome.
#5
Knife Sharpening / Re: Toremk stone
Last post by Dan - January 07, 2026, 08:40:16 AMI see one main difficulty with this. How does one measure the grit size precisely in this dynamic grit changing situation.
I think many of us here are used to the stone becoming smoother or rougher with either the stone grader or diamond plates (I have both) but measuring these figures seems pretty arbitrary really. We have no idea if the 250 or 1000 grit is actually accurate or not.
The stone seems to be the roughest just after using the diamond truing tool. It does not stay like that long though.
I think many of us here are used to the stone becoming smoother or rougher with either the stone grader or diamond plates (I have both) but measuring these figures seems pretty arbitrary really. We have no idea if the 250 or 1000 grit is actually accurate or not.
The stone seems to be the roughest just after using the diamond truing tool. It does not stay like that long though.
#6
Knife Sharpening / Re: Toremk stone
Last post by tgbto - January 07, 2026, 08:29:08 AMI'm not an abrasive specialist, but in my experience, the "grading" of the stone lasts about an order of magnitude of around 20-40 strokes. Longer knives (obviously) or higher pressure will be in the 15-20 strokes range. And the way it goes back to its "in-between" state is not linear : very coarse or very fine grit lasts only for a couple strokes.
So it does not go from coarse to fine but from coarse back to standard and fine back to standard. It gets coarser by removing Al2O3 particles and exposing fewer, fresher ones with sharp edges. It gets finer by creating a fine slurry that fills in the gaps and makes the stone smoother.
In any case you have a substrate of Al203 particles of a given average size and even if you applied a very fine diamond stone you would still feel the effect of the substrate. Plus the finer the particles, the quicker they'll wash away.
TL/DR : the particle size in the SG gives its standard performance, you can make it vary temporarily by creating ridges or filling in the gaps. The farther you go from its standard state, the shorter the new state lasts.
So it does not go from coarse to fine but from coarse back to standard and fine back to standard. It gets coarser by removing Al2O3 particles and exposing fewer, fresher ones with sharp edges. It gets finer by creating a fine slurry that fills in the gaps and makes the stone smoother.
In any case you have a substrate of Al203 particles of a given average size and even if you applied a very fine diamond stone you would still feel the effect of the substrate. Plus the finer the particles, the quicker they'll wash away.
TL/DR : the particle size in the SG gives its standard performance, you can make it vary temporarily by creating ridges or filling in the gaps. The farther you go from its standard state, the shorter the new state lasts.
#7
Knife Sharpening / Re: Toremk stone
Last post by Ken S - January 07, 2026, 07:29:44 AMSir Amwell captured my thought: "This is interesting".
I believe the SG has several underappreciated advantages. Unlike diamond or CBN superabrasive wheels, the abrasive runs all the way through the useful range of the wheel. Yes, the wheel does need occasional truing and dressing. Or, this could be restated to saying that the SG can be trued and dressed. For the majority of the fifty years of Tormek, this was never a big deal.
Along with truing and dressing, the SG can also be reshaped. The most common uses of this feature is putting a radius on the two corners of the wheel and grinding out chips in the wheel. I now make radiused corners on my SG as part of routine mtce.
I think the Stone Grader is an essential feature. It allows one grinding wheel to serve as both a coarse and a fine wheel. I also think it was designed before superabrasive wheels were used. Our late member, Wootz, introduced using inexpensive diamond plates as a more versatile alternative. Here is a link to his video:
https://youtu.be/141hD1d1zj0?si=GiyEMIY2L1htLf03
I modified his method slightly by epoxying DMT file cards onto flat pieces of aluminum. A 24" piece from the hardware store can be cut into three pieces. Mounting this into a square edge jig keeps things square.
These diamond plates are inexpensive and available in different grits. I had no trouble resurfacing my SG smoother than "1000 grit" although 10k seems like an enjoyable pipe dream. These diamond plates work well with the SG, SJ and SB wheels. As Wootz noted, using them helps keep the wheel true longer.
Try it; I think you will like it.
Ken
I believe the SG has several underappreciated advantages. Unlike diamond or CBN superabrasive wheels, the abrasive runs all the way through the useful range of the wheel. Yes, the wheel does need occasional truing and dressing. Or, this could be restated to saying that the SG can be trued and dressed. For the majority of the fifty years of Tormek, this was never a big deal.
Along with truing and dressing, the SG can also be reshaped. The most common uses of this feature is putting a radius on the two corners of the wheel and grinding out chips in the wheel. I now make radiused corners on my SG as part of routine mtce.
I think the Stone Grader is an essential feature. It allows one grinding wheel to serve as both a coarse and a fine wheel. I also think it was designed before superabrasive wheels were used. Our late member, Wootz, introduced using inexpensive diamond plates as a more versatile alternative. Here is a link to his video:
https://youtu.be/141hD1d1zj0?si=GiyEMIY2L1htLf03
I modified his method slightly by epoxying DMT file cards onto flat pieces of aluminum. A 24" piece from the hardware store can be cut into three pieces. Mounting this into a square edge jig keeps things square.
These diamond plates are inexpensive and available in different grits. I had no trouble resurfacing my SG smoother than "1000 grit" although 10k seems like an enjoyable pipe dream. These diamond plates work well with the SG, SJ and SB wheels. As Wootz noted, using them helps keep the wheel true longer.
Try it; I think you will like it.
Ken
#8
Knife Sharpening / Re: Sharpen workflow for ‘mid-...
Last post by Rossy - January 06, 2026, 11:36:58 PMI am still working on my workflow but with the help of people here and extensive research on many sites, my current workflow is as follows:
Unless requested by the customer, I use the marker method for the angle, if the customer want it reprofiled, I choose 15 degrees.
I use the DF250 diamond wheel and I have to say, It gives a great edge/finish
I always failed at free hand honing but once I bought the MB102 and used it to recreate the sharpening angle for honing, not only do my knifes fell sharper and cut better but my customers seem to be very happy and I am getting great feedback. I also use the composite wheel.
I currently do not sharpen high-end knives and would have to rethink my workflow for that but up to now, my clients seem very happy.
Unless requested by the customer, I use the marker method for the angle, if the customer want it reprofiled, I choose 15 degrees.
I use the DF250 diamond wheel and I have to say, It gives a great edge/finish
I always failed at free hand honing but once I bought the MB102 and used it to recreate the sharpening angle for honing, not only do my knifes fell sharper and cut better but my customers seem to be very happy and I am getting great feedback. I also use the composite wheel.
I currently do not sharpen high-end knives and would have to rethink my workflow for that but up to now, my clients seem very happy.
#9
Knife Sharpening / Re: Toremk stone
Last post by Sir Amwell - January 06, 2026, 10:46:32 PMThis is interesting.
Just being a bit hypothetical here on in.
Is it a given that the standard SG250 wheel, if graded to coarse, will gradually tend to fine if used to grind a knife?
How gradual is this?
If one was to keep grinding on and on, adjusting the USB as the stone wore down so as to maintain a constant angle.
How fine a grit on the stone could we achieve? ie original posters question?
And of course (re Ken's post) it's a bit arbitrary .
But could we ever turn an SG250 into a 10k stone?
Or are the abrasive particles 'set' to only effectively grind at the 1k mark.
I suppose I'm just waffling on and fleshing out the original posters question.
Do we really need loads of diamond or CBN wheels of different grits or do we just need a range of different grit 'cheap' diamond plates and the one SG250 stone?
Hmmmmm.
I think I need to go to bed......
Just being a bit hypothetical here on in.
Is it a given that the standard SG250 wheel, if graded to coarse, will gradually tend to fine if used to grind a knife?
How gradual is this?
If one was to keep grinding on and on, adjusting the USB as the stone wore down so as to maintain a constant angle.
How fine a grit on the stone could we achieve? ie original posters question?
And of course (re Ken's post) it's a bit arbitrary .
But could we ever turn an SG250 into a 10k stone?
Or are the abrasive particles 'set' to only effectively grind at the 1k mark.
I suppose I'm just waffling on and fleshing out the original posters question.
Do we really need loads of diamond or CBN wheels of different grits or do we just need a range of different grit 'cheap' diamond plates and the one SG250 stone?
Hmmmmm.
I think I need to go to bed......
#10
Knife Sharpening / Re: Toremk stone
Last post by Trappeur88 - January 06, 2026, 06:46:36 PMInexpensive diamond cards are a good way to expand the grit range of the non diamond Tormek grinding wheels.
Ken
Thank you, that's what I wanted to talk about. Can diamond cards give other grain sizes to the standard Tormek grinding wheel?