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#1
General Tormek Questions / Re: test
Last post by KaithyHong - Today at 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.
#2
General Tormek Questions / Re: T8 user, starting to get b...
Last post by av8r - Today at 04:38:16 AMYes, bolstered knives and yes I have been working one side too much before moving to the other. I suspected this was the issue or part of it so I'm glad for the confirmation. Stone is true/square so it is my technique causing the recurve or smile.
Thank you
Thank you
Quote from: Sir Amwell on Today at 01:04:04 AMBy dishing do you mean à slight recurve or as I call it a smile?
Is this happening on all knives or particularly those with bolsters?
If it's a general occurrence I would suggest alternating your passes each time, don't work one side of the blade until you get a burr and then go to the other side. Work each side of the blade one pass, heel to tip then flip. Heel to tip on the other side then flip, one pass etc.
If it's bolstered knives in particular then you are over grinding at the heel due to the bolster getting in your way. Consider grinding down that bolster unit it is no longer impacting the process.
I don't think it's your stone causing this unless it's very much out of true. At the very least re square it to eliminate this variable.
I had a similar problem to start with but the practice of continually flipping the blade after each pass largely put paid to this problem. You will find a way with your technique to stop this happening.
#3
General Tormek Questions / Re: T8 user, starting to get b...
Last post by Sir Amwell - Today at 01:04:04 AMBy dishing do you mean à slight recurve or as I call it a smile?
Is this happening on all knives or particularly those with bolsters?
If it's a general occurrence I would suggest alternating your passes each time, don't work one side of the blade until you get a burr and then go to the other side. Work each side of the blade one pass, heel to tip then flip. Heel to tip on the other side then flip, one pass etc.
If it's bolstered knives in particular then you are over grinding at the heel due to the bolster getting in your way. Consider grinding down that bolster unit it is no longer impacting the process.
I don't think it's your stone causing this unless it's very much out of true. At the very least re square it to eliminate this variable.
I had a similar problem to start with but the practice of continually flipping the blade after each pass largely put paid to this problem. You will find a way with your technique to stop this happening.
Is this happening on all knives or particularly those with bolsters?
If it's a general occurrence I would suggest alternating your passes each time, don't work one side of the blade until you get a burr and then go to the other side. Work each side of the blade one pass, heel to tip then flip. Heel to tip on the other side then flip, one pass etc.
If it's bolstered knives in particular then you are over grinding at the heel due to the bolster getting in your way. Consider grinding down that bolster unit it is no longer impacting the process.
I don't think it's your stone causing this unless it's very much out of true. At the very least re square it to eliminate this variable.
I had a similar problem to start with but the practice of continually flipping the blade after each pass largely put paid to this problem. You will find a way with your technique to stop this happening.
#4
General Tormek Questions / T8 user, starting to get blade...
Last post by av8r - Yesterday at 01:42:18 PMI've been using my T8 with the supplied stone wheel for a few years. This weekend I sharpened about 40 knives for family/friends and some ended up with some "dishing" (may not be the correct word) near the heel of the blade. I check the true of my wheel before every session and don't apply heavy pressure (I think) when sharpening. 2 of the knives are my own kitchen knives and I've not noticed this happening before. Any suggestions on what to look for or change in my technique?
#5
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - July 21, 2026, 06:22:02 PMRecovered some pictures from an old harddisk.
Several years ago i got sent these two user Emerson folders from neighboring country Belgium; a Commander model with a Krein regrind and a CQC7 model.
The owner was unable to get them sharp again with only his Sharpmaker, and the request was also to give the new edges a bit of bling.
As they came in:
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After sharpening/polishing.
On the CQC7 i made the asymmetric bevel a bit wider to remove all different scratch patterns, and just touched up the existing mini-bevel on the other side.
Both knives could now be easily touched up on the Sharpmaker again and the owner was happy, :-)
Several years ago i got sent these two user Emerson folders from neighboring country Belgium; a Commander model with a Krein regrind and a CQC7 model.
The owner was unable to get them sharp again with only his Sharpmaker, and the request was also to give the new edges a bit of bling.
As they came in:
After sharpening/polishing.
On the CQC7 i made the asymmetric bevel a bit wider to remove all different scratch patterns, and just touched up the existing mini-bevel on the other side.
Both knives could now be easily touched up on the Sharpmaker again and the owner was happy, :-)
#6
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - July 21, 2026, 06:18:40 PMVintage Al Mar Denali mid-backlock folding knife with hollow ground blade from the 1980's and made in Japan. (probably by Moki)
The cocobolo handle is inlayed with a gold shield picturing a fighter plane and the text "United States Navy Fighter Weapons School".
The 1986 movie "Top Gun" with Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis was partly filmed on the grounds of this elite school for US Navy pilots.
Bernard Levine thinks this version with the gold shield was a special edition, not standard production.
The original edge measured about 35 degrees inclusive and wasn't really sharp, so i changed the angle to 30 degrees inclusive with a treetopping sharp bling & bite finish.
Specs:
Length open: 17,3 cm
Length closed: 10,0 cm
Blade length: 7,5 cm
Blade thickness: 3,0 mm
Steel: Masahiro RS30 stainless steel
Hardness: 57-58 HRC (?)
Handle material: Cocobolo wood & satin stainless bolsters on brass liners
Handle thickness: 11,0 mm
Lock type: Mid-backlock
Weight: 100 grams
The cocobolo handle is inlayed with a gold shield picturing a fighter plane and the text "United States Navy Fighter Weapons School".
The 1986 movie "Top Gun" with Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis was partly filmed on the grounds of this elite school for US Navy pilots.
Bernard Levine thinks this version with the gold shield was a special edition, not standard production.
The original edge measured about 35 degrees inclusive and wasn't really sharp, so i changed the angle to 30 degrees inclusive with a treetopping sharp bling & bite finish.
Specs:
Length open: 17,3 cm
Length closed: 10,0 cm
Blade length: 7,5 cm
Blade thickness: 3,0 mm
Steel: Masahiro RS30 stainless steel
Hardness: 57-58 HRC (?)
Handle material: Cocobolo wood & satin stainless bolsters on brass liners
Handle thickness: 11,0 mm
Lock type: Mid-backlock
Weight: 100 grams
#7
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - July 21, 2026, 06:17:43 PMWootz/Vadim testing heat build-up in the edge when using Paper Wheels with diamond compound:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvMISROgs_c
He never told me this in our e-mail conversations, but i recently found that he mentions me by name in the on-screen text,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvMISROgs_c
He never told me this in our e-mail conversations, but i recently found that he mentions me by name in the on-screen text,
#8
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - July 21, 2026, 06:16:05 PMThe owner of this Sebenza 25 bought the knife brand new through an official dealer in the Netherlands, but although he was and is still very pleased with the knife itself, he soon found that the factory edge didn't cut too well.
He tried to improve things with the help of a Spyderco Sharpmaker and a leather strop loaded with some green compound, but to no avail.
So he sent the knife to me, and the first thing i did was to measure the edge angle.
According to my Tormek Angle Gauge it measured 50 degrees inclusive on the straight part of the edge, going up to 55 degrees inclusive from the belly to the point.(!)
This is how the knife looked before sharpening:
First i removed the apex of the old edge by cutting a few times lightly into an old silicon carbide stone, after which i reprofiled it freehand on my Tormek SB-250 Blackstone to an even 30 degrees inclusive.
This was followed by a Paper Wheel with 220 grit SiC to smoothen the grindlines made by the Tormek, then refined with a second Paper Wheel coated with 15 micron diamond compound, and finally removed the burr with a third Paper Wheel coated with 0.25 diamond compound. (this leaves the 15 micron scratch pattern intact as much as possible to preserve bite)
The resulting edge treetops the hair on the back of my hand, can slice single-ply toilet paper, and survives a few cuts into my laminated testblock without any visible damage (checked under bright light with the loupe in my Victorinox SwissChamp)
This is how the knife looks after sharpening:
He tried to improve things with the help of a Spyderco Sharpmaker and a leather strop loaded with some green compound, but to no avail.
So he sent the knife to me, and the first thing i did was to measure the edge angle.
According to my Tormek Angle Gauge it measured 50 degrees inclusive on the straight part of the edge, going up to 55 degrees inclusive from the belly to the point.(!)
This is how the knife looked before sharpening:
First i removed the apex of the old edge by cutting a few times lightly into an old silicon carbide stone, after which i reprofiled it freehand on my Tormek SB-250 Blackstone to an even 30 degrees inclusive.
This was followed by a Paper Wheel with 220 grit SiC to smoothen the grindlines made by the Tormek, then refined with a second Paper Wheel coated with 15 micron diamond compound, and finally removed the burr with a third Paper Wheel coated with 0.25 diamond compound. (this leaves the 15 micron scratch pattern intact as much as possible to preserve bite)
The resulting edge treetops the hair on the back of my hand, can slice single-ply toilet paper, and survives a few cuts into my laminated testblock without any visible damage (checked under bright light with the loupe in my Victorinox SwissChamp)
This is how the knife looks after sharpening:
#9
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - July 21, 2026, 06:12:51 PMA niece of mine is an avid amateur Chef (but not yet a knife afi), and this black ceramic knife (a rebranded Kyocera) is one of her favorites in the kitchen, as due to the tougher blade material the edges can be made thinner and thus the knife cuts better than a white ceramic version.
Longtime use however (not always on a suitable cutting board) plus storing it unprotected in a drawer between a bunch of steel bladed knives had blunted the edge to a point next to unusable, complete with quite a lot of (micro) chips and a broken tip.
This is the knife as it was when i received it.
(when you click the pictures 2 x you can see the chips clearly)
This is the knife after sharpening.
I reprofiled the rather bad factory edge to an ever so slight convex edge of +/- 25 degrees inclusive, and the sharpness is just hairwhittling (only towards the root, not to the point)
It easily slices single layer toiletpaper (torn apart 3-layered version) and a tomato of course.
Removing the chips and setting the new bevel was done with a Tormek T7, refining & convexing with a Paper Wheel coated with 15 micron diamond compound, and semi-polishing with a second Paper Wheel coated with 6 micron diamond compound.
Specs:
Overall length: 11.0 inch (28,0 cm)
Blade length: 5.8 inch (14,8 cm)
Blade thickness: 1,84 mm
Blade type: black ceramic / saber-hollow
Thickness behind the edge: 0,4 mm
The first clip shows the slicing of a piece of standard 3-layered toilet paper, for the second clip i peel off 1 layer and slice the remaining 2 layers, and the third clip shows the slicing of just the remaining single layer of toilet paper:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubg_drYHoKE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUkKfwGFogY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSkxPA9BK8E
Slicing a tomato:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3-A0SMcIbw
Longtime use however (not always on a suitable cutting board) plus storing it unprotected in a drawer between a bunch of steel bladed knives had blunted the edge to a point next to unusable, complete with quite a lot of (micro) chips and a broken tip.
This is the knife as it was when i received it.
(when you click the pictures 2 x you can see the chips clearly)
This is the knife after sharpening.
I reprofiled the rather bad factory edge to an ever so slight convex edge of +/- 25 degrees inclusive, and the sharpness is just hairwhittling (only towards the root, not to the point)
It easily slices single layer toiletpaper (torn apart 3-layered version) and a tomato of course.
Removing the chips and setting the new bevel was done with a Tormek T7, refining & convexing with a Paper Wheel coated with 15 micron diamond compound, and semi-polishing with a second Paper Wheel coated with 6 micron diamond compound.
Specs:
Overall length: 11.0 inch (28,0 cm)
Blade length: 5.8 inch (14,8 cm)
Blade thickness: 1,84 mm
Blade type: black ceramic / saber-hollow
Thickness behind the edge: 0,4 mm
The first clip shows the slicing of a piece of standard 3-layered toilet paper, for the second clip i peel off 1 layer and slice the remaining 2 layers, and the third clip shows the slicing of just the remaining single layer of toilet paper:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubg_drYHoKE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUkKfwGFogY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSkxPA9BK8E
Slicing a tomato:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3-A0SMcIbw
#10
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - July 21, 2026, 06:11:46 PMA small black ceramic backlock folder without any markings (Böker ?) i did in 2013.
This well made knife had practically no edge and no point to speak of when i received it, and even opening mail with it was difficult.
I used the Tormek Blackstone graded to around 1000 grit for freehand reprofiling, followed by 3 Paper Wheels coated with 15, 6.0 and 3.0 micron diamond compounds for refining & polishing.
The new edge fits in the 30 degrees inclusive slot on my Tormek angle gauge, is slightly convex, and can shave the hair on my leg in both directions.
Specs:
Length open: 4.72 inches (12,0 cm)
Length closed: 2.76 inches (7,5 cm)
Blade material: black zirconium oxide
Blade length: 1.57 inches (4,5 cm)
Blade thickness: 2,0 mm
Handle material: Ivory Micarta & Nickel Silver bolsters
Weight: 61 grams
This well made knife had practically no edge and no point to speak of when i received it, and even opening mail with it was difficult.
I used the Tormek Blackstone graded to around 1000 grit for freehand reprofiling, followed by 3 Paper Wheels coated with 15, 6.0 and 3.0 micron diamond compounds for refining & polishing.
The new edge fits in the 30 degrees inclusive slot on my Tormek angle gauge, is slightly convex, and can shave the hair on my leg in both directions.
Specs:
Length open: 4.72 inches (12,0 cm)
Length closed: 2.76 inches (7,5 cm)
Blade material: black zirconium oxide
Blade length: 1.57 inches (4,5 cm)
Blade thickness: 2,0 mm
Handle material: Ivory Micarta & Nickel Silver bolsters
Weight: 61 grams