Recent posts

#1

General Tormek Questions / Handy and cheap microscope

Last post by John Hancock Sr - Today at 05:30:09 AM

I was watching BigClive's electronics channel on You Tube and in a recent video he was using this electronic microscope. I thought that it might be handy for sharpening so I bought myself one. It cost about $26 Australian including shipping.

Here it is looking at the micro bevel created using a 5000 grit shapton stone on ma Narex Richter chisel.

#2

General Tormek Questions / Re: Blackstone grading

Last post by John Hancock Sr - Today at 03:33:52 AM

The reason is because the grader is silicon carbide, the same material as the wheel. I seem to recall that they say that it can be used to grade the wheel but using a material of the same hardness would be problematic. You could also try a diamond dressing tool but not sure of the exact grit they use. They are only a few $$ on AliExpress. It does appear to be quite coarse.

#3

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

Last post by Dan - Yesterday at 10:43:55 PM

...BTW, Thank you for the "review"... glad you like it.  ...

For me, it is extremely clever and well designed. It is a fantastic tool which just works well. Intuitive to use and free!!!
I have used it for my sharpening for a few years now. I will find a way to support your work...
Thanks, Danny

#4

General Tormek Questions / Re: Blackstone grading

Last post by Dan - Yesterday at 10:31:40 PM

...snip...
Ideally, if you could get slightly longer diamond plates (maybe 5cm longer) that could stretch over one vertical and one horizontal USB, they can then be used for truing the wheel extremely accurately.
...snip...

I'd be concerned about concentrating the "wear" of the plate on the little bit it that would be the only part in contact with the grinding wheel.  I think relying on the truing tool for keeping it is square and the diamond plate (used over a large range of its area) would be quite effective.  But...  I use my diamond plate "freehand", not clamped in any jig. 

Yes, good point....

#5

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

Last post by cbwx34 - Yesterday at 05:38:55 PM

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

The main difference is that Calcapp sets the bar height measuring directly to the wheel, this app sets the bar height measuring to the top of the machine.  But as far as accuracy, the "math behind the scene", etc. there's no difference.

BTW, Thank you for the "review"... glad you like it.   

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

You are correct! 

#6

General Tormek Questions / Re: Blackstone grading

Last post by RickKrung - Yesterday at 04:53:41 PM

...snip...
Ideally, if you could get slightly longer diamond plates (maybe 5cm longer) that could stretch over one vertical and one horizontal USB, they can then be used for truing the wheel extremely accurately.
...snip...

I'd be concerned about concentrating the "wear" of the plate on the little bit it that would be the only part in contact with the grinding wheel.  I think relying on the truing tool for keeping it is square and the diamond plate (used over a large range of its area) would be quite effective.  But...  I use my diamond plate "freehand", not clamped in any jig. 

#7

Gardening Tools / Re: Burr Removal

Last post by Rossy66 - Yesterday at 03:09:29 PM

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.

I appreciate the detailed response.

#8

General Tormek Questions / Re: Blackstone grading

Last post by Dan - Yesterday at 01:53:28 PM

I bought something like these on Aliexpress - very cheap and they work pretty well.

ALIEXPRESS

I bought 80 grit to roughen and 400 grit to smooth out the wheel on the advice of Wootz on this forum, I think.

Ideally, if you could get slightly longer diamond plates (maybe 5cm longer) that could stretch over one vertical and one horizontal USB, they can then be used for truing the wheel extremely accurately.

Just make sure they are rigid enough. The ones I bought were in steel about 1mm thick which is fine.

#9

Gardening Tools / Re: Burr Removal

Last post by RichColvin - Yesterday 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.

#10

Gardening Tools / Burr Removal

Last post by Rossy66 - Yesterday 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.