Recent posts

#11

Knife Sharpening / Re: Noobie Advice About Stones

Last post by Ken S - Yesterday at 11:51:28 AM

I learned how to drive with a stick shift on a VW Bug in the 1960s. It was great fun, and met all my driving needs. I won't disparage all the improvements over the years; however, if I was still driving, that VW would still fulfill my needs.

My sharpening needs have always been simple. I sharpen only my own tools and knives. My kitchen knives are Victorinox and Henckel. Other knives are an assortment of basic SAK, Mora, and Buck. I have no desire to own more exotic higher priced knives. I fully acknowledge that my sharpening needs might change if I sharpened more exotic knives or sharpened professionally. I don't see that happening.

For my needs, the SG is all that I need. ( I have noticed that the Tormek instructors on the online classes almost universally prefer the SG, although they have full access to any of the Tormek grinding wheels.) Gradual wear in the SG is really not a big deal. Nor is using the stone grader to adjust the grit. Foro forty years, that was the only choice for Tormek users and just accepted, just like manual transmission. The SG offers advantages the superabrasive wheels do not have. The wheel can be reshaped with radiused corners, something I recommend for general use. Surface damage can be repaired as well as bringing up fresh grains. The SG has a lot to offer. For those needing to sharpen harder steels frequently, the SB offers these advantages in a wheel designed for harder steels.

Ken

#12

General Tormek Questions / Re: Should I buy the LA-220 ev...

Last post by Ken S - Yesterday at 10:54:11 AM

In my opinion, the leather and composite wheels were designed for two different purposes. The leather with honing compound was designed for working with wet sharpening, the "traditional Tormek technique". The composite honing wheel was designed for the T2 and later T1. They were designed to work in commercial or home kitchens where water and honing compound would be undesirable. Tormek later added a composite honing wheel for the T8. The smaller composite wheel also works with the T4, which is essentially the same machine as the T2.

I have both honing wheels. I admit this is overkill for my simple needs. I also have two T8s, each with a different boning wheel. For someone starting out, I would recommend the SG wheel and leather honing wheel with PA-70 honing compound. After gaining proficiency, feel free to spread out if you feel the need.

Ken

#13

General Tormek Questions / Re: Some Questions about my ne...

Last post by Ken S - Yesterday at 10:26:03 AM

My T7 came with the older plastic drive wheel. I had no problem with it;it never cracked. Along with the EZYlock shaft and Advanced Water Tray, I purchased the upgrade parts. I am very impressed with the new zinc drivewheel.I gave my functioning plastic wheel to a friend.

Zinc machining must be a fairly new technology. I believe Tormek first used it for the machined top of the T4 in 2014. It is a game changer. It solves the thirty minute duty cycle overheating problem. Machined zinc top is the major difference between the T7 and T8 as well as the redesigned jigs. I suspect it is also a major factor in the eight year warranty.

For those on a tight budget with the older plastic drive wheel, there is no immediate need to replace it if it is not cracked. I'm sure there are many cracked and glued wheels still doing trooper service. I don't regret replacing mine.

Ken

#14

Knife Sharpening / Re: Noobie Advice About Stones

Last post by John Hancock Sr - Yesterday at 08:03:46 AM

I may try the existing stone in the meantime just to see what happens

You can use the SG so long as the jigs et all allow you to use it. The only difference is that the hollow is slightly deeper due to the reduced radius.

#15

Knife Sharpening / Re: Dc-250 - Df-250 - Sg-250?

Last post by John Hancock Sr - Yesterday at 08:00:28 AM

Many times DE-250 (grit 600) is the final step

The DE is 1000 grit.

Is there any practical or theoretical pros with using diamond (or CBN) as the last step of sharpening super steel's like m390, rather than traditional aluminium oxide stone?

Your abrasive needs to be harder (MOHS) than your steel or you will simply glaze your wheel. This is the process whereby the sharpening process rounds over your grit and leaves it blunt, thus making the wheel less effective and deforming rather than scratching the steel. I am assuming that you are dressing the SG otherwise you are leaving it glazed and not working efficiently.

#16

General Tormek Questions / Re: Should I buy the LA-220 ev...

Last post by John Hancock Sr - Yesterday at 07:53:41 AM

The composite wheel is a lower grit and will not leave as fine an edge as the leather wheel. On the other hand honing on the composite wheel will be faster that on the leather wheel. As for customer experience it all depends as they say. The composite wheel will leave a toothier edge and for many operations will cut more easily as a result. For very fine and precise "food craft" even the leather wheel will leave too coarse an edge.

For general sharpening your average kitchen knife the composite wheel will be fine.

#17

General Tormek Questions / Re: Some Questions about my ne...

Last post by John Hancock Sr - Yesterday at 07:47:28 AM

new drive wheel seems of much higher quality than the old one

Yes. They upgraded it significantly. The old plastic wheel would crack over the years.

#18

Knife Sharpening / Re: Dc-250 - Df-250 - Sg-250?

Last post by Royale - Yesterday at 05:29:35 AM

From my personal experience with my Tormek T8... I see the matter in terms of matching the abrasive to the steel type.

For cheap and soft steels with low carbide content, I use the SG-250 for speed.

For harder steels alloyed with more carbides, I still use the SG-250 for reprofiling (because at this stage I'm not bothered with carbide tear/fall out), but all follow up sharpening is done with diamond grindstones (DF-250, DE-250) because I want to cut through both the supporting ferrite matrix and carbides together. Takes a longer time, but often a "Do it good, do it once" type of situation.

Long story short, seeing the dimension of grit size only, may leave you missing out on a bigger part of the workflow.

Hope that made sense.

#19

General Tormek Questions / USB sticking in MB-102

Last post by Rossy66 - Yesterday at 05:18:43 AM

I have started using my new MB-102 to sharpen chisels on the side and honing and it seems to be sticking when I turn the fine adjustment wheel. The wheel gets harder to turn after a few rotations and then stops and I can't raise the USB. If I lift the usb up and out of the MB-102 then reinsert it, it seems to work for a few turns and then seems to become difficult to turn the adjustment wheel again.

Does any one have any suggestions?
















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#20

Knife Sharpening / Re: Noobie Advice About Stones

Last post by Dulcmrman - Yesterday at 01:20:24 AM

Today I made my first attempt at sharpening a knife on my new-to-me T-3 with the well-worn smaller diameter SG-200.  I chose an old, mistreated military K-bar knife that I've misused over the years.  It had a number of small chips in the blade and was not much sharper than a screwdriver.

I used the KS-123 angle setter to set a 20 degree angle and had at it.  In just a few minutes all of the chips were gone and the edge began to look pretty good.  Unfortunately, I discovered that the small stone diameter resulted in the knife handle bumping against the honing wheel, preventing me from obtaining the same bevel on both sides of the blade.

I stopped sharpening and I am now awaiting my new SG-200 stone which should arrive this coming week.  I believe that I will be able to get symmetric edges on the blade after I have the larger diameter new stone.

To say that I am thrilled with my first foray into Tormek-world would be an understatement.  The work I did today on my T-3 took minutes and would have taken hours on my water stones.  I am hooked!

I will continue to practice on my older knives to improve my technique before moving on to maintaining my precious favorites in the kitchen.

Best regards,

Dennis