- Welcome to Tormek Community Forum.
News:
Welcome to the Tormek Community. If you previously registered for the discussion board but had not made any posts, your membership may have been purged. Secure your membership in this community by joining in the conversations.
www.tormek.com
Recent posts
#11
Knife Sharpening / Re: Tormek Angle Calculator- U...
Last post by Peter Eaton - August 29, 2026, 06:11:15 PMThank you....I have the grinds sorted but currently struggling to hone with the paper wheels using the set up that Vladim used on Knife Grinders, I have all my measurements but nothing to input them into as everything is set up for Tormek of course.
#12
Knife Sharpening / Re: Tormek Angle Calculator- U...
Last post by RickKrung - August 29, 2026, 05:13:10 PM #13
Knife Sharpening / Re: Tormek Angle Calculator- U...
Last post by Peter Eaton - August 29, 2026, 04:20:37 PMThank you I appreciate this.... 😃
I just realised I need a calculator fro my paper wheel too, wonder if it will work?
I just realised I need a calculator fro my paper wheel too, wonder if it will work?
#14
Knife Sharpening / Re: Tormek Angle Calculator- U...
Last post by Baldeagle - August 29, 2026, 01:33:26 PMThis works ok for me .... https://openangletool.github.io/
#15
Knife Sharpening / Tormek Angle Calculator- URGEN...
Last post by Peter Eaton - August 29, 2026, 01:20:42 PMHopefully someone can help with this.
I have always used the angle calculator which I purchased off the guy who passed from Knife Grinders Australia, I think he was called Vladim? I had the app saved on two Ipads, one was lost on an update the other I cannot us as the Ipad just died, I have the program on my laptop but the program will not open now..... 😳
I need a calculator urgently with a few hrs hopefully as have knives to grind to various degrees and want them accurate. Does anyone know of a decent calculator that calculator that will work on a Mac, Iphone and Ipad please...or failing this a Windows PC as I have both.
Looking for the easiest to use as had one I bought off the Appstore which for the life of me I could never figure how to use 😳...
Thanks in advance
I have always used the angle calculator which I purchased off the guy who passed from Knife Grinders Australia, I think he was called Vladim? I had the app saved on two Ipads, one was lost on an update the other I cannot us as the Ipad just died, I have the program on my laptop but the program will not open now..... 😳
I need a calculator urgently with a few hrs hopefully as have knives to grind to various degrees and want them accurate. Does anyone know of a decent calculator that calculator that will work on a Mac, Iphone and Ipad please...or failing this a Windows PC as I have both.
Looking for the easiest to use as had one I bought off the Appstore which for the life of me I could never figure how to use 😳...
Thanks in advance
#16
General Tormek Questions / Re: Is there a way to prevent ...
Last post by RichColvin - August 28, 2026, 09:11:56 PMI designed and printed a part using ABS. It seems to work quite well, though it may also be due to the bore for the 3D-printed part being a little tight on the spindle shaft.
The original one is depicted to the left, and the 3D-printed on on the right.
If you want to print one for yourself, it is available on the Sharpening Handbook: https://sharpeninghandbook.info/Jigs-GrindstoneWasher.html.
The original one is depicted to the left, and the 3D-printed on on the right.
If you want to print one for yourself, it is available on the Sharpening Handbook: https://sharpeninghandbook.info/Jigs-GrindstoneWasher.html.
#17
Knife Sharpening / Re: New angle jig KS-123
Last post by Ken S - August 27, 2026, 09:46:34 AMI do not own a goniometer. However, I would be less concerned with a consistent 1° difference in readings than with an inconsistent difference. Adjusting the reading on the KS-123 by 1° would be a consistent fix. Mariners use correction factors with their charts and magnetic compasses.
When I visited Tormek in Sweden in 2023, I participated in thr planning committee during the prototype development stage of the KS-123. It went through extensive testing and evaluation. A consistent 1° difference would have been a very easy fix just by repositioning the angle scale slightly.
I will investigate this further with support and post any new information.
Ken
When I visited Tormek in Sweden in 2023, I participated in thr planning committee during the prototype development stage of the KS-123. It went through extensive testing and evaluation. A consistent 1° difference would have been a very easy fix just by repositioning the angle scale slightly.
I will investigate this further with support and post any new information.
Ken
#18
General Tormek Questions / Re: Is there a way to prevent ...
Last post by Ken S - August 27, 2026, 09:14:30 AMWell done, Rich! This should solve the problem, with the added bonus of being very cost effective. Just one modified spacer should suffice.
I like the 3D printed idea. The original pattern would print quickly and work even with smaller printers. Plus, the pattern could be easily modified to make spacers of different thicknesses. (I am thinking of adapting Norton 3X wheels with one inch thickness and one inch bore.) While everything is set up, I would suggest making up a few spares. They would be useful and inexpensive gifts for Tormek friends.
An alternative plan would be to modify a Tormek spacer. I purchased a couple as spare parts for projects several years ago, although the original spacer would also work. Dishing out a spacer would be an easy project for a home shop machinist of local machine shop.
Again, good thinking, Rich!
Ken
I like the 3D printed idea. The original pattern would print quickly and work even with smaller printers. Plus, the pattern could be easily modified to make spacers of different thicknesses. (I am thinking of adapting Norton 3X wheels with one inch thickness and one inch bore.) While everything is set up, I would suggest making up a few spares. They would be useful and inexpensive gifts for Tormek friends.
An alternative plan would be to modify a Tormek spacer. I purchased a couple as spare parts for projects several years ago, although the original spacer would also work. Dishing out a spacer would be an easy project for a home shop machinist of local machine shop.
Again, good thinking, Rich!
Ken
#19
Knife Sharpening / Re: New angle jig KS-123
Last post by RichColvin - August 27, 2026, 05:01:43 AMQuote from: MARC LAVINA on August 25, 2026, 10:06:37 PMHello everyone, I am new to the forum. I have been using T8 since 2020 with standard, CBN and diamond wheels, mostly on 8" kitchen knives and a little less on my folder collection. I was so happy when KS-123 came out because of the time economy compared to the Edding/sharpie method. I check my angles before and after sharpening with a laser goniometer. I experienced a consistent difference of 1 degree that the KS-123 is below the reading of my laser instrument. Can anybody in this forum confirm that difference by his own experience?When I use the KS-123 and compare the ground edge to my laser goniometer, I do not see such a discrepancy.
#20
General Tormek Questions / Re: Is there a way to prevent ...
Last post by RichColvin - August 27, 2026, 04:58:50 AMI believe there is a solution if you have a metal lathe.
I asked Claude (an AI),
Capillary adhesion is experienced between the grindstone and the washer on a Tormek grinder. If the washer had most of the surface dished out (as if it were a bowl), would this surface adhesion become almost negligible?
The response was,
Yes, and quite significantly — for two separate reasons tied to the two mechanisms:
Capillary suction (Laplace pressure)
This force is roughly proportional to the contact area where the thin film exists. Dish out the center and that area shrinks to just the outer rim, so the suction force drops proportionally to how much area you've removed.
Stefan (viscous squeeze-film) adhesion
This is the bigger effect for a fast pull-apart, and it's the one that benefits most dramatically. The Stefan equation says resistance scales with the fourth power of the radial distance water has to travel to escape:
F ∝ R⁴ / h³
That R⁴ term exists because water at the center of a flat disk has to travel the full radius outward to escape when the plates squeeze together — a long, slow path. If you dish out the center, that water is sitting in an open reservoir with nowhere to build pressure — it's not trapped. Only the water in the thin rim band actually gets squeezed, and it only has to travel the width of that rim (not the full radius) to escape. Since the effective flow-path length drops so much, and the force depends on that length to the 4th power, the reduction is dramatic — often far more than proportional to the area removed.
Net effect: You wouldn't make it perfectly zero — there's still a wetted rim doing some work — but you'd cut both the suction and (especially) the "stuck fast" viscous resistance dramatically. This is essentially why things like vacuum-cup release valves, dimpled/grooved plates, and relief channels are common tricks for beating stiction — you're shortening the escape path for the trapped film rather than trying to eliminate the film itself.
You could test this premise using a 3d printed part.
I asked Claude (an AI),
Capillary adhesion is experienced between the grindstone and the washer on a Tormek grinder. If the washer had most of the surface dished out (as if it were a bowl), would this surface adhesion become almost negligible?
The response was,
Yes, and quite significantly — for two separate reasons tied to the two mechanisms:
Capillary suction (Laplace pressure)
This force is roughly proportional to the contact area where the thin film exists. Dish out the center and that area shrinks to just the outer rim, so the suction force drops proportionally to how much area you've removed.
Stefan (viscous squeeze-film) adhesion
This is the bigger effect for a fast pull-apart, and it's the one that benefits most dramatically. The Stefan equation says resistance scales with the fourth power of the radial distance water has to travel to escape:
F ∝ R⁴ / h³
That R⁴ term exists because water at the center of a flat disk has to travel the full radius outward to escape when the plates squeeze together — a long, slow path. If you dish out the center, that water is sitting in an open reservoir with nowhere to build pressure — it's not trapped. Only the water in the thin rim band actually gets squeezed, and it only has to travel the width of that rim (not the full radius) to escape. Since the effective flow-path length drops so much, and the force depends on that length to the 4th power, the reduction is dramatic — often far more than proportional to the area removed.
Net effect: You wouldn't make it perfectly zero — there's still a wetted rim doing some work — but you'd cut both the suction and (especially) the "stuck fast" viscous resistance dramatically. This is essentially why things like vacuum-cup release valves, dimpled/grooved plates, and relief channels are common tricks for beating stiction — you're shortening the escape path for the trapped film rather than trying to eliminate the film itself.
You could test this premise using a 3d printed part.