Recent posts

#21

General Tormek Questions / Re: Storing Tormek tools

Last post by rolsen - March 29, 2025, 12:37:44 PM

Do you mean these inserts? They should be available.

https://tormek.com/en/products/storage/tormek-case-and-inserts

#22

General Tormek Questions / Re: Storing Tormek tools

Last post by RichColvin - March 29, 2025, 05:24:04 AM

I believe I've seen them on GrabCAD or Printables or Thingaverse. 

#23

General Tormek Questions / Storing Tormek tools

Last post by Arzt - March 29, 2025, 01:32:18 AM

I want to make fitted inserts for boxes to hold my Tormek attachments.  The company makes great boxes with fitted inserts, but I already have the tools.  (They don't sell the inserts separately). 

Has anybody made diagrams with the contours of Tormek pieces?  I can trace mine, but if there are tried & tested versions, they'll surely be better than mine.  Formats like .pdf or .jpg would work, but .dxf would be even better.  I wrote to Tormek to suggest this, but received no reply.

#24

General Tormek Questions / Re: Hardness and hardness - no...

Last post by John Hancock Sr - March 29, 2025, 12:16:56 AM

So in short : before sharpening, get your corundum tester, if it scratches then use SG, if not use CBN/diamond ?

Correct

Better yet : could we not try and scratch the surface of the knife with the edge of the SG wheel, observe, and choose the wheel accordingly

Also correct.

Yu can actually feel it. If the knife is harder it simply slips across the surface. If the grit is harder then it grabs.

You have to test the actual edge steel. Some knives are laminated so it is only the very edge that is hard. Same with Japanese chisels and some plane irons.

#25

Wood Turning / Re: Sharpening a pen blank tri...

Last post by RichColvin - March 28, 2025, 11:46:42 PM

Rane has a great point.  I like his approach, but wanted a way to ensure that all the cutters were consistently cut to the same depth and perpendicular to the axis of rotation for the pen mill.

I added a part to the 3D-printed goniostat to address sharpening the pen mill also.  Using the depth stop helps ensure the cutters are consistent.



The angle on all my pen mills of this type is around 10°, and that matches those recommended for soft metals in Design and Use of Cutting Tools by St. Clair.

This is very easily done on the Tormek, and I now will be cursing less when making pens.

You can see the details at https://www.sharpeninghandbook.info/WW-PenMill.html and 
https://www.sharpeninghandbook.info/Jigs-Goniostat.html.

#26

General Tormek Questions / Re: COMMONLY USED TORMEK TERMS

Last post by John_B - March 28, 2025, 07:53:03 PM

New forum member here. Thanks for this. I was reading one of Ken's posts and was totally lost in the acronyms. This will help. I have had my T-4 for perhaps 10 years and have used it once. I have decided to turn more and I need to invest more time and effort in learning how to use this system. The manuals are extremely well written but remain OVERWHELMING. The learning curve is steep. I look forward to lots of reading.

I don't know what jigs you own but I advise that you start by sharpening a chisel or an older knife following the videos and manual for guidance. In total the system appears a bit overwhelming but taken a piece at a time it is not so daunting. Also I advise against going down the rabbit hole of ultra sharpness until you have mastered the stock system. With the standard wheel and honing wheel you can sharpen knives well beyond their initial factory sharpness.

Also don't hesitate to ask questions. Sometimes hearing an answer from a different viewpoint will make things clearer.

#27

General Tormek Questions / Re: COMMONLY USED TORMEK TERMS

Last post by bmchan - March 28, 2025, 04:16:17 PM

New forum member here. Thanks for this. I was reading one of Ken's posts and was totally lost in the acronyms. This will help. I have had my T-4 for perhaps 10 years and have used it once. I have decided to turn more and I need to invest more time and effort in learning how to use this system. The manuals are extremely well written but remain OVERWHELMING. The learning curve is steep. I look forward to lots of reading.

#28

General Tormek Questions / Re: Hardness and hardness - no...

Last post by tgbto - March 28, 2025, 08:49:51 AM

John, this is such an enlightening post !

I didn't know about Mohs hardness before reading it, and I've spent yesterday night reading/watching stuff related to it.

A quick newbie question though : if I understand the principle correctly, wouldn't just the MOHS hardness level 9 tester be sufficient to choose between CBN/Diamond or SG ? If I'm not mistaken, level 9 means "scratched by Al2O3 but not by topaz". So in short : before sharpening, get your corundum tester, if it scratches then use SG, if not use CBN/diamond ?

Better yet : could we not try and scratch the surface of the knife with the edge of the SG wheel, observe, and choose the wheel accordingly ? It seems the SG is precisely Al2O3...

#29

General Tormek Questions / Re: Hardness and hardness - no...

Last post by John Hancock Sr - March 28, 2025, 04:51:27 AM

If you do a search on Amazon or eBay for hardness test set you get a lot of Rockwell hardness test blocks and a lot of water hardness test kits and a few MOHs hardness test sets. The cheapest is over AU$100 but if you were a professional then this may well be worth the investment.

#30

General Tormek Questions / Re: Hardness and hardness - no...

Last post by Sir Amwell - March 27, 2025, 10:16:24 PM

I think I understand this John. Interesting.
Would this explain why some so called 'super steels' are easier to sharpen than others even though the Rockwell score is higher?
A cheap and reliable MOH tester may therefore be more useful to the knife sharpener than knowing the Rockwell hardness?