Tormek Leather wheel Compound

[Tormek T-8]

Waking up this older thread, in spite of warnings about doing so.
I don't use my T-8 very often. But when I do it takes me a long time to do everything (and anything).
However, I was unhappy about how much compound had accumulated on my leather wheel.
I used mineral oil and the back of a hunting knife to get the leather all cleaned up. It took a long time and a lot of old compound came off.
I would put a little mineral oil on two or three places on the leather and then use my finger to spread the oil to both sides of the wheel and around the entire circumference. It was kind of amazing how many times I had to repeat this before the wheel was free of the caked globs of compound.
Once that cleaning was done I use the honing compound sparingly, but I used the same finger to make sure the compound was spread to both sides and all the way around the wheel before I started to hone.
I also use diamond paste on the leather wheel after the Tormek compound in the yellow tube. Same routine with my proprietary finger tool.
I always feel like sharpening takes me a lot longer than what I have seen in the videos. But there is nothing like a plane iron or a chisel that is sharpened to a mirror finish.
Anyone else feel like the videos are misleading as to the amount of time needed to do the job?

[John Hancock Sr]

I suspect that the tools in the videos are close to sharp already. Also, sometimes we can sharpen way beyond the point of sharp enough. Not an issue just a preference

[tgbto]

Also the intent behind the videos is to demonstrate proper technique. There probably is still a burr on several of the knives/tools after their short honing, but the basics have been covered.

[Ken S]

One consistent theme running through the Tormek videos, even going back to those by Jeff Farris, is that "a little dab will do you" with honing compound.

Perhaps the demo knives in the videos are somewhat sharper than usual. If we are maintaining our own knives, I think this is good practice. for those of us who sharpen for others, I hope we are educating our customers about the importance of good knife maintainence, including regular sharpening. I would compare that with regular oil changes in vehicles.

Ken