Upgrading a T2000

[JohnG]

I bought a t2000 about 20 years ago and I decided that I would do some upgrades as I was struggling to get consistent results. The general appearance of the machine was poor as the paint was peeling off and the steel chassis was rusting underneath. I started with a strip down and treated the rust and repainted with dark green smooth Hamerite as there is no RAL number available for the original green . The nylon bearings were good with no play but the drive shaft was a bit rusty so I invested in a stainless steel easy lock replacement . Considering the price of the original machine I am surprised that it did not come with a stainless steel shaft as a steel one was always going to rust with a whetstone! The original wheel was a little down in diameter -21 cm so I treated myself to a new wheel . The old honing wheel was still in place but beginning to crack and the drive wheel was also the original plastic and again cracked. A new leather honing wheel was fitted and a metal drive wheel. I had often struggled to get my plane blades and chisels to grind straight in the past so I went for the new improved chisel and plane blade Tormek guide and a new "f" arm with micro adjustment. I followed the instructions of oiling the leather honing wheel but I am not really happy with its performance in that it is very sticky - perhaps I used too much of the Tormek supplied oil. As to the grind wheel - there is a bit of side to side wobble but the grind surface is running true and barely needed any trueing up with the diamond trueing attachment . I don't really understand why a new wheel has a slight wobble unless the centre hole is not exactly perpendicular to the flat side. My reading on the subject says that a slight wobble is acceptable but not if you want to use the flat side of the wheel! So all put together and ready to sharpen all my plane irons and chisels( about 30 in all). Mostly ok but one or two of the chisels and plane irons still ground to an angle despite using the new guide and following the instructions to the letter and watching the YouTube videos. I was really hopeful with all the time and expense(not inconsiderable) that I would have ended up with a machine which would perform like new but I still have some niggles. In retrospect I think I should have just gone for a new T8 - but then the wheel may still have wobbled and the honing wheel would still be sticky!