alternatives to the Tormek stone grader

[Ken S]

 I have never been reluctant to consider techniques outside of the traditional Tormek doctrine. That is not meant to imply anything negative, just open mindedness.

I recently borrowed an idea from Wootz and purchased an inexpensive 1000 grit diamond plate. My initial use left me with and impressively flat, true and smooth surface on my SG-250. It also left me with more questions than answers. With the kind of BESS numbers Wootz achieves with edges, his technique certainly warrants exploration.

I adapted a Tormek technique from setting the skew angle of a skew chisel. One simply draws a line across the face of the grinding wheel using the support bar as a straight edge. This can simplify setting the diamond file square. Just line up the diamond plate with the scribed line.

My test is very preliminary. I have not used the 1000 grit plate on my SJ or SB. Nor have I tried using a 400 grit plate or any other grit plate.

Among my questions is whether the graded grit range of 220 to 1000 is inherent in the grinding wheel or is established, at least to some extent, by the stone grader. I don't have any leanings one way or the other. I am just curious. My SG wheel is coarser right after truing than after using the stone grader.

I do not mean to criticize the stone grader. The stone grader has been a staple of Tormek for many years. It deserves serious consideration. I also believe the new kid deserves some consideration, also.

I will post further tests and welcome comments. I have opened two topics, one discussing the stone grader, one discussing alternatives. I hope replies will be posted to the right topic. I look forward to the dialog. Hopefully we will continue pushing back the frontier of Tormek sharpening knowledge.

Ken 

[Grizz]

I truly believe in the Tormek grader and still use the grader on all but the SJ-250

For the SJ stone, I too use the Wootz method of the 1000 grit diamond plate to not only clean the SJ, but to grade it as well. I primarily started using it just to clean the wheel, but soon discovered an exciting anomaly that it IMO re-grades the SJ to a higher grit level. of course I cannot prove this actually happens, but the wheel seems twice as slick after the diamond plate has been on the wheel only a minute or two.

[Ken S]

Interesting observation, Grizz. I had a similar experience with the stone grader and the SG-250. I was curious to see what would happen if I used the fine side of the stone grader for a much longer time, over a minute. When I did this, the surface of the grinding wheel became noticeably smoother than it had been before.Smoother, or just culler?

This procedure opens up new possibilities and many new questions. Unfortunately, like you, I do not have an accurate method of quantifying these changes.

Is the stone grading range of 220 to 1000 grit totally determined by the grindstone itself? Or, can this range be controlled and/or expanded by using different grading tools such as diamond plTes?

The handbook reflects the original full coarse and full fine only approach going back to the first days of the aluminum oxide SG wheel. Tormek has chosen not to include things like grading to a middle grit, called "600" in the handbook. Automobile transmissions have become more sophisticated since the early days of high and low gear. I think the SG wheel and stone grader (or the SG wheel and another grader) are far more versatile than described in the handbook.

In my opinion, what is needed is a supplemental handbook online located with the regular handbook for more advanced users. This would be cost efficient to compile and update. I do not expect Tormek to cover every scenario in depth. However, knives, chisels, and planes represent one large category of Tormek sharpening. What would be ideal stone grading techniques for these tools? Coarse, fine, or middle? How long is a reasonable expectation with these flat tools before the stone should be regraded?

What would the grit effect be from using different diamond grits?

Grizz' post indicates that the SJ wheel may be capable of grading, a new concept. This is exciting, and certainly deserves further testing.

We have not even mentioned the SB blackstone yet.....

Ken