Way to true the side of the wheel?

[tedn1]

Hello,

I know there's a lot of sharpening that goes on, on the side of the tormek wheel. Is there a way to flatten the side of the wheel if it become un-true?

("un-true" is probably not the best term. Sorry.    )

Thanks,
Ted

[Rob]

That's a good one Ted. I have the same problem in fact.

[mski2]

Same question here, I just flatten 2" of my chisels and plane blades and getting a ridge on the side,
Was going to try a Norton flattening stone, what do you think?

[jeffs55]

I wonder if you could chuck the wheel in a metal lathe and use the wheel dresser diamond tool clamped in the tool post that would normally hold a cutting tool as for turning a metal object.

[Rob]

Probably, but that would need specialist tooling which is unlikely to be widely owned by the likes of us.  I spose you need to take the wheel off and lay it flat then dress it with some kind of flat abrasive block.

Lap the lap so to speak

[Ken S]

Rob, that reminds me of the time I flattened my grandfather's cupped oilstone.  It was a lot of hard work  I only did it because it was my grandfather's.  Since then, I have become VERY careful about using the whole stone area.  (Since then i have learned about diamond lapping plates.)

If you plan to true the side of the wheel, I would suggest doing it often, before it becomes a big job,  I have a T shaped diamond wheel dresser (about fifteen dollars from Lee Valley).  I haven't used it on the Tormek wheel, however, it does a nice job on the face of my dry grinder wheels.

The only time I use the side of the Tormek wheel is for the odd chisel back which has a belly.  I use it for the initial flattening.  Once the back is flat, I polish it on Norton water stones.

Keep us posted if you lap your wheel....More power to you! (You'll need it.)

Ken

[Rob]

Haha, yeah Ken, you note I used the word "spose". That shows how entirely not committed I am to the notion of trying to re flatten the side of the stone. I entirely agree with you...bugger of a job and the longer it's left the worse it gets

Funny you should mention your grandad, I did a similar refurb on my (long deceased now) Dads  Stanley bailey smoothing plane. The sides were really rusty in fact all the metal parts were in a terrible state. I spent hours and hours lapping it and getting it back to true. It was as you say, only the family significance that motivated the Titan amount of effort to restore it.

Now I use it all the time and it cuts absolutely perfectly (tormek'd blade of course).  In fact it actually robbed lie Nielsen of a sale as it cuts that well I didn't bother getting one of theirs. Mind you...I did drool over the Lie Nielsen planes for about an hour in the tool store :-). Ironically, it was actually an "heirloom" which prevented me buying one of their heirloom quality tools :-)

Rob

[Ken S]

Rob,

If you had lapped your Tormek wheel, you would have done your year's worth of aerobic exercises.  Then you could have spent the rest of the year enjoying your leisure and nursing your painful hands.

I suspect it would not be all that difficult to jury rig a support for a diamond dressing bar on the side of the wheel.  However,  if someone spent some early morning time flattening a chisel a day, within a month that person would have several lifetimes worth of flattened chisels.

I hear you about rehabbing your Dad's plane.  I did the same thing with my grandfather's 1891 vintage Stanley jack plane during Ernie Conover's plane class.  It cuts like a champ now.  I would not compare it with a new Lie-Nielsen or Veritas plane, but it certainly is in my league.  I also enjoy using old tools, especially old family tools.

Should I ever purchase any L-N planes, they would probably be specialty planes.  Whereas tuning a bench plane is doable, I doubt I could rehab an old shoulder rabbet plane to be near a L-N or Veritas.  Same with a roughing plane.

I have thought about, and am still thinking about, replacing my 100 year old blades for new Hock or Veritas thicker blades.  One side tells me that's a logical upgrade.  Another side remembers watching Ernie do some amazing planing with an original Stanley smoothing blade he had just sharpened.  There is something to be said for skill.

Ken

[Rob]

I couldn't agree more Ken. You know I had the same thought line over the thicker blade issue with Dad's Stanley Bailey. The LN blades being thicker chatter less and I actually compared my blade with one of LN's in the store. Mine is way thinner. But then I figured that its cutting absolutely gossamer shavings and spot on uniform so how is Tom Lie Neilsen going to improve on that. In the end I came to the same conclusion as you and opted to keep the real heirloom as it was. This was some years ago and I now have the LN block plane and the medium shoulder for cleaning out tenon shoulders ie more specialised functions. 

I've even had my son using Dads Stanley just to get him used to it, ready for the right of passage to yet another generation :-) (he's only nine)

It probably would cut better technically with the thicker blade, but it wouldn't feel right. It's an old friend like it is and somehow I dont think any amount of technology will change that.

[Ken S]

Rob,

I agree with you.  Since the smoother takes such thin shavings, I think a thicker blade would give better service in the jack plane.  Since the #4 smoother and #5 jack planes both use 2 inch blades, it would be possible to hedge one's bet.

As an aside, the new Veritas blades answer the question about flattening the side of the wheel....they arrive dead flat.

My favorite blade is the sharp one.

Ken

ps How did the users of my plane get by for the first 120 years with a standard blade? 

[Rob]

 

Skill is how Ken....skill   

[Mike Fairleigh]

People who really know what they're doing and spend their time building their hand tool skills do the most beautiful work on the planet using only 100 year old warped tools with thin, rehabbed irons that they either inherited or picked up for $15.

It's only the dolts like me who buy Lie-Nielsens. 

[jeffs55]

Fellows, I would call this off topic and in no way helpful to the original poster.

[Rob]

Oh I don't know, the odd digression is permissible surely?  I found Ken's comments to be interesting as they help put the technology and techniques in perspective.  Technical forums of this nature usually answer the what and the how, sometimes comments about the "why" can lift the discussion beyond two dimensions. I find they enrich the discussion personally.

But......what do I know 

[Ken S]

Jeff,

I agree we are getting off topic.  However, we did make a good effort to answer the original post before drifting.

If the side of the wheel was supposed to be a precision grinding surface, I believe Tormek would have made much more of it in their marketing program.  I have only used the side to flatten an otherwise very nice old Buck chisel with a belly.  Others probably have more side experience than I do.

Mike, thank goodness for dolts like you!  By the way, Chris Becksvoort seems to prefer Lie-Nielsen planes.  I'm sure he could use any planes he wishes.  I have no doubt they are world class.  All they lack is a multigenerational history.

Ken