New T-7 Honing Wheel Skipping?

[Elroy]

Hey everyone, I had been looking at getting a T-7 for a while when I received the email on the 40th Anniversary edition and realized it was time to act!  After unpacking it and starting away on my set of dull chisels all was good until I reached the honing wheel.  When I was prepping it as the manual directs I noticed it kept skipping my chisel up as I was setting the compound.  Upon closer examination the seam where the leather is put together has a hard spot where the glue dried and is not level at the seam.  So whenever a chisel hits the seam it jumps and feels like a lopsided wheel.

I was hoping it would just go away if I used some sandpaper on the wheel when it was running but this was to no avail.  After a solid hour working and trying everything I could th skip is still as bad as it was when I first started.  Is this normal or is the honing wheel I received defective in some way.  Any advice on my new tool would be greatly appreciated! 

[Herman Trivilino]

Sounds like you've got a bit of the glue hardened on the surface and you can't remove it?  Call the vendor and ask for a replacement.  They're usually very good about that sort of thing.

[Elroy]

It really isn't on the surface as much as like a bad glue line, I would relate it more to what you would have if you did a bad job cutting a board and then glued it to another board.  You have visible and hard glue lines.  I tried sanding it off but the skip is rather bad and was just seeing if that was normal. 

Thanks for the response though, I will send Tormek an email and see how they respond!

[CleanCut]

I had the same problem. I overcame it with some concentrated sand papering at the join.

[Elroy]

I started to go down that route but I suspect I would have to almost grade the entire honing wheel quite a bit to get to where this glue line isn't affecting me.  I have sent the email off to Tormek and will see how they reply, I watched video after video of how to do the honing on YouTube and none of those wheels have the distinctive thud I am getting from this glue line and I have spent at least a few hours trying to get it fixed at this point.  More time trying to get my wheel to not skip than I have on anything as of yet! 

[Herman Trivilino]

You'll likely have to deal directly with the vendor instead of with Tormek.

Have you tried cutting off the glue line with a sharp chisel.

[Jeff Farris]

Sand just the glue line, not the entire wheel. Doing the whole wheel doesn't focus on the actual problem area.

It's very common to feel and hear the seam, but it shouldn't be disruptive.

[Elroy]

I did get a response back from Tormek and they pointed out a page in the manual that talks about it.  I read it over an over and didn't see it but it is rather large.  I will just do some more sanding this weekend and hopefully it gets better. 

Also thanks for that part Jeff, if it is normal to feel/hear the glue line that lets me know that it is at least not just me.  I searched for anyone else asking about this and couldn't find it so I was going down the path of thinking it was just my wheel.  Thanks for everyone that helped though.

[Ken S]

Elroy,

Welcome to the Forum.  I would suggest you write a diplomatic letter of complaint to Tormek in Sweden.  The handbook may cover how to correct the situation, and, in fact, it is a probably a minor issue.  However, you did not purchase a Tormek "kit" to be finished by the customer or a discounted refurbished unit.  I am certainly a fan of Tormek quality and design.  However, I don't think your unit should have left the factory with a bump on the honing wheel.  It should be an easy thing for a factory quality inspector to identify and correct.  If the remedy is printed in the handbook it is too common a problem. The factory could have remedied the situation as easily as they expect you to do. You paid full price; you should get a first class unit.

If you do write them, please post the results on the forum.  I hope they rise to the occasion.

Good luck.

Ken

[Mike Fairleigh]

I've sanded my seam a couple of times but still have a LOT of jumping, making it nearly impossible to hold a steady angle.  This may be why I've had so much frustration with honing.

[RobinW]

The seam on my honing wheel was pretty poor initially.

I sanded it a little at first. It is pretty smooth now just through use.

I seem to have used a lot of compound in comparison with others who have commented in other areas of the forum. I have just purchased my 5th or 6th tube and I have had my T7 for less than 2 years and I don't use it very often - say two sessions a month to bring chisels and plane blades up to scratch. So I don't know if the amount of compound has helped the leather on the honing wheel bed down.

[Herman Trivilino]

I seem to have used a lot of compound in comparison with others who have commented in other areas of the forum.

It seems to me that a fair way to compare would be grindstone life.  I used one tube in ten years, and my grindstone wore from its initial diameter of 250 mm to 200 mm.

[Herman Trivilino]

The factory could have remedied the situation as easily as they expect you to do. You paid full price; you should get a first class unit.

Excellent point, Ken.  I agree, and as I said earlier, I believe Tormek would be willing to replace it free of charge.

I'm stretching here to give Tormek the full benefit of the doubt, but it may well be that as the leather breaks in the glue seam stands proud of the surface and needs some minor attention, which is why the issue is addressed in the user manual.

The OP's problem is much worse than this and doesn't fit in this category.  Tormek should replace.

I still don't see why a sharp chisel wouldn't make easy work of the repair.

[Ken S]

Elroy,

Back to your original post: I wouldn't let the issue with the honing wheel keep you from enjoying your new Tormek.  In my opinion, the honing wheel is an added bonus.  The main function of the Tormek is sharpening.  It does this very well with no danger of overheating the steel.  The last bit of polishing, whether on the leather honing wheel, a leather strop or a fine stone, is the easy part of the work.  The manual labor part of sharpening is where the Tormek excels. 

By all means, get sharpening. 

Ken

[Elroy]

Well thanks to everyone for helping.  I did spend some time sanding at it and it at least isn't as bad as it was.  I still would say it is a bit disappointing from what I would expect, the main reason I spent so much (almost twice any competitor) was the expectation that it would work great out of the box.  I do enjoy the new sharpness of my chisels, knives, everything. 

However as Ken pointed out, it was for the sharpening that I bought it not for the honing.  For that it does as I expected.  Plus I really do like the Silver color of this special edition, to be honest if it wasn't for that I may have returned it when I had the initial trouble with the wheel but they didn't have another one to try!  I think I will enjoy it in the long haul though, so maybe for the better.