Magnifier

[AndrewLee]

Hey guys,

Still learning to use the dbs22. One of the problems I've encountered is trying to use the magnifier. Is it just me using it incorrectly but it seems to be completely out of focus.

[Elden]

AndrewLee,
   We have moved so mine is not available to look at. Is there an adjustment to the eyepiece? I have an old eye loupe that had a stand it could be mounted in. The loupe screwed up and down to adjust the focus.

[AndrewLee]

It looks like there is an adjustable thing near the top of the magnifier, I tried messing with it but it doesn't seem to enhance the focus any better. 

[Ken S]

AndrewLee,

I will look at my DBS-22 this weekend and get back to you. In the meantime, id you hold a drill bit or a small piece of paper with type with the magnifier, can you see it sharply at some distance?

Ken

[AndrewLee]

Hi Ken, I've messed about with it a little today and it seems that it's completely out of focus until you have the drill bit pressed almost right up to the alignment bar in the magnifier. Don't know if that means it's correct or not. Any further out and it's blurry

Andrew

[Ken S]

Andrew,

Sorry to take so long to reply. I looked at my DBS-22 drill bit jig with a smaller bit installed. My loupe focuses.

I worked with large view cameras for thirty years. I always carried a loupe and used it regular as my eyes got older.

One thing which helps me with the loupe and drill bit jig is shining a bright LED flashlight through the open side of the loupe. That makes the light not only brighter but with higher contrast.

Are you setting the protrusion length of the drill bit with the stop?

I need to look through the distance part of my eyeglasses to see properly through the loupe.

If you are still not seeing sharple through the loupe, make up a focusing target. A piece of dowel cut off square or a penlight battery will work. You was a flat surface papallel with the lens of your loupe which has both dark and light.

My first thought is that you may not have set the bit protrusion with the stop on the flat part of the jig.

If, by chance, you have not watched Alan Holtham's video on tormek.com, be sure to do so, preferably more than once. I continue to watch it every time before using the jig.

Please post either way.

Ken

[AndrewLee]

Hey Ken,

Yes I think you're right to suspect that my distance of the drill bit may be the problem. I loved it up today and indeed the focus was much better now

I have watched Alan's video on YouTube. Infuriating as to how simple his demonstrations make it look. I've yet to make my first perfect four faceted drill bit!

[Ken S]

Andrew,

Imagine your brain is a ten speed bicycle. You want to be in the lowest gear for this learning hill. Believe me, when you reach the crest and are happily examining your first perfect four facet bit, the effort will all seem worthwhile. Go slowly. Set the grinding depth very shallow until you get a feel for the jig.

Just as with bench chisels, I think a medium size drill bit makes the going easier. I would start with a size in the 10mm or 7/16" range. It is large enough to see and grind easily and small enough not to become a big project. After doing your victory dance with the first perfect bit, do a few more in that general size range.

As that great English Tormek user said in Henry V, "Once more into the breach!"

I think the DBS-22 is Tormek's most advanced and versatile jig once mastered. If I can do it, you certainly can.

Have courage, patience and keep us posted!

Ken

[RichColvin]

Andrew,

When I first started using mine, I knew something was wrong :  Only ½ or less of my grinds were like the pictures in the manual.  But I stuck with it, & learned that very small increments are the key (for me).  I was being to aggressive & it wasn't working.  When I slowed down, my success went up greatly.

I will also add this :  I believe this jig is the most complex one that Tormek makes.  Takes a little longer to master.   But stick with it.  The points on your drill bits will get better. 

I do a fair bit of pen turning with wood that has highly figured grain.  Sharp bits enable me to have good, tight fits.  The work is worth it for me, & significantly cheaper than buying new bits all the time (probably better for the environment also).

Kind regards,
Rich

[AndrewLee]

Cheers Ken and Rich for the advice! I'm always looking for help with Woodturning and woodworking in general as it's a hobby I've grown to love for the last few years. I noticed a few problems with woodworking though for me:

1. I seem to enjoy the idea of building jigs over actually making stuff
2. Its getting too easy to justify purchases and hiding them from the missus. Surely she'll find out someday as just how much I blown my money on stuff.


Anyways! I think the big one is lime what you two have said, which is being too aggressive. So far all Ive been doing is sharpening knives and gouges and there seems to be little room for error and I've gotten accustomed to pressing down against the stone with plenty of force.

I'm assuming then I should adopt a more feather light approach when  it comes to drill bits. I'll have to take before and after pics of my drill bits to compare. So far my 10mm drill bit looks like something exploded.

One more question, how essential is it to get the stone completely level? I've been getting away with the stone not being completely true but if grinding drill bits may be a sensitive operation, my gut feeling is telling me that I should give it the once over with the diamond truing tool first.

Andrew

[Ken S]

Andrew,

If you watch Jeff Farris' videos, Jeff mentions that the Tormek operates well at a remarkable range. While you can be heavy handed enough to lift the one side off the bench while sharpening a chisel, the Tormek also operates with a much lighter touch. I suggest you start out with a lighter touch, especially with drill bits. It is easy to overgrind the mark. Forget speed; strive for quality work.

Using an untrue grinding wheel is like driving a car in need of a tune up and oil change.  Keeping the wheel regularly trued should become part of your routine housekeeping, just like cleaning the water trough at the end of each sharpening session. Truing the new wheel should be done before anything else is sharpened. I suspect that is not the answer you hoped to hear, but it is honest. The last time I trued my grinding wheel was yesterday. If you keep it trued, you will get better sharpening results and probably have less wheel wear. Truing often will help you become proficient. It is good insurance to keep the sharpening gremlins away.

I would true the wheel before sharpening drill bits. It helps your state of mind.

Keep us posted.

Ken

ps In my opinion the two best ways to keep your wife happy are to balance you time so that she doesn't feel like a workshop widow and to make something for her.

[AndrewLee]

I'll be honest and admit that I've only ever tried the wheel only once since I've had it lol

My main fear is that these wheels aren't cheap and I'm afraid that truing the wheel would rapidly eat away the material

[Ken S]

Andrew,

You have an affliction which runs rampant with Tormekers, PGWS .(Precious Grinding Wheel Syndrome). You need to reprogram your thinking. The precious things are the things you share which you have made with your own hands using sharp tools, not the tools themselves. Think of your grinding wheel are your Tormek's brake shoes. Each time you apply the brakes, you shorten the life of your brake shoes. I hope this does not inhibit you from stopping when you need to stop.

I recently saw Rich Colvin's very worn grinding wheel. After ten years of good service it is honorably worn out. Rich is a turner. Gouges wear the wheel more quickly than flat tools. Rich's worn out grind stone has produced a lot of wood turnings.

Steve Bottorff averages about eighteen months of weekly farmers'' market sharpening with each wheel. That's a lot of sharpened knives and revenue from each wheel.

I suspect most long time Tormekers are still using their first wheel (and trying to squeeze the last millimeter out of it ) Your Tormek wheel will give you a lot of service and last a long time.

You will get much more enjoyment from your Tormek if you keep the wheel trued regularly. Have you used bench stones? Water stones work well, if they are fastidiously flattened. Oilstones do not wear as fast, but cut very slowly if not kept dressed regularly. Compared with good quality bench stones and diamond flattening plates, Tormek wheels are not so expensive, plus it has a motor. Regularly truing your grinding wheel is essential for accurate sharpening. I believe that most out of square grinding is a result of an untrue wheel. Also, regular, light truing develops your fluency with the truing tool.

I highly recommend working with a chisel to learn the Tormek. See the first topic , Tips and Techniques.

Your learning time will be well rewarded.

Ken

[RichColvin]

Ken & others bring up a point that is just starting to gel in my mind (after 10 years of Tormek use).  As I read the last post, it reminded me of a trip I took to Athens, Greece a few years back.  I remember seeing the carved columns.



When I saw the fluting in the columns, I marveled at the mastery of the carvers.  How hard it must have been to

• get a round column,
• that was tapered evenly all the way to the top,
• that had flutes evenly spaced all around the column,
• that had flutes that were cut evenly to the same depth, and
• that matched all the other columns in the temple !

And to make that even more remarkable, they were using carving tools that were most probably soft steel or bronze !

How often must these tools had to have been sharpened ?
How many stones were lost to that sharpening ?

Today, 3000 years later, those last two questions do not really matter.  The carvers' work is their legacy. 

Tim Vande Sluis has a site for wood carving, and sends out a periodic eMail.  His latest one said that there are two stages to becoming an accomplished artist.

• The artist must first learn to control the tool.
• Then the artist can express the vision in his (or her) mind.

We'll be remembered for the art we produce, not how sharp our tools were.  The sharpness of our tools makes mastering the tool control easier, and the art easier to produce.  If a few stones need to be sacrificed to achieve great art, it is a small price to pay.

[Ken S]

Good points, Rich.

If by making the tools sharp we can contribute to the artist developing control of them, we will have served a useful function.

The museums of the world have many exquisite musical instruments. In reality, these beautiful works of art were often not the most musical instruments. These were usually played out and discarded.

It seems no surprise that the same ancient Greek culture which gave us these marvelous columns also gave us mathematicians like Mr. Euclid of Alexandria and Pythagorus.

Ken