Not So Sharp

[Keebin]

Hey there,

Relatively new Tormek user here.  Not sure what I'm doing wrong but I seem to be able to get a sharper edge with my Lansky system as opposed to the Tormek.
Possible I'm not doing enough passes once the stone is dressed to a finer grit??
Also, at which point are users flipping to the other side? 
I've always switched when a burr can be detected along the entire edge of the blade.

Any help would be appreciated.

Great forum!

Kevin

[chiamsi]

Hi Kevin,
I am new as well. What helped me a lot was the Tormek lesson held about a week ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2ifZQOJA7k

Cheers
Ernst

[cbwx34]

Hey there,

Relatively new Tormek user here.  Not sure what I'm doing wrong but I seem to be able to get a sharper edge with my Lansky system as opposed to the Tormek.
Possible I'm not doing enough passes once the stone is dressed to a finer grit??
Also, at which point are users flipping to the other side? 
I've always switched when a burr can be detected along the entire edge of the blade.

Any help would be appreciated.

Great forum!

Kevin

How do define or test "sharp"?

But, my guess, the answer is... what is your burr removal method?  That's usually where the problem lies (and the part of the video mentioned above to pay extra attention to).

Also, unless you're doing some major work on a knife, like removing chips or a reprofile... just leave it graded "fine"... it will do the job.  Save coarse for when more work is needed.

[John_B]

Although most sources would have you grind until you can feel a burr on one side I follow a different process. I will make a couple of passes on one side then flip the knife and do a couple on the other side. You can inspect your progress easily with a magnifier. I do this for a couple of reasons. First I think it minimizes the amount of metal you need to grind away in order to feel a burr; honing the minuscule burr that you have after grinding is a lot easier and you get a extremely sharp edge; 3rd you have no worry about the grind on each side being symmetrical. If I have sharpened a knife before and I am not changing the angle i never grade the stone coarse. The stone naturally goes to a spot between coarse and fine and that is where I start out. After completing this stage I grade it as fine as possible for the final few passes before honing.

If you are honing freehand on the leather wheel try and maintain a constant angle as you hone.

With the standard setup you should be able to sharpen a knife so that you can easily shave your arm or leg hair in either direction. Another good test is trying to filet a sheet of copy paper. You should be able to cut a piece from the sheet without going all the way through. You can see this at 36:49 of this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2ifZQOJA7k&t=1043s

[Stephen M]

I know I'm late to the party but, I can confirm that using the Lansky holder on the Tormek WORKS!  I have a Spyderco Tenacious that I used with the SVM-45 and could not get good results with it.  I'm sure it has more to do with the blade shape and such, but I was very impressed with how well it worked.  Also, the first time I sharpened the Spyderco Tenacious I noticed that the knife was not sitting in the SVM-45 centered, which led to uneven bevels.  I used the Lansky holder and worked the "shallow" side more the the other and PRESTO!  Perfectly even and incredibly sharp.  I'm not saying that the Lansky holder is the "end all, be all", but it worked well for that particular knife.

[cbwx34]

I know I'm late to the party but, I can confirm that using the Lansky holder on the Tormek WORKS!  I have a Spyderco Tenacious that I used with the SVM-45 and could not get good results with it.  I'm sure it has more to do with the blade shape and such, but I was very impressed with how well it worked.  Also, the first time I sharpened the Spyderco Tenacious I noticed that the knife was not sitting in the SVM-45 centered, which led to uneven bevels.  I used the Lansky holder and worked the "shallow" side more the the other and PRESTO!  Perfectly even and incredibly sharp.  I'm not saying that the Lansky holder is the "end all, be all", but it worked well for that particular knife.

👍🏼👍🏼 😎