T1 Help needed

[Berghutze]

Hello, I have bought a T-1. Unfortunately, I'm not getting good results with it. I have a professionally sharpened knife that is no longer sharp. The grinding angle was 20 degrees. As indicated in the enclosed operating instructions, I set the T-1 to ~17.5 degrees and pressed the blade slightly downwards in the guide (with the machine running). As shown in the video, I moved one side of the blade back and forth several times with light pressure. This should be done until a burr appears on the opposite side of the blade; then the other side of the blade should be processed in the same way. My problem: There is no burr and the sharpening result is mediocre at best. Any thoughts?
Thank you
Thomas

[cbwx34]

Hello, I have bought a T-1. Unfortunately, I'm not getting good results with it. I have a professionally sharpened knife that is no longer sharp. The grinding angle was 20 degrees. As indicated in the enclosed operating instructions, I set the T-1 to ~17.5 degrees and pressed the blade slightly downwards in the guide (with the machine running). As shown in the video, I moved one side of the blade back and forth several times with light pressure. This should be done until a burr appears on the opposite side of the blade; then the other side of the blade should be processed in the same way. My problem: There is no burr and the sharpening result is mediocre at best. Any thoughts?
Thank you
Thomas

My first thought is, since you're putting a new angle on the blade, you probably haven't reached all the way to the edge yet.  It can take a while.

Try marking the bevel with a Sharpie, make a few passes on the T-1, and see where metal (Sharpie) is being removed, and if you've reached the edge yet.

[tgbto]

Hello Thomas,

You are basically thinning the blade, i.e. grinding the shoulders. You will not increase sharpness or get a burr until the thinner, more acute grind hits the edge.

You can monitor your progress by marking the edge with a black sharpie and checking from time to time how much sharpie there is left. It might be easier to see than telling the ground part from the unground one.

Thinning a knife takes time, especially if you can't increase the coarseness of the wheel. For reasons explained elsewhere, it may also happen that you will get a burr ealier in some areas than others (belly vs tip, etc.). Resist the temptation to only grind areas where the burr is not formed, because that may lead to high points and a wobbly edge.

Good luck !

Nick.

[Berghutze]

Thank you for your answers. Just to be on the safe side: I grind one side of the knife until I have a burr on the other side? Only then do I grind the other side?
Best
Thomas

[cbwx34]

Thank you for your answers. Just to be on the safe side: I grind one side of the knife until I have a burr on the other side? Only then do I grind the other side?
Best
Thomas

Basically, yes.  If you're removing a lot of metal, you may want to occasionally switch sides prior to raising a burr... just to make sure you don't over-sharpen one side and inadvertently move the edge off center.  But what you posted will work.

[tgbto]

If you're removing a lot of metal, you may want to occasionally switch sides prior to raising a burr... just to make sure you don't over-sharpen one side and inadvertently move the edge off center.  But what you posted will work.

Theoretically, when thinning a knife, the risk of running into such an issue is low, unlike when putting a primary bevel. But it's a good idea to get used to switching sides as part of the basic process as advised by @cbwx34.

You may also want to manage the speed with which you push/pull the knife : the way I've seen it demonstrated, you sharpen the knife going back and forth with a T-1. So you risk spending more time grinding the middle portion of the edge rather than heel/tip, and might raise a high spot especially during heavy grinding sessions. You can check it against a flat reference surface with a light in the background : make sure no light shines through where the flat of the blade meets the flat surface. If you start raising a burr in the middle portion while still having quite a lot of sharpie in the tip/heel area is also a good indication that you're overgrinding the middle.

And a quick remark about the T-1 user manual : the pictures for honing obviously show the knife in an awkward position when the handle of the knife is in the left hand. As demoed by Sebastian in the tormek T-1 video, you should keep the edge of the blade in contact with the whole width of the honing wheel, so the left hand honing position is not a mirror image of the right hand honing position. I guess too quick a cut and paste is to blame.

[Drilon]

There is a post by "tomerus" on October 10, 2017 with very helpful comments. It's worth reading, even though it's not specific to T1.

Regards,
Drilon

[cbwx34]

There is a post by "tomerus" on October 10, 2017 with very helpful comments. It's worth reading, even though it's not specific to T1.

Regards,
Drilon

LINK