Topics

1

General Tormek Questions / New diamond wheels, kits and older Tormek models

« on: December 04, 2018, 12:37:05 am »

We seem to have some confusion about the compatability of the new Tormek diamond wheels and different kits/jigs with older Tormek models.

With grinding wheels, the proof is in examining the shafts. Every Tormek model ever made has a 12mm shaft. The regular shafts and the early stainless shafts have a right hand 12mm thread and nut holding the grinding wheel. The EZYlock has a coarser left hand 12mm thread. Every 250mm diameter Tormek grinding wheel is fully compatable with every 250mm Tormek model. Every 200mm diameter Tormek grinding wheel is fully compatable with every 200mm Tormek model.

The jigs work with the universal support bar. The US-105 support bar for the 250mm models is almost identical with the US-103 support bar for 200mm models, the only difference being that it is 10mm shorter to allow for the 40mm thickness of the smaller wheels, instead of the 50mm thickness of the larger wheels. Both sizes share the identical handbook.

Tormek does not recommend it, however, the 200mm grinding wheels will also work with the 250mm Tormeks. They work as well as any 250mm wheel worn down to 200mm. (They may require an additional spacer washer, no big deal.) For the record, a 250mm grinding wheel will fit onto a 200mm Tormek, if used dry, as some CBN wheels are recommended. Although these combinations can work, they are not ideal. That stated, I would not hesitate to use a Norton 3X 46 or 80 grit wheel on the larger Tormek. Although these wheels are 8inch diameter, they give trooper service as coarse wheels with the Tormek. For $50 US, they offer a lot of firepower.

The point of this post is to advise everyone that Tormek has not abandoned owners of the older models. An ancient SuperGrind T2000 with a new diamond wheel will perform as well as a T8 with the same wheel.

Ken

2

General Tormek Questions / possible portable Tormek stand

« on: December 02, 2018, 12:41:29 am »

This seems like an interesting idea for a portable Tormek stand:

https://www.woodstore.net/Collapsible-Grill-Table-p/gr-01191.htm

Sorry, not much detail.

Ken

3

General Tormek Questions / good new Tormek video

« on: November 29, 2018, 05:10:39 pm »

A friend sent me a link to this video. I found it well worth watching. It really describes the purpose of the Tormek.
Enjoy!
Ken

https://youtu.be/o-HWaG6niy8

4

Hand Tool Woodworking / an inspiring video

« on: November 26, 2018, 12:25:58 pm »

I enjoyed this and thought you might, also.

https://youtu.be/n0KJ3maQ2X4

Ken

5

General Tormek Questions / Torlock explained

« on: November 24, 2018, 10:36:24 pm »

This short video, shown on the Tormek website to explain the scissors jig, has a very good diagram and explanation showing the superior gripping power of the Torlock. A locking screw with a plain bore may work; the Torlock works better.


https://youtu.be/IVl8lTiMlAA

Ken

6

General Tormek Questions / threegood Thanksgiving posts

« on: November 16, 2018, 08:54:17 am »

Forum member Garrett 47 asked me to post these links. They seem very useful for Thanksgiving.
Thanks, Garrett.

https://youtu.be/jh-ejR_OloM

https://youtu.be/-vHa85DHvLU

http://www.cookfoodgood.com/?p=551

Ken

7

General Tormek Questions / MOVED: unintended reshaping

« on: November 11, 2018, 04:12:45 pm »

This topic has been moved to Wood Turning .

https://www.tormek.com/forum/index.php?topic=3800.0

8

Wood Turning / unintended reshaping

« on: November 11, 2018, 02:42:52 pm »

Yesterday I started to sharpen my grandfather's turning tools. They are a 1930s vintage Sears Craftsman carbon set of eight tools. They are true garden variety tools. My grandfather used them very skillfully making chairs and tables. They were carefully sharpened with clean straight bevels. I hesitated to grind away my grandfather's skilled sharpening, however, they were no longer sharp.

I started with the one inch straight ground skew chisel. I used the Multi Jig with the standard settings: hole B, 65mm protrusion, and 20° skew. This would make resharpening very fast in the future. I scribed a line on the grinding wheel with a fine tip marker using the support bar as a straight and sauare edge. The skew angle seemed very close. I also used a black marker on the bevels. The bevel angles did not exactly match the Uniform standard Tormek settings, but seemed close. I marched on for a bit before adjusting the microadjust.

I was using my SG-250. (My diamond wheels are presently on loan, which gives me a chance to get reacquainted with my SG.) Getting my skew to the exact Tormek profile will take some time. I am reminded of a wise comment Jeff Farris made in the Tormek turner's video, approach reshaping gradually. I knew that, but had temporarily forgotten it. In hindsight, I should have noted the variance of the skew from the Tormek profile and tweaked my set up to come closer. Within two or three sharpenings, I would be on target with minimal steel removal and less time spent.

I used the horizontal, grinding away support bar set up. (I should have tried the vertical position.) Using the horizontal position, I also set up my TT-50 truing tool in a separate support bar left in place (but raised) in the vertical sleeves. I have found that very light truing exposes fresh, sharp grains more effectively than using the stone grader.

The operation took longer than I had planned. The SG can handle the operation, but not quickly. Once the profile is matched, just sharpening goes much faster. Good preparation of the grinding wheel is essential.

Ken

I finished sharpening that one inch skew and also completed work on the half inch skew. Only six more tools to go.......

9

General Tormek Questions / stone grading experiment

« on: November 11, 2018, 03:58:19 am »

Seeing diamond stones used by Ionut and Wootz to dress the Japanese stone, I have wondered if a set of two or three diamond stones (DMT calls them diamond files) might serve as replacements for the stone grader.

My initial results using a 1000 grit diamond plate were successful enough to order several and give them to forum members to broaden the testing sample. Wootz has described using them.

I wanted to expand the technique. DMT makes a set of three with 325, 600, and 1200 grit. These are the size of a credit card, two inches or 50mm wide. I had a two foot length of tho inch wide metal stock on hand. I made up three eight inch lengths and glued the diamond files onto them. These fit into a Tormek square edge jig like a plane blade would fit.

Today's initial results are a work in progress. I have more work to do. Looking at the scratch pattern on chisel bevels, initial results indicate that the scratch pattern of the Tormel stone grader at 220 is more coarse than the pattern of the 325 grit diamond file. The 600 grit diamond file and the stone grader used for a middle coarseness (“600 grit”) seemed very similar. The 1200 grit diamond file had a smoother scratch pattern than the stone grader graded fine (1000 grit).

Based on these not thoroughly tested results, I can see possible uses for a very fine diamond credit card size file when a finer stone might be wanted.

These diamond files held in square edge jigs should keep the grinding wheel more flat.

At this point, I do not see diamond files replacing the stone grader. I do see them as a useful complement for the stone grader.

The coarsest way to use the SG remains just after using the TT-50 truing tool.

Ken

10

General Tormek Questions / easy way to measure ACC anti corrosion compound

« on: November 05, 2018, 11:16:27 pm »

ACC is measured in milliliters. The "Ezy Dose" measure shown here is an inexpensive, easy and accurate way to measure this:

https://www.amazon.com/Ezy-Dose-Calibrated-Medicine-Dropper/dp/B005TM2NN6

I originally bought mine to use in my photo darkroom. It also works very well with Tormek ACC or Honerite Gold. Mine says "Kroger Pharmacy". It should be readily available in the children's medicine department of any pharmacy.

Ken

11

Wood Turning / Saturday morning sharpening

« on: October 27, 2018, 10:37:59 pm »

This morning Rich Colvin invited me to attend a sharpening demonstration put on by the Central Ohio Woodturners. Rich was demonstrating the Tormek. Four other club members were demonstrating other sharpening systems. The atmosphere was positive and not at all competitive. It was refreshing; everyone was just trying to promote sharp turning tools.

]
The first photo shows the five demonstrators.

In photos two through four, Rich is on the left wearing the Tormek hat.

It was an enjoyable and informative morning.

Ken

PS As some of you may note, i am finally getting to the point where I can insert photos easily. 

12

General Tormek Questions / "Need Photos"

« on: October 12, 2018, 04:58:00 pm »

I often get replies to my posts stating "need photos". I agree, photos would help clarify things. I can make digital photos. My  bottleneck is getting them from my ipad or macbook to the forum post.

I know there are two venues for photo insertion, the official insertion program and third parties. The official program stores photos on the forum, with limits of four photos, each not larger than 250 kB. The third parties store photos off site and do not have the size and quantity limits.

I don't have a problem with the limits themselves. In fact, we lost many useful photos when Photobucket, the first third party used on this forum, went from free to $400. Four photos per post seems both reasonable and workable to me. I am willing to work at 250 kB per photo. My difficulty is reliably and easily sizing my images down to conform to the limit. I don't mind working within 250 kB if I can easily get there and not end up with images well below the 250 kB limit. I want all the image quality I can get within the program limits.

I am also willing to work with a third party app, if it works well with ios (ipad). Also working well with my macbook would be a big plus. I don't mind paying reasonable fees.

I have used the Image Size app, but with limited success.

Your thoughts would be most appreciated.

Ken

13

General Tormek Questions / BGM-100, before and beyond

« on: October 08, 2018, 12:15:24 pm »

Over the years, I have developed a fascination with the development of the Tormek and sharpening techniques. One of the most interesting areas is the development of the universal support bar and ways of securing it.

Originally, the usb was vertical only. Early on, someone at Tormek devised a method of incorporating a second set of sleeves to hold the usb horizontally. These sleeves were an integral part of a plate which was mounted to the top of the Tormek. This plate was also sold as an accessory to add horizontal capability to older Tormeks. It was cataloged at the XB-100. The original XB-100 had one locking screw. An improved version has two locking screws.

At some point, someone successfully tried mounting an XB-100 to the baseboard of a dry grinder, using blocks of wood to position and orient the block. This allowed the use of Tormek jigs and accessories with high speed dry grinders.

I have found the basic Tormek sufficient for my personal sharpening.  I have felt no need to supplement it with my dry grinder. However, my curious side is eager to explore the posdibilities of mounting the usb in different positions and orientations. Today this is done in several ways. The use of wooden blocks is still a viable option, as shown in the recently posted photo by wootz. The BGM-100 adds metal adjustable brackets to the XB-100, allowing more flexibility in positioning and the use of either horizontal orientation.

The current trend is to allow flexibility with both axes. The Vertical Front Base manufactured by wootz (Knife Grinders) allows both horizontal and vertical adjustment.

Tormek's new Multi Base-100 allows the axis to pivot, although at this point this is primarily for grinding on the side of their new diamond wheels.

A less explored, but potentially very versatile option is converting the Oneway Wolverine  type of jig to work with the Tormek jigs.

While I do find the new posibilites fascinating, my turning tool reshaping is very occasional and limited. So far, I have reshaped two tools. Looking ahead, that number might increase to four or five. Yes, the high speed dry grinder may reshape a tool in under a minute, and the Tormek may require several minutes for the same task. I have the time, and do not want to invest in a dry grinder with higher heat and dust.

I do remain open to new possibilities.

Ken

14

General Tormek Questions / BGM-100 questions

« on: September 23, 2018, 04:30:17 pm »

For several years I have resisted setting up my dry grinder with the BGM-100. I have several reasons for this. My dry grinder is a six inch high speed model. According to the Tormek instructions, this should work. To be kind, I would say that it does not seem an ideal set up.

Until quite recently, I had no use for the dry grinder with Tormek jigs. That is changing a little as I have recently started woodturning. I have successfully done some reshaping with Norton 3X, CBN, and, most recently, the new Tormek diamond wheels. It can be done, although not with as much lightning speed as some would like. I still don't have enough need to purchase and tool up a lower speed eight inch dry grinder, however, if it would be effective, I would consider redoing my present high speed six inch dry grinder to include a BGM or two on the baseboard. I presently have a 3X 46 grit wheel and an 80grit white wheel on my dry grinder.

My first question is: Have any of the hooked up a similar six inch grinder with the BGM-100? If so, how well has it worked?

My second question concerns the OWC adaptor to adapt Tormek jigs to the Oneway Wolverine system. I presently have the OWC adaptor, although not the Wolverine kit. The OWC seems more versatile to me than the BGM. Does anyone have experience with it?

I still have misgivings about using my dry grinder. I am quite content with the water cooled, dust free Tormek environment. 3x, my 180 grit CBN wheel and the DWC-200 Tormek diamond wheel give my T4 plenty of firepower. My 80 and 180 grit CBN wheels and Tormek DC-250 diamond wheels provide plenty of firepower for my T7/8. The only constraint is that reshaping takes several minutes, instead of less than a minute. We live in fast times.

Ken

15

General Tormek Questions / request for kenjig (knife setting tool) instructions

« on: August 28, 2018, 02:40:36 am »

Hi, all.

I received another request for the sheet I posted on the kenjig. In the past, valient members have found it. I thought Rich Colvin had included it in his Sharpening Handbook. No such luck.Finding it among my almost 5000 posts is like finding a common word in War and Peace. If someone can find it, I would be most grateful.

Ken