Show Posts
1
Knife Sharpening / Why either/or?
« on: May 14, 2022, 02:18:18 pm »
Among the posts about the new KJ knife jigs, I detect an attitude of having to use either the SVM or the KJ jigs exclusively. Why should we impose this artificial limitation on ourselves?
The KJ-45 jig presently costs only $54US. That makes it one of the least expensive Tormek jigs. For most users, I see no real advantage in purchasing more than one. I also happen to think that very few users really need the KJ-140 long jig. The KJ-45 regular jig will handle long and think blades where the self centering feature is useful. How many "flexible" fillet knives have we seen which are thicker than 3 millimeters?
Most of us already have at least one SVM-45 knife jig. Some of us have several.
Why not use each jig to its best advantage? For very thick or tapered knives, the KJ-45 seems the clear winner. For high volume sharpeners where the speed of the adjustable Projection stop is essential, the old reliable SVM-45 gets the nod. Some of us have doubts about pivoting with the new jig, even after watching the online class. Chances are, the pivot people already have a pivot jig. At around nine knife jigs, I have more than I need; however, having an extra jig dedicated to pivoting seems reasonable.
I sent an email to Sebastien and Wolfgang prior to the online KJ class conveying our questions. Sebastien sent a very wise reply. He appreciated my email, but decided to keep the initial class more basic in order not to lose the beginners. His plan, a good one, is to wait until the new jigs are more generally available and in use. At that point, he plans to schedule another live more advanced class geared to forum users. I will keep us posted on this upcoming class.
Ken
The KJ-45 jig presently costs only $54US. That makes it one of the least expensive Tormek jigs. For most users, I see no real advantage in purchasing more than one. I also happen to think that very few users really need the KJ-140 long jig. The KJ-45 regular jig will handle long and think blades where the self centering feature is useful. How many "flexible" fillet knives have we seen which are thicker than 3 millimeters?
Most of us already have at least one SVM-45 knife jig. Some of us have several.
Why not use each jig to its best advantage? For very thick or tapered knives, the KJ-45 seems the clear winner. For high volume sharpeners where the speed of the adjustable Projection stop is essential, the old reliable SVM-45 gets the nod. Some of us have doubts about pivoting with the new jig, even after watching the online class. Chances are, the pivot people already have a pivot jig. At around nine knife jigs, I have more than I need; however, having an extra jig dedicated to pivoting seems reasonable.
I sent an email to Sebastien and Wolfgang prior to the online KJ class conveying our questions. Sebastien sent a very wise reply. He appreciated my email, but decided to keep the initial class more basic in order not to lose the beginners. His plan, a good one, is to wait until the new jigs are more generally available and in use. At that point, he plans to schedule another live more advanced class geared to forum users. I will keep us posted on this upcoming class.
Ken