improving my jet sharpener

[sunnybob]

I just bought a jet ssg-10 sharpening system, but the drive concerned me. The motor spindle rests againts the rubber drive band continously.
If the machine is not used for months (which is quite likely for me) i feel the rubber will indent and cause an erratic drive movement.

So I made a very simple method of holding back the motor when the unit is in storage.

you can see in the pic I have made two narrow slots, and fed a large plastic cable tie through. This goes around the motor, and when not in use can be pulled tight and held with the split pin. This allows the rubber drive band to be pressure free.
All I have to do is pull the pin, and allow the motor to fall abck onto the shaft.
I cant understand why the makers dont have something similar built in.

[img]http://i637.photobucket.com/albums/uu99/sunnybob_photo/IMG_1406_zpsuxaibszh.jpg[/img]

 

[Eric The Viking]

Good idea.

I have the "Dakota" one that's very, very similar. For ages I've stored it with the spindle pulled back, with a bit of galvanised wire round it and the other end round the "force" adjustment screw on the front corner. It's not ideal - your arrangement is a lot better, but I'm probably going to mod mine with a flat hook on the honing wheel side, which will catch the spindle and pull it back.

I've also added a bit of milk container plastic on top to deflect dripping water back into the trough. It's a messy thing to use - I usually end up with soaking wet feet, as you can't see the drips.

Have you found a source for replacement grinding wheels? I use the diamond trueing tool occasionally, and the diameter reduces rather a lot each time. Typically, Rutlands sell everything except replacement grinding wheels, and although Axminster used to do the ones for Jet grinders (which would fit), it looks like they no longer do. Apparently Tormek ones are a different size.

It would be a frustrating waste to have to replace the entire thing just because the wheel has worn down.

E.

PS: I think your Jet has a better quality (at least, finer) stone on it than the one supplied with the Dakota. I had a look - Rutlands seem to have dropped the Jet-look-alike model I have in favour of something that's probably even cheaper. It's moot - stopped buying from them some years ago.

 

[cansdale]

Thanks for the heads up on these problems guys, was looking to buy one of these, since the Tormek is beyond my pocket. But their no good if you can't get replacement wheels.
Cansdale

 

[Eric The Viking]

Rutlands's search engine is carp!

I've found it now: item RTZ 1017 appears to be the wheel, at a 'mere' 70 quid or thereabouts. It may not fit my machine though as the hole in the middle looks a bit small. I'll have to ask them.

To be fair, if mine was only ever used for straight-edged tools (chisels, plane irons, etc.), I'd hardly ever need to true it. But the temptation to do kitchen knives, scissors, and even the garden shears occasionally, is hard to resist, and it gets either grooved or rounded off. The modifying ("grading") stone is a license to print money, too. It does actually work, after a fashion, but there's a telling little pile of grit in the bottom of the trough afterwards, so I hardly use it if I can avoid it.

If I was a turner, I'd probably have to have two grinders - one for rounded tools and one for everything else, or use one of those belt systems.

I've never got my best sharpness from it either, but for getting a good hollow grind on an edge tool before honing, it's really good. It's also handy for electricians' bolsters, gorilla bars, and recently, decorating scrapers, as you can easily get a consistent square edge without a lot of wasted time.

I'm glad I have it, and would probably buy one again, but not at 200 quid!

 

[SVB]

I'd have a look at the retaining nut holding the existing one on first! I have one of these that will be due a replacement wheel in due course and the nut seems to be common mild steel rather than stainless as it is rusted up a treat and refuses to budge! Don't want to put too much abuse into it until it really is time to change the wheel so I have a no-lose outcome if I stuff it up in changing the wheel.

(does anyone know if the shaft is replacable - I have access to a metal lathe so could make a new one provided removal of the old is possible without wrecking the machine)

 

[Eric The Viking]

Don't want to tell granny to suck eggs, but I think the grinding wheel side is left hand thread...

E.

PS: the shaft is pretty horrid. From memory it has sleeve bearings, and corrosion is the biggest enemy. You've reminded me to grease mine...

 

[sunnybob]

I'd have a look at the retaining nut holding the existing one on first! I have one of these that will be due a replacement wheel in due course and the nut seems to be common mild steel rather than stainless as it is rusted up a treat and refuses to budge! Don't want to put too much abuse into it until it really is time to change the wheel so I have a no-lose outcome if I stuff it up in changing the wheel.

(does anyone know if the shaft is replacable - I have access to a metal lathe so could make a new one provided removal of the old is possible without wrecking the machine)

On my jet, the nut is normal right hand thread. It also has a splash guard around the top of the body to deflect water back into the trough.

If the nut is rusted, get a nut splitter from halfords to save the shaft. Or even a dremel with cutting wheels to bite through the sides of the nut,

I have seen many moans about the amount of wastage with the truing tool, shant be going down that road.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Just checked mine: grinder side is indeed l/h thread (clockwise to undo). The threaded knob on the honing side is normal. There's some rust started on the shaft under the gritwheel, but on that side both the bearing and the thread are clean, thankfully. My advice: grease carefully while you can!

Is yours growing rusticles out of the side of the wheel? Mine's defintely turned brown in rings (the wheel used to be creamy white, and there are tiny, rusty brown crystals growing out, but only, oddly, from the side facing the machine itself. I don't flatten anything on the other face (it's not very flat and it is a very coarse grind), so it's hard to say why that's happening on just one side -- weird.

 

[sunnybob]

Gave the machine its first blade trial today.
first impressions are quite good.
There is not one drop of water spilt onto the bench, after at least a half hour on a 2" plane blade. Full marks for that.

The blade has been sharpened by hand and was around 35 degrees to start with, so a lot of metal to be removed.
i like the angle finder, easy and accurate.

I think my one complaint so far is that the wheel isnt square to the shaft. I dont believe that would have cost any more to do that at the factory, thats just a way of making the wheel need replacing quicker.

Its NOT quick!

I havent bought the diamond grader (how "*%$ much?). I'm just using the blade to even out the bumps as I learn.

A futuire concern might well be those bushes in the blade jig, they dont look set to make the course.

 

[tomasg]

For what its worth
I have a block of machined aluminum around the size of an oilstone that i rest against the side
of the wheel then bump chisel/plane iron against it
done it that way since i made a ball up of the 90 degree tool holder nib .
( might mod this piece in the future into a more sure-worthey piece )

For those who have a new one ,don't do this mod until you've got a lot of your irons done with perfect
even bevels ....and only use chisels/irons that are parallel along their length to do this test.
By the time you've done your tools perfectly your stone should be a perfect 90 degrees with its edge .
Not sure if this will coincide with your jig though ...and if it does ....
Is this is 100 percent repeatable as the height if the rail is changeable
I will have to find out when i get around to it ..
till then i just trust the block against the side technique .

I too made an additional splash guard from a old aluminum saucepan as i was concerned about the water getting
inside the machine

 

[sunnybob]

Another irksome thing happened this afternoon, the right hand thread nut came loose on the wheel.

Such a stupid design fault. It makes me mad when I see things built wrongly.
I shall replace the nut with a stainless nyloc one tomorrow.
But overall, still a good sharpener.
BUT ITS SLOW!!!!!!!

 

[Eric The Viking]

For what its worth
I have a block of machined aluminum around the size of an oilstone that i rest against the side
of the wheel then bump chisel/plane iron against it
done it that way since i made a ball up of the 90 degree tool holder nib .

Fair point. If starting from scratch, I usually get whatever-it-is square on the old high-speed grinder, which has a tool rest I can angle, but I see what you mean. For scrapers, for decorating filling, I like a 55 degree (-ish) grind, so that one edge is fairly sharp and the other fairly blunt. I've found I can just about get a 4" blade into the normal plane-iron tool rest, because the blade tapers.

By the time you've done your tools perfectly your stone should be a perfect 90 degrees with its edge .
Not sure if this will coincide with your jig though ...and if it does ....
Is this is 100 percent repeatable as the height if the rail is changeable
I will have to find out when i get around to it ..
till then i just trust the block against the side technique .

I too made an additional splash guard from a old aluminum saucepan as i was concerned about the water getting
inside the machine

I have two rails (I note that the machine Rutlands sell now comes with two - I got the second one by accident, when a faulty machine was delivered). I use the lower, front one almost exclusively. That's probably why I get wet feet (old towel over toes helps!), but I can see what's happening better. The advantage of the top rail is that it cuts with the stone moving into the edge, rather than away from it, so it might leave a better finish (less burr). I'm not sure - with scary sharp I cut mostly into the edge - but what I do seems to work.

The top rest is mainly used occasionally for the diamond trueing tool. It had no instructions (all instructions for the original "Dakota" one were really poor!), so I usually set it to only just bite, and nudge it across the stone in 1/2mm steps over an hour or two (let it run until you hear it's not cutting, then move it. It leaves the stone with very small grooves (the diamond tool isn't level on the cutting surface!), but it does work.

I'm sure you're right about the splash guard. When I took the stone off mine on Sunday, the rust was on the shaft, where the (damp) stone was, and thankfully, both the bearing and the locknut and thread appeared to be clean. I'm letting it all dry thoroughly (the stone is in the airing cupboard at the moment!), and I'll clean off the surface muck before greasing the shaft (close to the bearing) and locknut, and putting the stone back. I might put some thin paint on the shaft where the stone goes, but I don't want to make it slippery in case it starts skidding.

It's also starting to rust round the clips for the water trough, but that's fairly easy to sort.

It's about five or six years old.

E.