tormek problems

[gloswood]

Hi to you woodies out there
I have a tormek supergrind which i think is the forerunner to the current t3, which no matter how hard i try will not not give a square edge on any thing over about half an inch wide and has never done so since i bought it , so after spending the best part of yet another hour trying to grind a new neilsen a2 plane blade to 35 degrees,
I decided to bite the bullet and buy somethig else, the obvious choice is a t7 but i must admit i am strugleing to justify spending that sort of money as i dont need a sharpening system, i am quite happt to sharpen by hand, but i do need a good wet grinder, i have had a look around and there seems to be a lot of t7 clones out there, plus a few second hand scheppach tigger 2500s, which i dont no if thats a good or bad thing, i would appriciate any veiws any body has, plus if any body has any veiws on a a horizontal wet grinder which would get away from the hollow grind of the vetical type (which i no isn't a problem) thanks in antisipation, martin

 

[paulm]

Have you trued the wheel to the grinding bar Martin and if so how have you done that ?

Are you using a jig to hold the blades, or flat on a grinding platform ?

Cheers, Paul

 

[gloswood]

Good morning paul
I have trued and squared the stone to the bar with tormeks diamond tool, and i do use their jig to hold the tools even checking with a enginners square to make sure the tool is square to the jig, i think the fundamental problem is the weakness of the machine frame allows it all to flex abit, cheers martin

 

[Dodge]

I used to have the Tormek supergrind and regularly experienced this problem, when my stone wore down I actually replaced it with the Sheppach Tiger as that was cheaper to buy than the replacement stone for the Tormek.

I have found that the Scheppach Tiger does exactly the same job and I use it all the time - Highly recommended.

 

[woodbloke]

Using any Tormek isn't a straight forward business but relies on subtle finger pressure (up or down, left side or right) to apply force to the blade when it's moving across the stone..don't just bang the blade into the jig and assume that it'll cut square...it won't! Get hold of a small 50mm square and check that the sides of the blade are square to the top of the jig as well and then use the little square to check the grind when it's finished, if it's high at one end, then the subtle finger pressure as mentioned will correct it and of course you must true the stone surface with the diamond jig as often as is necessary.
The Tormek is a great piece of kit, but it's not foolproof and you need to learn how to use it properly to get the best out of it. I've got one of the old green machines which is now over 10 years old and still working as good as the day I bought it - Rob

 

[Paul Chapman]

It can also be helpful to colour the bevel with a waterproof felt tip pen so that you can see how the grinding is going and make small adjustments as necessary.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Harbo]

I mark a straight edge with a very fine perm marker and a small Engineers square and work to that.
No problems with getting good results on my Tormek.

Rod

 

[Modernist]

Are you using the new blade holder which references off the flat side of the blade or the old one which related to the bevel side and hence gave problems?

 

[Martin Brown]

Hi I am part of Tormek UK team, and therefore am involved with Tormek commercially.

The comments above are correct that Tormek does not automatically cut at 90 degrees and requires checking whilst grinding and adjustment of pressure whilst working. Keeping the stone true with the truing device will help too.

The latest Tormek jig for plane irons and chisels helps ensure you get good results even more quickly.

Please PM me if you have any further questions, or come and see us at the shows this Autumn.

Martin Brown

 

[gloswood]

Hi thanks to you all for your comments, i still think the problems lies in the constuction of the plastic case not being strong enough as it allow the bar to flex , the stone is kept true and square, i note that all the 250mm machines ar of steel construction and most probaly alleviates the problem to a major degree, i have owned this machine for over six years now and have spoken to tormek at several shows but with no real answers to the problem , i think its time to buy a new one wether its tormek i will have to see, thanks again for your comments martin
#

 

[jimi43]

Being a cheapskate git...I made a truing jig for my Tormek which was given to me by a very kind person ( :wink: )...out of some Corian offcuts...a bolt and one of those cheapo diamond sharpening plates.

It was a bit out of true and hadn't been used for a while...

...seems to work fine...

....as you can see...

But as everyone has said...you have to learn how to get a square finish. I too use the idea of a square line just behind the bevel on the face...seems to work fine...and if you are doing a wide plane iron...remember to stay a while at the edges because the stone will otherwise spend more time grinding the middle and you will end up with a bit of a concave iron edge..

I have even been able to put a slight radius on the iron by doing the opposite...a very versatile machine indeed!

Jim

 

[bugbear]

Being a cheapskate git...I made a truing jig for my Tormek which was given to me by a very kind person ( :wink: )...out of some Corian offcuts...a bolt and one of those cheapo diamond sharpening plates.

It was a bit out of true and hadn't been used for a while...

The OP said:

"I have trued and squared the stone to the bar with tormeks diamond tool..."

BugBear

 

[Eric The Viking]

Not a daft question entirely: have you checked that the blade you're working on has parallel sides to start off with?

I've got a couple of Japanese laminated blades from Axminster. I bought them about 2 years apart. The earlier one, for a #5, has slightly tapering sides, which is a right royal PITA to deal with. The later one 2 3/8" (#5.5, #6 or #7, etc.) is parallel as far as I can tell.

I'd assume LN's quality control meant yours is parallel-sided, but it might be worth checking.

The other thing is that I've never needed to apply enough pressure to flex the bar, although My few A2 blades are smaller than a full-size plane iron. I've also never needed to increase the pressure on the drive system. Mine's a Dakota, "Tormekkalike", so your mileage, etc.

E.

 

[gloswood]

HI ERIC
Thanks for that yes the blades are good to start with but i understand what you mean, the problem is not the bar flexing its the case of the machine it flexs around the left hand post which then lets the bar move it wil do this with a bit of light finger pressure, incidently and i didn't know this untill to day but a freind has the same problem and has gone back to 180 wet and dry on plate glass instead (sounds hard work to me) can you tell me if the dekota is steel or plastic constuction many thanks.

martin

 

[Eric The Viking]

The Dakota is all powder-coated steel and pretty rigid. The first one had a motor failure, but it was replaced under warranty. I've improved the water deflector at the side of the case with the side from a milk container, and make a point of keeping it clean - so far it's not showing any sign of rust (about 2.5 years of use).

I actually only use it now to grind bevels. I use scary sharp (wet+dry strips on glass) to do the honing, and the combination is pretty good. I do use the leather wheel for knives etc. though.

Is it possible to improve the bar support with something like a plate on top of the case (basically a big washer)?

Cheers,

E.

 

[gloswood]

HI ERIC
i think it being all steel is the difference, i also only use this for grinding bevels as prefer to sharpen by hand, i can't stiffen it because the post is moulded about 20mm above the main body , i think i shall have bite the bullet thanks
M