I received my $299 tormek the other day from the amazon sale, the
planer knife jig, which I got for 40% off, will be here in a few days
(there's my dual drive-by). I just got around to playing with it
tonight. I haven't seen the video since I don't currently own a
working vcr, but I did read the book cover to cover. I sharpened two
chisels and noticed a couple things. I also have some questions.

I was shocked by how much water the stone soaked up.

I used the angle-finder thingy to to start off. I had a 1" marples
that was in sad shape. It took far longer to grind than I think it
should have. I would say that I ground on it for maybe 10 minutes.
Each time I looked at it, I could see a line moving slowly up the
bevel. This is sort of what I expected, but it just went too slow.
Mabye it's because it was a larger chisel. The quarter inch chisel did
go a lot faster.

I went back through the tivo and found the sharpening station episode
of nyw. The guy there only put the grader on the stone for 6 seconds
(I counted). But I think the manual sasy 30. What do you do?

Do you do your chisels in a batch, doing all the coarse grinding, then
grade for 1000 grit, then do all the fine grinding? or do you regrade
between each chisel going back ad forth between 220 and 1000?

The book says to flatten the backs of the chisels on the side of the
wheel. I'm thinking that I should be able to get literally a mirror
finish on the back and the bevel, but it just isn't happening. It's
really sharp, but I can still see lines on the back for example from
the original machining. Should I go back and do it again to get the
complete mirror finish?

I was reading someone else's post on woodnet, i think, about how the
manual says nothing about breaking in the leather wheel. There's
certainly nothing in the book about it. Should I be doing this, and if
so, how?

I have exactly one hand plane, a stanley jack plane I think. I plan on
buying a lot more once I have a few more machines. I noticed that the
iron has a curve, to stop the corners from digging in I guess. How
would you grind this curve on the tormek? The manual suggests a
technique that doesn't seem very doable to me. I think it would just
square off the iron anyway. Do you have a technique for this?

I'd say I'm probably 90% of the way there. The chisels were in bad
shape with nicks in the edges. Now, they're completely straight,
square, and sharp. They're also a lot shinier than when they started.
I was able to shave thin pieces of end-grain off of some southern
yellow pine I had handly. So I'm very happy with it.

tia, brian

On 8 Oct 2005 22:30:37 -0700, "brianlanning"
wrote:

I received my $299 tormek the other day from the amazon sale, the
planer knife jig, which I got for 40% off, will be here in a few days
(there's my dual drive-by). I just got around to playing with it
tonight. I haven't seen the video since I don't currently own a
working vcr, but I did read the book cover to cover. I sharpened two
chisels and noticed a couple things. I also have some questions.

I was shocked by how much water the stone soaked up.

I used the angle-finder thingy to to start off. I had a 1" marples
that was in sad shape. It took far longer to grind than I think it
should have. I would say that I ground on it for maybe 10 minutes.
Each time I looked at it, I could see a line moving slowly up the
bevel. This is sort of what I expected, but it just went too slow.
Mabye it's because it was a larger chisel. The quarter inch chisel did
go a lot faster.

you may want to pick up a generic dry bench grinder for roughing in.
be careful with it- it's pretty easy to burn steel with one of those.





The book says to flatten the backs of the chisels on the side of the
wheel. I'm thinking that I should be able to get literally a mirror
finish on the back and the bevel, but it just isn't happening. It's
really sharp, but I can still see lines on the back for example from
the original machining. Should I go back and do it again to get the
complete mirror finish?

if it's cutting well now, I'd use it as is. you'll be back to the
tormek soon enough.




I have exactly one hand plane, a stanley jack plane I think. I plan on
buying a lot more once I have a few more machines. I noticed that the
iron has a curve, to stop the corners from digging in I guess. How
would you grind this curve on the tormek? The manual suggests a
technique that doesn't seem very doable to me. I think it would just
square off the iron anyway. Do you have a technique for this?

grind it straight. if you end up with a problem with the corners that
you can't tune out of the plane then the plane probably isn't good for
more than a scrub anyway.





I'd say I'm probably 90% of the way there. The chisels were in bad
shape with nicks in the edges. Now, they're completely straight,
square, and sharp. They're also a lot shinier than when they started.
I was able to shave thin pieces of end-grain off of some southern
yellow pine I had handly. So I'm very happy with it.

tia, brian


congrats.

Brian wrote: Each time I looked at it, I could see a line moving slowly
up the
bevel.
From the way you describe it, it sounds like you weren't quite
lined up with your bevel. Just a touch shy, in fact. Take a magic
marker, and color the entire bevel. Then adjust your AOA (tool rest) so
the mark disappears. When your angle is correct, the mark will be
quickly ground away. Tom

On 8 Oct 2005 22:30:37 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm,
"brianlanning" quickly quoth:

I received my $299 tormek the other day from the amazon sale, the
planer knife jig, which I got for 40% off, will be here in a few days
(there's my dual drive-by). I just got around to playing with it
tonight. I haven't seen the video since I don't currently own a
working vcr, but I did read the book cover to cover. I sharpened two
chisels and noticed a couple things. I also have some questions.

Do you do your chisels in a batch, doing all the coarse grinding, then
grade for 1000 grit, then do all the fine grinding? or do you regrade
between each chisel going back ad forth between 220 and 1000?

insert raspberry and reference to ScarySharp(tm) method here


The book says to flatten the backs of the chisels on the side of the
wheel. I'm thinking that I should be able to get literally a mirror
finish on the back and the bevel, but it just isn't happening. It's
really sharp, but I can still see lines on the back for example from
the original machining. Should I go back and do it again to get the
complete mirror finish?

Yes, but only for 1/4" (some folks say an inch) or so, near the edge.
Repeat later as you sharpen that area away. The shinier the back, the
better the final edge.


I was reading someone else's post on woodnet, i think, about how the
manual says nothing about breaking in the leather wheel. There's
certainly nothing in the book about it. Should I be doing this, and if
so, how?

Dunno 'bout belts, but to charge my leather strop, I just rubbed a bit
of LVT green stick on it. (Chromium dioxide)


I have exactly one hand plane, a stanley jack plane I think. I plan on
buying a lot more once I have a few more machines. I noticed that the
iron has a curve, to stop the corners from digging in I guess. How
would you grind this curve on the tormek? The manual suggests a
technique that doesn't seem very doable to me. I think it would just
square off the iron anyway. Do you have a technique for this?

Now there's some irony for ya. You buy a Normite tool to do sharpening
for Neander tools. Bwahahahaha!


I'd say I'm probably 90% of the way there. The chisels were in bad
shape with nicks in the edges. Now, they're completely straight,
square, and sharp. They're also a lot shinier than when they started.
I was able to shave thin pieces of end-grain off of some southern
yellow pine I had handly. So I'm very happy with it.

For $300, I'd sure hope so.

P.S: That's a darn good deal on one of those pricy things.

--
Put some color in your cheeks: Garden Naked!
------
www.diversify.com Colorful Website Development

In article .com, "brianlanning" wrote:
I received my $299 tormek the other day from the amazon sale, the
planer knife jig, which I got for 40% off, will be here in a few days
(there's my dual drive-by). I just got around to playing with it
tonight. I haven't seen the video since I don't currently own a
working vcr, but I did read the book cover to cover. I sharpened two
chisels and noticed a couple things. I also have some questions.

Borrow or rent a VCR and watch that video, too.

I was shocked by how much water the stone soaked up.

Yep, they do hold an astonishing amount of water, don't they?

I used the angle-finder thingy to to start off. I had a 1" marples
that was in sad shape. It took far longer to grind than I think it
should have. I would say that I ground on it for maybe 10 minutes.

Whether that's reasonable or not depends on how sad a shape it was in.

Each time I looked at it, I could see a line moving slowly up the
bevel.

Sounds to me like you didn't get the angle set quite right. I've found that
it's faster and more accurate to just set it by eye.

[snip]

I went back through the tivo and found the sharpening station episode
of nyw. The guy there only put the grader on the stone for 6 seconds
(I counted). But I think the manual sasy 30. What do you do?

20-30 seconds works for me.

Do you do your chisels in a batch, doing all the coarse grinding, then
grade for 1000 grit, then do all the fine grinding? or do you regrade
between each chisel going back ad forth between 220 and 1000?

One chisel at a time, coarse then fine. That's the only way to do it: put the
chisel in the jig and keep it there until you're done with it. The reason is
straightforward: once you take the chisel out of the jig, unless you put it
back in at *exactly* the same angle it was before, you're basically regrinding
the edge all over again, only this time at 1000 grit instead of 220. And your
chance of reinserting it at *exactly* the same angle is exactly *zero*. So
you're better off to just do all your grinding at 1000, than to switch
chisels.

The book says to flatten the backs of the chisels on the side of the
wheel. I'm thinking that I should be able to get literally a mirror
finish on the back and the bevel, but it just isn't happening. It's
really sharp, but I can still see lines on the back for example from
the original machining. Should I go back and do it again to get the
complete mirror finish?

It takes a *long* time to get rid of the factory machining marks, and produce
a mirror finish, no matter how you go about it. I prefer using wet-or-dry
sandpaper on a large glass plate, with water as a lubricant.

I was reading someone else's post on woodnet, i think, about how the
manual says nothing about breaking in the leather wheel. There's
certainly nothing in the book about it. Should I be doing this, and if
so, how?

The manual says to oil it regularly. I'm not sure what other "break-in" anyone
might think that it might need.

I have exactly one hand plane, a stanley jack plane I think. I plan on
buying a lot more once I have a few more machines. I noticed that the
iron has a curve, to stop the corners from digging in I guess. How
would you grind this curve on the tormek? The manual suggests a
technique that doesn't seem very doable to me. I think it would just
square off the iron anyway. Do you have a technique for this?

Freehand.

I'd say I'm probably 90% of the way there. The chisels were in bad
shape with nicks in the edges. Now, they're completely straight,
square, and sharp. They're also a lot shinier than when they started.
I was able to shave thin pieces of end-grain off of some southern
yellow pine I had handly. So I'm very happy with it.

Enjoy. From my perspective,the best thing about the Tormek is that it's so
easy to keep an edge sharp -- so I sharpen much more frequently. It's much
less work to touch up an edge that's "almost" sharp, than to resharpen one
that's truly dull.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

For $300, I'd sure hope so.
P.S: That's a darn good deal on one of those pricy things.

Yeah, because of the price, it was at the bottom of my priority list.
I wanted to start experimenting with neander stuff, but I couldn't
bring myself to spend the $500+ to get the tormek setup. I was sort of
able to justify it to myself by getting the planer knife jig and saying
that I wouldn't need the segmented cutter head now. And I didn't think
I could beat that price. The machine isn't really worth it, even at
the lower price. But I think the end result is probably worth the
price: very sharp tools with no skill and not much time.

brian

I didn't get the can of oil or extra sheet. I happened to have a new
can of mineral oil that I had bought to use with an oil stone. I
squeezed about half of the can onto the strop which soaked it all up.
It's now the color I expected it to be.

I worked on the back of the 1" chisel again. I was able to make it
look a little better.

This morning, I went back out to the shop and tried to shave with the
chisel, which I couldn't. I added the oil to the strop, spent more
time with the grading block, and spent more time on the fine grinding.
The strop seemed happier with the oil in it. It just sort of felt
better. I also spent more time on the strop. The end result was that
it looked a little better, but cut much better. It shaved perfectly,
and cut end grain perfectly.

Thanks to everyone for the help.

brian

Whwn not using the Tormek, do you let the wheel sit idle in the water
resevoir? Or do you empty the water after each use?

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
...
In article .com,
"brianlanning" wrote:
I received my $299 tormek the other day from the amazon sale, the
planer knife jig, which I got for 40% off, will be here in a few days
(there's my dual drive-by). I just got around to playing with it
tonight. I haven't seen the video since I don't currently own a
working vcr, but I did read the book cover to cover. I sharpened two
chisels and noticed a couple things. I also have some questions.

Borrow or rent a VCR and watch that video, too.

I was shocked by how much water the stone soaked up.

Yep, they do hold an astonishing amount of water, don't they?

I used the angle-finder thingy to to start off. I had a 1" marples
that was in sad shape. It took far longer to grind than I think it
should have. I would say that I ground on it for maybe 10 minutes.

Whether that's reasonable or not depends on how sad a shape it was in.

Each time I looked at it, I could see a line moving slowly up the
bevel.

Sounds to me like you didn't get the angle set quite right. I've found
that
it's faster and more accurate to just set it by eye.

[snip]

I went back through the tivo and found the sharpening station episode
of nyw. The guy there only put the grader on the stone for 6 seconds
(I counted). But I think the manual sasy 30. What do you do?

20-30 seconds works for me.

Do you do your chisels in a batch, doing all the coarse grinding, then
grade for 1000 grit, then do all the fine grinding? or do you regrade
between each chisel going back ad forth between 220 and 1000?

One chisel at a time, coarse then fine. That's the only way to do it: put
the
chisel in the jig and keep it there until you're done with it. The reason
is
straightforward: once you take the chisel out of the jig, unless you put
it
back in at *exactly* the same angle it was before, you're basically
regrinding
the edge all over again, only this time at 1000 grit instead of 220. And
your
chance of reinserting it at *exactly* the same angle is exactly *zero*. So
you're better off to just do all your grinding at 1000, than to switch
chisels.

The book says to flatten the backs of the chisels on the side of the
wheel. I'm thinking that I should be able to get literally a mirror
finish on the back and the bevel, but it just isn't happening. It's
really sharp, but I can still see lines on the back for example from
the original machining. Should I go back and do it again to get the
complete mirror finish?

It takes a *long* time to get rid of the factory machining marks, and
produce
a mirror finish, no matter how you go about it. I prefer using wet-or-dry
sandpaper on a large glass plate, with water as a lubricant.

I was reading someone else's post on woodnet, i think, about how the
manual says nothing about breaking in the leather wheel. There's
certainly nothing in the book about it. Should I be doing this, and if
so, how?

The manual says to oil it regularly. I'm not sure what other "break-in"
anyone
might think that it might need.

I have exactly one hand plane, a stanley jack plane I think. I plan on
buying a lot more once I have a few more machines. I noticed that the
iron has a curve, to stop the corners from digging in I guess. How
would you grind this curve on the tormek? The manual suggests a
technique that doesn't seem very doable to me. I think it would just
square off the iron anyway. Do you have a technique for this?

Freehand.

I'd say I'm probably 90% of the way there. The chisels were in bad
shape with nicks in the edges. Now, they're completely straight,
square, and sharp. They're also a lot shinier than when they started.
I was able to shave thin pieces of end-grain off of some southern
yellow pine I had handly. So I'm very happy with it.

Enjoy. From my perspective,the best thing about the Tormek is that it's so
easy to keep an edge sharp -- so I sharpen much more frequently. It's much
less work to touch up an edge that's "almost" sharp, than to resharpen one
that's truly dull.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Wayne K wrote:
Whwn not using the Tormek, do you let the wheel sit idle in the water
resevoir? Or do you empty the water after each use?


You need to empty the water ASAP after use. It loads up with sediment that will
harden in a relatively short time otherwise. Don't dump it down the drain for
the same reason... dump it outside somewhere. I don't think it's toxic but it
would clog your drains.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

I am just using the tormek to set the angle of chisels and such. I
don't think you can get a great edge without flattening the back of
your chisel on a water or diamond stone. There is a good article on
sharpusa??? or something like that. Just a summary...the two screws for
that sets your chisel into place need to be evenly tensioned. If one
of these are tighter than the other your chisel will be askew. You have
to play with the both of these to get the chisel in the correct
position...OK here we go. Follow this link for advice on sharpening
chisels. Works well..http://www.sharptoolsusa.com/tips.php. A sharpy is
your friend. ink out the bevel set your chisel then place on the wheel.
Make a few turns by hand and look at where the ink has been removed.
You can tell if the chisel is insert properly.

Hope this helps

"brianlanning" wrote in message
oups.com...
I received my $299 tormek the other day from the amazon sale, the
planer knife jig, which I got for 40% off, will be here in a few days
(there's my dual drive-by). I just got around to playing with it
tonight. I haven't seen the video since I don't currently own a
working vcr, but I did read the book cover to cover. I sharpened two
chisels and noticed a couple things. I also have some questions.



I'm a little late on this thread, but want to add that there is a Yahoo
group for the Tormek and it is frequented by Jeff Farris of sharptoolsusa.
They are a pretty helpful bunch it seems.

--
********
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com

brianlanning wrote:
snip

I sharpened two
chisels and noticed a couple things. I also have some questions.

snip

I used the angle-finder thingy to to start off. I had a 1" marples
that was in sad shape. It took far longer to grind than I think it
should have. I would say that I ground on it for maybe 10 minutes.
Each time I looked at it, I could see a line moving slowly up the
bevel. This is sort of what I expected, but it just went too slow.
Mabye it's because it was a larger chisel. The quarter inch chisel did
go a lot faster.

Wait 'til you sharpen a Hock iron that's 2+ inches wide.

If you grade the stone to "coarse" often and if you press down
on the back of the chisel or iron down close the the stone
it'll cut/grind faster. DO NOT let your fingers rub on the
wet turning stone. It WILL take your fingerprints off.
(DAMHIKT)

I went back through the tivo and found the sharpening station episode
of nyw. The guy there only put the grader on the stone for 6 seconds
(I counted). But I think the manual sasy 30. What do you do?

If you bear down on the grading stone it doesn't take 30 seconds.
You're just breaking up the surface to expose more sharp
edges in the stone's medium.

Do you do your chisels in a batch, doing all the coarse grinding, then
grade for 1000 grit, then do all the fine grinding? or do you regrade
between each chisel going back ad forth between 220 and 1000?

If you keep a sharpening stone or diamond plate in a drawer
in your bench and put it on the bench top when chiseling,
it's easy and convenient to keep the edges touched up. If you
keep using ALL your chisels 'til they have to be sharpened
because they're not cutting well your not to get clean cuts
and you're apt to have one slip and cut you.

When a cutting tool stops cutting well, and a little touch
up on a bench stone won't fix the problem - use the
Tormek.

The book says to flatten the backs of the chisels on the side of the
wheel. I'm thinking that I should be able to get literally a mirror
finish on the back and the bevel, but it just isn't happening. It's
really sharp, but I can still see lines on the back for example from
the original machining. Should I go back and do it again to get the
complete mirror finish?

The Tormek is good for beveled edges, straight or, with
the right jig, round. It isn't so good for flattening the
back of flat things. Uing the side of the stone, it's hard
to make contack acrossed the entire back at the same
time. The result is that you'll start rounding the
bottom edges. Best to flatten the back on a flat
stone - a japanese water stone does it quickly, or
use the scary sharp sand paper method.

I was reading someone else's post on woodnet, i think, about how the
manual says nothing about breaking in the leather wheel. There's
certainly nothing in the book about it. Should I be doing this, and if
so, how?

After oiling it up, if it isn't flat, turn the machine on and
use an old file to flatten it. Don't polish the back on it
though - you're likely to create a small rounding at
the back of the bevel and that means the tool won't
cut when the back is flat on the work.

Shiny and sharp aren't necessarily the same.

I have exactly one hand plane, a stanley jack plane I think. I plan on
buying a lot more once I have a few more machines. I noticed that the
iron has a curve, to stop the corners from digging in I guess.

Actually it lessens the actual amount of the cutting edge
removing wood so you can make deeper passes thus getting
a rough surface down to a scalloped, close to flat surface,
Subsequent planes will take off the high points of the
scallops real quick and then the fun begins.

How
would you grind this curve on the tormek? The manual suggests a
technique that doesn't seem very doable to me. I think it would just
square off the iron anyway. Do you have a technique for this?

A minute or two on a stone or diamond plate will do the job
very quickly. Press down on one corner for 5 or 6 strokes
then on the other for 5 or six stroke. Doesn't require a
lot of rounding to keep the corners from digging in.

charlie b