Last week I had some days off and had finally some time to get some shop time for myself. I fitted the JET air filter to the ceiling, moved and reflattened my workbench and got out my lathe to practice freehand turning (I used to turn on a metal lathe and did some CNC work).
Well let me say I'm not very good at sharpening those gouges, even a skew is not that easy with the very long and heavy handle pulling the edge away from the bench stone.
I've got a grinder laying around somewhere but I discovered the cord was worn, the cord ferule broken and the toolrests and protective window thingies also quite erhm...
Time to go out to the DIY store to get a descent new one and makes some jigs for it. Well BIG mistake. The first store did have excactly ONE grinder, the onde on diaplay to be precise. And that was without the white stone for HSS tools and they also did not such a stone seperately.
Next store, wow I'm in luck. They have two grinder models and some spare stones including a white stone. But where are the boxes with the grinders? Ah there they are, one box for the grinder with the white stone, but the box is not taped close anymore and some bits and pieces seem to be missing. Also the showmodel has a large chunk of stone missing, some of the spare stones are cracked.
Next store. They have one model on display and some boxes all of other models, three different to be precise, non of which are very handy and the boxes are all heavily dented, scratched and/or open.
Next store, the have two models on display (actually three but that was a small scissors/knife grinder) and multiple boxes in a pretty good condition. When trying to select on of the two I notice the wheels of both machines whoble about 2mm sidewards and 3mm back and fro towards the toolrest. The grinders do not include a truing block nor is one sold seperately.
I could still buy one of them, wait in the hour long queue between people hauling huge amount of flowers, plants and garden furniture, and hope the stone is not that wobbly. Or hope the wobbliness is just caused by the way the stone was mounted. Buy a truing block at one the 'specialist' tool stores next week (mass store closure due to a followup of holidays: Queen's Day, Ascension Day, Remembrance of the Dead Day and Liberation Day) or return it.
Instead I just went home, a bit frustrated and somewhat angry at my self. I just spend the whole morning driving around in the hot weather, trying to get a parking space waiting in the queue of backed up traffic on the over crowded parking lots and trying to make my way through the crowds of people in the DIY strores. I knew this would happen, it did the previous times when in need of sandpaper, which they didn't have, in need of some AAC cuilding blocks, ...
At home I switched on the computer and without any hesitation I ordered the Tormek T-7 and jig kit. With a grin I when back in the shop and filled the rest of the day trying to manage the skew gouge.
The Tormek arrived this week and the jig kit will arive soon from sweden. I can honestly say that I've looked may times at the Tormek, the Jet and Scheppach. I never bought the machine due to its high price. I could not justify such a machine. I'm not a regular carfer (I suck t that) and a very ocational turner (love it, but usualy to many other things that must be finished)
I really like the machine, it is a delight to use. The setup is quick, the wheel runs very smooth, it's quite silent, the leather honing wheel gives a very good polish with little effort and time. The only downsides are the price, the water trough is a bit hard to attach the first few times, and its a bit on the heavy at the stone side when carrying it around.
The tools are very sharp without any learning curve to get good results (so far). The machines does not produce an as sharp an edge on my high carbon steel plane irons as I can get then on my bench stones, but for most tasks sufficient sharp.
Well let me say I'm not very good at sharpening those gouges, even a skew is not that easy with the very long and heavy handle pulling the edge away from the bench stone.
I've got a grinder laying around somewhere but I discovered the cord was worn, the cord ferule broken and the toolrests and protective window thingies also quite erhm...
Time to go out to the DIY store to get a descent new one and makes some jigs for it. Well BIG mistake. The first store did have excactly ONE grinder, the onde on diaplay to be precise. And that was without the white stone for HSS tools and they also did not such a stone seperately.
Next store, wow I'm in luck. They have two grinder models and some spare stones including a white stone. But where are the boxes with the grinders? Ah there they are, one box for the grinder with the white stone, but the box is not taped close anymore and some bits and pieces seem to be missing. Also the showmodel has a large chunk of stone missing, some of the spare stones are cracked.
Next store. They have one model on display and some boxes all of other models, three different to be precise, non of which are very handy and the boxes are all heavily dented, scratched and/or open.
Next store, the have two models on display (actually three but that was a small scissors/knife grinder) and multiple boxes in a pretty good condition. When trying to select on of the two I notice the wheels of both machines whoble about 2mm sidewards and 3mm back and fro towards the toolrest. The grinders do not include a truing block nor is one sold seperately.
I could still buy one of them, wait in the hour long queue between people hauling huge amount of flowers, plants and garden furniture, and hope the stone is not that wobbly. Or hope the wobbliness is just caused by the way the stone was mounted. Buy a truing block at one the 'specialist' tool stores next week (mass store closure due to a followup of holidays: Queen's Day, Ascension Day, Remembrance of the Dead Day and Liberation Day) or return it.
Instead I just went home, a bit frustrated and somewhat angry at my self. I just spend the whole morning driving around in the hot weather, trying to get a parking space waiting in the queue of backed up traffic on the over crowded parking lots and trying to make my way through the crowds of people in the DIY strores. I knew this would happen, it did the previous times when in need of sandpaper, which they didn't have, in need of some AAC cuilding blocks, ...
At home I switched on the computer and without any hesitation I ordered the Tormek T-7 and jig kit. With a grin I when back in the shop and filled the rest of the day trying to manage the skew gouge.
The Tormek arrived this week and the jig kit will arive soon from sweden. I can honestly say that I've looked may times at the Tormek, the Jet and Scheppach. I never bought the machine due to its high price. I could not justify such a machine. I'm not a regular carfer (I suck t that) and a very ocational turner (love it, but usualy to many other things that must be finished)
I really like the machine, it is a delight to use. The setup is quick, the wheel runs very smooth, it's quite silent, the leather honing wheel gives a very good polish with little effort and time. The only downsides are the price, the water trough is a bit hard to attach the first few times, and its a bit on the heavy at the stone side when carrying it around.
The tools are very sharp without any learning curve to get good results (so far). The machines does not produce an as sharp an edge on my high carbon steel plane irons as I can get then on my bench stones, but for most tasks sufficient sharp.
