Tormek cutting stupidly slow

[miles_hot]

I have spent about 40 mins tonight and about 2 hours yesterday attempting to sharpen my new skew to the Tormek grind. I still don't have one side done!

I have
1) trued the wheel a number of times (3, taking around 1mm off the wheel in the process) as if you do this fast it creates a rougher surface
2) held the black block against it (course side) for a long time (say around 1-3 mins each time)
3) tried the vertical and horizontal positions
4) put one hell of a lot of weight onto the tip - more so in the horizontal position however I put a lot o force onto it in the vertical one

I expected it to be slow, say an hour at most, but this absolutly daft.

Questions to all you Tormek types
1) Is there a dummy thing I'm doing here
2) have i missed some magic step out in the process
3) can stones just be faulty and not cut? :evil:

Many thanks all

Miles

 

[CHJ]

Miles, I don't think you are doing anything wrong other than wasting stone dressing it for such long periods, when I had a Tormek for review I gave up after half hour or so on each side of my skew on the basis that it just was not practical.
20-30 seconds on my cheap diamond stone is far quicker.

 

[wizer]

I've not use one, but I wonder if a tiny micro bevel would work on a turning skew?

 

[CHJ]

I've not use one, but I wonder if a tiny micro bevel would work on a turning skew?

It does if you want the skew to dive deeply into the wood as soon as it starts cutting Tom as there is no stop like a plane sole to stop it.

The skew like any other gouge relies on the bevel rubbing to control depth of cut, with a micro bevel the cutting edge is either fractionally above the work when the bevel is rubbing or if the micro bevel is cutting then the bevel has been lifted off the surface to make the edge contact the work. EDIT: unless you want to make your skew one sided of course.

 

[CHJ]

Miles, another thing I forgot to mention, round HSS gouge sharpening and HSS skew sharpening are not really mutually compatable tasks on the soft Tormek, the round gouges will quickly groove the stone, not a disastrous problem whilst sharpening round cutters but the stone would have to be dressed flat for the next skew just the same as if you wanted to sharpen your plane blades.

 

[big soft moose]

why are you sharpening a new skew anyway - it should have come ready sharpened surely - if its one of the unsharpened type you probably need to use a grinder to give it is first shape and sharpen - ime tormeks are great for touching up turning tools but not great for major sharpening.

If you havent got a grinder remind me and i'll bring mine over on saturday

 

[Blister]

I have spent about 40 mins tonight and about 2 hours yesterday attempting to sharpen my new skew to the Tormek grind. I still don't have one side done!

I have
1) trued the wheel a number of times (3, taking around 1mm off the wheel in the process) as if you do this fast it creates a rougher surface
2) held the black block against it (course side) for a long time (say around 1-3 mins each time)
3) tried the vertical and horizontal positions
4) put one hell of a lot of weight onto the tip - more so in the horizontal position however I put a lot o force onto it in the vertical one

I expected it to be slow, say an hour at most, but this absolutly daft.

Questions to all you Tormek types
1) Is there a dummy thing I'm doing here
2) have i missed some magic step out in the process
3) can stones just be faulty and not cut? :evil:

Many thanks all

Miles

Miles

A tormek will only hone an edge you already have , it will not re shape the tool

If you have the Grey sandstone wheel they are designed for plane irons and are very soft

If you upgrade to a :- http://www.peterchild.co.uk/grind/bluewheel1.htm
wheel these will last longer but are still not designed to re shape your tools

You need to reshape your tools on a slow speed grinder , with a white or blue wheel , when you have the shape you want you can then use the Tormek to sharpen

Or if you want a tool that does it all , get one of these :- http://www.robert-sorby.co.uk/proedge.htm

I did and never looked back , I will PM you my number if you want to talk regarding any of these options

:wink:

Hope this helps

 

[tekno.mage]

Miles,

It's best to use a dry grinder to do the initial reshaping of a new tool, unless you are very patient. Once you have removed the majority of the unwanted metal, then move on to the Tormek to refine the shape & sharpen the tool.

Having said that, I have used my own wet grinder (which has a Peter Child's microcrystalline blue wheel fitted) to reshape a new 1/2" bowl gouge from a straight across grind to a fingernail grind. It took most of an afternoon - not continually using it, but just doing a bit until I got bored, then doing something else, then going back to it again etc. It's not something I'll be doing again in a hurry!

Regarding your skew, is it a very wide one? I've reshaped a 1/2" skew on the wet grinder alone - I wanted a longer bevel on it and a slight curve. It took about an hour to do both sides. I wouldn't want to reshape a wider skew than that on a wet grinder alone.

Without wanting to state the obvious I suppose you do have enough water in the water trough of your Tormek so the wheel is actually running wet?

I've never heard of a faulty stone that doesn't cut but you will be able to see if metal is being removed (albeit slowly) while you are using the Tormek - you should see dark streaks running away up the stone from underneath the edge you are grinding. If you inspect the tooltip when you take it off the stone you should also see the fresh grinding marks on it.

tekno.mage

 

[devonwoody]

Interesting thread, BTW Blister, the Sorby movies would only give me audio no visual. Any ideas?

 

[Blister]

Interesting thread, BTW Blister, the Sorby movies would only give me audio no visual. Any ideas?

Try this Devon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqoq5EXv1J0

may help

They sell three different jigs to sit on the platform , one for gouges , one for skews and one for straight edge tools like parting chisels

The system also uses different material belts

http://www.robert-sorby.co.uk/

This link shows the part numbers and the belts

I use the Zirconium 60 grit green belts for shaping

and the red Ceramic 120 grit for sharpening / honing

the beauty of this system is thr repeatable angles every time with the pin system

its GREAT :wink:

ask Boysie39 , he is now a convert

 

[BMac]

I have the Sorby Pro Edge too.

Great piece of kit. I bought it when I started turning because I hadn't a clue about sharpening and 4 seasoned gentlemen I met at a demo told me to buy it because they had spent thousands of pounds on sharpening systems and all had the Sorby now...and thousands of pounds worth of redundant equipment.

The Sorby Pro Edge gives a flat grind which some turners are horrified by but any turners who use my chisels initially baulk at the flat grind but quickly grow to like it.

The only drawback is that I found it hard to do Celtic/fingernail grinds initially but once I had the jigs set they were easy to touch up.

Brendan

 

[devonwoody]

How wide is the belt on the Sorby, (thinking plane irons) ?

 

[BMac]

50mm

 

[greggy]

hiya miles, i cannot believe what has been written on this thread.
i have the large tormek, and i have an oval skew.
i have sharpend my skew with no problems.
and yes you can reshape your tools, even a large skew. yes i admit it will take longer to do, but i have done it loads of times as i sharpen other peoples tools too. someone asked why you want to sharpen a new tool for.....
well the simple answer is.. all tools need sharpening when new because they are only roughly sharpend to a decent stage. the only tools i know that you can use from the box thats already sharpend are lie nielson.

 

[boysie39]

A big BIG yes for the Sorby proedge thanks Blister. REgards Boysie

 

[cornucopia]

hi miles- at the bash i did the majority of reshaping of your gouge on a dry grinder then i got the razors edge on the tormek which is where it excells-
the tormek can re shape slightly but overall it is best at restoreing the razor edge to an existing profile which has been previously made by the tormek-
the first time you do any tool on the tormek you will have a more long winded job- and possibly do some on the dry grinder first, depending on how much of a change is needed.

chas is very correct in pointing out the problem of trying to sharpen gouges and flat blades on the same wheel- its a major drawback of the tormek imo

 

[petercharlesfagg]

Whenever I have bought a new tool I always rough sharpen it on a 6 inch grinder then sharpen it on my Tormek, the smallest version.

I am surprised that you are experiencing problems. Yes it does take time but your patience will be rewarded.

If you are getting a groove in the stone then you are using it incorrectly, I am constantly moving the tool across the face of the stone to even out the wear.

I can only suggest that you persevere but please do not apply too much pressure it will only make matters worse and frustration levels rise.

Peter.

 

[Paul.J]

I managed to regrind my 1/2" bowl gouge pretty quickly on my Small Tormek,and was surprised how quickly it did it.
I don't use the skew much but i tend to sharpen it free hand when needed with just a light touch,on the Tormek.
The stone does stay fairly flat/even if you move the tool across the stone i've found.
Keep at it Miles the results will be worth it.

 

[gasmansteve]

Just a thought but can you regrind as well as resharpen with the Sorby Pro edge?. A few turners seem to praise the Sorby. Thinking back to a previous version of `Woodturning` where they included a Tormek dvd I`m sure they show a chisel being reshaped on the Tormek ?.
Regards
Steve

 

[BMac]

Yep, there's a Zirconium 60 grit green belt for shaping.

Brendan