I've been using a bench grinder and then water stones. I have a couple of diamond stones as well which I use for rapid reduction of material when, for example, I drop a chisel on the cement floor. The procedure I outlined in an earlier post is pretty much my system. Bench grinder to create a shallow hollow grind leaving the last few mm's untouched (slowly), and then diamond or water stones to do the final sharpening, car polishing compound on leather, wood or a buffing wheel to hone. I had much trouble sharpening with stones without first creating a hollow grind. With the hollow grind and only a few mm's to sharpen it is very easy to get the chisel to rest flat on the two points at either end of the hollow grind. My main complaint is not for chisels, the stones are fine there, it's plane blades. Those are more difficult and time consuming on the stones. Since I use planes a lot on soundboard work I'd like something faster and easier there. The other issue is space. I have a utility sink which half is designated as my sharpening station and it's in the way a bit at times. Anyway, it's not a pressing issue for me and parting with $600 for a Tormek when I really want a new set of golf clubs has me assessing my priorities. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Terry Farrell Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 8:14 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Of Chisels My Tormek is a Supergrind 2000. Apparently it predates the T7 and T3 models. However, reading the specs and features on the three models it appears clear to me that the T7 is identical or nearly identical to my machine. The T3 is smaller and has a plastic case - and a bit smaller motor, smaller wheels, etc. The T7 and T3 use the same jigs. It says the T3 is limited to 30 minutes of use each hour. I have to admit, that except for a few times when I got all my chisels and plane blades out and just sat down for a few hours and sharpened everything I had, times are pretty far and few between that I run my Tormek for more than 30 minutes in an hour. I don't know what other differences there may be (quality of bearings, etc.). My guess is that the smaller one would work well - but how much difference in power (if you have a lot of steel to remove and lean into it) and longevity one might observe, I really don't know, not having used the smaller unit. IMHO, a good sharpening system is such a central/important item for a shop, I would lean toward the T7 - but I'm not saying the T3 wouldn't do the job. Sorry for a lot of perhaps non-information. :-( I'm curious - you've been cuttin' & carvin' wood for some years - what have you been using as a sharpening system. Are you unhappy with that system, or just thinking that their might be something better out there? If you've been using some sort of stones, do you consider yourself skilled with the stones? FWIW, I have zero skills sharpening on stones. I have a couple sets and rarely if ever had a sharp chisel when I was trying to sharpen on them (good stones - bad operator). The first time I used my Tormek and every time since, I've had wonderfully sharp chisels, plane blades, knives, plane blades, etc., etc. Terry Farrell On Oct 13, 2010, at 10:06 AM, David Love wrote: Re the Tormek machine. Has anyone looked into what the functional difference is between the T7 and T3 (besides $250). David Love www.davidlovepianos.com From: Terry Farrell [mailto:mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com] Sent: Monday, October 11, 2010 10:35 AM To: davidlovepianos at comcast.net; pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Of Chisels The flat sides of the stone wheel. One side is a coarse grit and the other is a fine grit. After that the leather lap. Does a real good job. I fully realize there are less expensive ways to sharpen a chisel or whatever. But for those of us who for whatever reason do not have the natural skills to sharpen by hand, the Tormek unit really does provide a great avenue for keeping cutting tools very sharp. Terry Farrell On Oct 10, 2010, at 11:01 AM, David Love wrote: I'm curious about those who use the Tormek system, how do you go about flattening the back of the chisel? David Love www.davidlovepianos.com <http://www.davidlovepianos.com/> On Oct 10, 2010, at 10:16 PM, David Love wrote: The question was whether the Tormek system had a procedure for flattening the back of the chisel since after the Tormek investment it would make sense to try and avoid having to invest in quality stones as well. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20101013/2969d5ef/attachment.htm>
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