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Knowledge You Can Build On — Est. 1998

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Tormek wheel

Posts

Tormek wheel

#1

Tormek wheel

john Lucas

I've been playing with my Tormek. When I grade the wheel to course it leaves almost the same finish as when it's fine. Maybe just slightly duller. It seems to roughly match the finish I get off of my strip sander using a 400 grit belt. I get a noticeably finer finish using my 800 grit sanding belt. I'm sanding Short HSS cutting bars to get a comparison.

I'm doing this because i don't feel the Tormek was leaving a fine enough finish on my carving tools before going to the leather strop. I would like to end up with a mirror finish and what i'm getting is a mirror like finish with fine lines in it which are the lines left by the wheel.

I'm leaning toward setting everything up on my strip sander to do my carving tools. However I like the jigs that you can get with the Tormek. I don't have any yet but have been drooling. However if it won't leave the finish I like then I'll have to set up a system with the strip sander.

Re: Tormek wheel

#3

Re: Tormek wheel

John K Jordan

I saw a difference on my Tormek water wheel with the fine and course grading, but I never had a good way to evaluate it. The fine grading plus the honing/stropping wheel gave a polished edge but I don't know if I looked closely enough to see the lines you mentioned.

I have most of the Tormek jigs if you want to borrow some to try.

If you ever decide to sell the Tormek, I want dibs on buying it! I like the CBN wheel I put on mine but sometimes I would like to use the water wheel.

JKJ

Re: Tormek wheel

#4

Re: Tormek wheel

john Lucas

I was thinking about a CBN wheel but then I sharpen a lot of carbon steel tools on the Tormek and so that's probably not a good idea for me.

Re: Tormek wheel

#5

Re: Tormek wheel

Sergio

That is why Tormek has the leather wheels, to get that mirror finish....

Re: Tormek wheel

#6

Re: Tormek wheel

David Walser

John -- If you're not seeing much of a difference in the results from the coarse and fine versions of the Tormek wheel, you're not using your stone grader properly. The coarse wheel should be the equivalent of 220 grit and the fine should be about 1,000 grit. When going from fine to coarse, use the edge of the stone grader and apply a good amount of pressure -- until you just about stop the wheel. Move the grader from side to side slightly while you're using it. After about 30 seconds, the spinning wheel should be able to feel a fairly rough when you hold your finger on it lightly. When going from coarse to fine, do just the opposite. Hold the grader flat on the wheel. Use firm pressure, but not as much as you did in going from fine to coarse. After about 30 seconds, the spinning wheel should feel almost as smooth as glass.

At least, that's how I do it and it works. The surface left by the rough wheel is visually different from that left by the fine wheel (without needing magnification). Of course, if my edge is in fairly good shape, I don't go "fully coarse". I just rough up the wheel a little. The rougher surface cuts more quickly and, after a few passes of my tool, the wheel has almost returned to its "fully fine" status. One of the interesting things about a Tormek is the ability to dial-in the coarseness of the wheel anywhere between 220 and 1000 grit.

Re: Tormek wheel

#7

Re: Tormek wheel

john Lucas

Yea but you want a smooth edge before you use the leather wheel. The smoother the edge (and the bevel) on a carving tool the better it works. If you sharpen for example on a 60 grit wheel and the buff it until it's polished you still have a 60 grit grind. Maybe it would be a little bit sharper right at the edge. What I want is a bevel that has no marks and then polish that for a really superior edge.

Re: Tormek wheel

#8

Re: Tormek wheel

john Lucas

David I played with it more today and did get a difference but it sure doesn't look like the difference between 220 and 1000. for one thing I don't think the wheel gives a true 1000 grit, at least not when compared to using a sanding belt. My 800 grit belt leaves a more polished surface than the smooth tormek wheel. The 400 grit belt is just about the same or maybe just a hair courser.

I did find that there is a sort of break in period after using the fine grading stone. I was sharpening some hand plane blades and by the time I got through 1 the look of the polish on the second one did look smoother.

Re: Tormek wheel

#9

Re: Tormek wheel *LINK*

walta

The standard Tormek stone is the SG250

It sounds like you want a SJ250

The SJ250 is Tormek Japanese Waterstone it is 4000 grit and delivers a mirror finish with hardly any visible marks.

Please understand you will likely need the SG stone if you need to change remove even a small amount of steel.

Walta


SJ250

Re: Tormek wheel

#10

Re: Tormek wheel

John C Lucas

Actually what i think im going to do ie vo with the belt sander. No water. I can change grits in 30 seconds . It leaves a flat grind. Since the belt runs up you can sharpen very steep grinds without digging into the wheel. With the proper jigs you should be able to sharpen or reshape anything from carving toold to an ax.

I may change from a 1" strip sander to a 2 or 3". Will ha e to look into that

Re: Tormek wheel

#11

Re: Tormek wheel

David Walser

You can mount Tormek's universal support on your belt sander. It'll allow you to use all the Tormek jigs with the sander.