Tormek Style Sharpener's Limitation?

J. Keeton

J. Keeton

Joined
Nov 15, 2005
Messages
1,201
So I was thinking about the Tormek Style Sharpener. Am I right in saying that one limitation of the system are blades like the two below where the edge curves up towards the spine aggressively?

Simply raising the handle side hand like demonstrated in their instruction videos would essentially move the tip of the blade up the wheel and change the angle. (Assuming the user is keeping the knife jig square and perpendicular to the guide arm).

This would make the secondary bevel at the flat portion of the edge steeper than the secondary bevel @ the tip. So the tip would be beefier (aka less slicey) and the flat portion of the edge would be less beefy and more slicey.

On blades like this one:



Or This one:




It wouldn't be an issue with gradual edge sloping kitchen knives and cleavers, etc. Seems like the hand lift method would work well here.

Does anyone use this sharpening system and has this been a problem?

Thanks,
JK

Edit: This is the "method" I'm talking about
 
Knives with more than chef knife belly are a pain with a Tormek. You can sharpen them but have to adjust the postion of the clamp on the blade. I bought a Tormek a few years ago thinking I was going to hussle more sharpening jobs but only occasionally bring out the machine and much prefer bench stones but I occasionly sharpen so super dull knives and the Tormek comes in handy for those situations as it saves my bench stone and arm tendons.
 
Very interesting, thanks for posting that link. I have some reading to do. Seems like a lot of their pics and links are broke, but I bet I can get on there and find some info. Thanks!
 
Yes thank you from me also. I have a drop point coming up ... this will be very useful for that build.
 
For sharpening work I bought a Tormek system and while they can work quite well once dialed in for one particular knife style, Chisel etc.. it’s took so much time to dial in for each different sharpening job ... I just used my Variable speed 2 x 72” belt grinder & buff to deburr.. I sold the Tormek..
 
When using a Tormek always mark the edge with Sharpie and check the edge's contact area with the wheel from tip to heel before starting the wheel. If contact area is not even then move the knife sharpening jig's clamp toward tip or heel till the contact areas are equal. Also some videos can be somewhat deceiving. I always keep the knife sharpening jig flange flat against the universal support rather than tipping the flange as shown in some videos. This will give a very repeatable grind and no chance of multiple edge facets.
 
WhitleyStu said:
When using a Tormek always mark the edge with Sharpie and check the edge's contact area with the wheel from tip to heel before starting the wheel. If contact area is not even then move the knife sharpening jig's clamp toward tip or heel till the contact areas are equal. Also some videos can be somewhat deceiving. I always keep the knife sharpening jig flange flat against the universal support rather than tipping the flange as shown in some videos. This will give a very repeatable grind and no chance of multiple edge facets.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this. Could you explain the thought process and effect of moving the clamp towards the tip or heel of the knife in detail? Is the clamp always parallel to the flat portion of the edge when moving towards the tip?
 
J. Keeton said:
Thanks for this. Could you explain the thought process and effect of moving the clamp towards the tip or heel of the knife in detail? Is the clamp always parallel to the flat portion of the edge when moving towards the tip?
Click to expand...
Moving the clamp toward the heel makes the width of the edge near the tip wider as the contact angle is more acute and clamping toward the tip makes the width narrower as the contact angle is more obtuse. Yes, if there is a straight area on the edge keep the clamp parallel with that area regardless of clamp placement. I usually start with the clamp near the middle of the length the blade, but usually end up moving the clamp to the heel end to some extent to get a consistent edge width. The clamp placement will be determined by the amount of difference between the tip location and the straight part of the blade's edge.
 
WhitleyStu said:
Moving the clamp toward the heel makes the width of the edge near the tip wider as the contact angle is more acute and clamping toward the tip makes the width narrower as the contact angle is more obtuse. Yes, if there is a straight area on the edge keep the clamp parallel with that area regardless of clamp placement. I usually start with the clamp near the middle of the length the blade, but usually end up moving the clamp to the heel end to some extent to get a consistent edge width. The clamp placement will be determined by the amount of difference between the tip location and the straight part of the blade's edge.
Click to expand...

I see, thanks for the explanation. I'll have to play with this and see how it changes things!
 
i have one of those. i think its limitation is that its a hollow ground secondary edge. although initially it will slice better it seems to go dull faster probably because there is less metal there compared to the usual V shaped secondary edge.
 
It has also recently been reinforced to me that the Tormek style sharpener is very sensitive to any concavity in blade edge profile (as opposed to a continuously convex profile). This is not (or should not be) a problem with a new knife ... but an older knife with repeated sharpenings, especially kitchen “slicer” style knives with relatively long almost flat sections, can develop those over time unless very great care is taken to monitor the profile during sharpening. Wih this situation, the concave portion of the edge dos not contact the stone and just do not get sharpened.... no system is perfect i guess...
 
So after talking with some of the guys on the tormek forums; this jig seems to be one of the best ways to overcome this issue.

https://www.tormek.com/forum/index.php?topic=3780.0






I'll have to make me one now and try it out!

They also use a laser guide line across the stone so that as they pivot with this jig they target the same spot on the stone.
 
How do you use it? Move further off center and carefully pivot to keep the edge at the same point on the stone? (The laser guide is a great idea).

I did read some of the forum, and the comments around sharpening concave edges by rounding the corner of the stone and sharpening the concavity on that corner, i guess, makes sense. Not sure i would have the courage though: those stones are EXPENSIVE, and all it takes is one “catch” on the edge of the stone to ding an edge (dont ask me how i know :-(
 
J. Keeton said:
Yes, I'm pretty sure that's how they use it. Pretty slick really
Click to expand...
If I understand you correctly you want same sharpening angle on entire cutting edge,right ? Nathan the machinist use parallelogram and can sharpen blade that way. But I ask how future customer will maintain that edge ?
 
Yeah, I'm going for the same sharpening angle using a 10" wet wheel with drop point style knives. The Tormek Knife Jig (stock) is only suitable it seems for blades with a low curvature (kitchen knives, cleavers, etc). The guys on the Tormek forums seem to have it figured out with the jig I posted above. I'll make one and test it out.
 
john april said:
i have one of those. i think its limitation is that its a hollow ground secondary edge. although initially it will slice better it seems to go dull faster probably because there is less metal there compared to the usual V shaped secondary edge.
Click to expand...
Interesting observation that makes a lot of sense when you stop and think about it. Thank you for sharing!
 
I use a Tormek style and doing the curves is challenging. I clamp near the scales and turn out and up near the tip. The pivot jig looks like it would work well. The stone grader is another Tormek product worth getting.
Looking forward to seeing how the pivot jig works for you.
 
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