- Joined
- Jun 4, 2010
- Messages
- 6,642
Sharing a bit from my latest noodling project. Picked up a Triton wet wheel grinder (similar to 10" Tormek) last year, and have been using it for setting up a lot of wood woorking tools. It does a good job on cutlery too, but takes too long to set up for different knives, and cannot readily do really thin bladed tools or smaller knives without an additional adapter, at least not to the acute angles I'm accustomed to using.
I've whipped up a tool jig that can grab pretty much anything from a machete to a pen knife, holding it securely by the handle, even assymmetrical shapes such as ones with pocket clips. Pretty rapid change out as well, comparable to the stock clamps. It may have an application to tools like the WE or Edge Pro, haven't tested it on either yet. Similar in application to the Tormek small knife jig, it uses the factory knife blade clamp to ride on the tool rest. No pics of the actual widget just yet.
A real advantage to grabbing the handle is I can now get extremely low on the primary if I want. In fact I can hit the entire blade face from spine to apex on a wet wheel - convex, Scandi, FFG, in addition to the standard micro hollow grind now possible without having to freehand. It does require two stops on the tool rest to delinate the amount of travel. Finally got comfortable enough to use on some of my more prized cutlery, pics are from one of my Jarvenpaa Puukkos. Slight discoloration at the tip and heel are minor surface oxidation from the water.
Images show approx 1.5° shift from shoulder to apex done on a wheel with no hint of transition lines. The last pic is the blade after being run on one of my Washboard strops with the newest compound, treetopping everything it touched - two passes and it was defoliating my leg 1/8" above the skin.
It is far from a no-brainer. The same operating stroke could be used to make a FFG, Convex, or broad shallow hollow grind based on how much dwell time you give it in different regions, plus one has to deal with the belly curvature. It is not well suited to doing heavy grinding, but for surface work clean-up it is a strong performer.
In the near future I am considering a limited PA for folks who have Tormek or similar units once I am comfortable all the issues are resolved (shoot me a PM if interested). Its 100% now as a simple replacement/aftermarket clamp, but to use it for more complex shaping jobs it needs more development. I'm not sure that aspect is worth the added effort compared to using a belt grinder, but it is a very interesting use of this type of sharpener. Am past 'proof of concept' and now into prototyping/debugging.
Have used the wet wheel freehand for similar applications and while it can be done, is not a very well controlled outcome. This Puukko has been extensively used and resharpened by me freehand on a variety of media, and while it certainly appeared to have smooth curvature everywhere, I was amazed at how much slop I removed. Future touchups either on the same unit or freehand should yield a much more uniform outcome.
I've whipped up a tool jig that can grab pretty much anything from a machete to a pen knife, holding it securely by the handle, even assymmetrical shapes such as ones with pocket clips. Pretty rapid change out as well, comparable to the stock clamps. It may have an application to tools like the WE or Edge Pro, haven't tested it on either yet. Similar in application to the Tormek small knife jig, it uses the factory knife blade clamp to ride on the tool rest. No pics of the actual widget just yet.
A real advantage to grabbing the handle is I can now get extremely low on the primary if I want. In fact I can hit the entire blade face from spine to apex on a wet wheel - convex, Scandi, FFG, in addition to the standard micro hollow grind now possible without having to freehand. It does require two stops on the tool rest to delinate the amount of travel. Finally got comfortable enough to use on some of my more prized cutlery, pics are from one of my Jarvenpaa Puukkos. Slight discoloration at the tip and heel are minor surface oxidation from the water.
Images show approx 1.5° shift from shoulder to apex done on a wheel with no hint of transition lines. The last pic is the blade after being run on one of my Washboard strops with the newest compound, treetopping everything it touched - two passes and it was defoliating my leg 1/8" above the skin.
It is far from a no-brainer. The same operating stroke could be used to make a FFG, Convex, or broad shallow hollow grind based on how much dwell time you give it in different regions, plus one has to deal with the belly curvature. It is not well suited to doing heavy grinding, but for surface work clean-up it is a strong performer.
In the near future I am considering a limited PA for folks who have Tormek or similar units once I am comfortable all the issues are resolved (shoot me a PM if interested). Its 100% now as a simple replacement/aftermarket clamp, but to use it for more complex shaping jobs it needs more development. I'm not sure that aspect is worth the added effort compared to using a belt grinder, but it is a very interesting use of this type of sharpener. Am past 'proof of concept' and now into prototyping/debugging.
Have used the wet wheel freehand for similar applications and while it can be done, is not a very well controlled outcome. This Puukko has been extensively used and resharpened by me freehand on a variety of media, and while it certainly appeared to have smooth curvature everywhere, I was amazed at how much slop I removed. Future touchups either on the same unit or freehand should yield a much more uniform outcome.
