A Tormek is a pretty small wheel - you're going to be working at a range of radii such that the linear speed on the outside will be nearly twice that on the inner radius. That's going to grind you a nice smooth chisel, but not a flat one.
What's a wire edge ? Haven't seen one of those since I discovered that chrome vanadium wasn't a good thing to have in a hand tool steel alloy.
That is a red herring. The speed differential makes no difference since you move the blade about. Try it. It works.
Polishing yes, but they were talking about grinding on a wheel. You can get a very sharp edge with an ordinary stone - thicker oil gives finer finish, and if you want it even sharper then polish on leather with metal polish. I've got a bit of leather stuck down on plywood which does the job. In general there are lots of people out there producing lovely catalogues full of things no one really needs. Simple cheap old fashioned methods often best.
cheers
Jacob
cheers Jacob
Well my chisels and planes, ancient and modern, must all be chrome vanadium and I didn't know! They seem to work allright though - no probs at all, or is there anything else wrong with chrome vanadium which I don't know about? How do you tell which is what - and whats the alternative to chrome/vanadium?
cheers
Jacob
There is nothing new about a water cooled wheel. There is also nothing wrong with a flat stone. I have both (and I also have a piece of leather stuck to a length of wood). It all depends on what blades you are sharpening and what you are going to use them for. The majority of the time, the Tormek wins hands down for both speed and finish (it also has a leather wheel for finishing).
Certainly. I do both as well....
.andy
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Quite probably. Since the '50s or so (when such alloys became much cheaper) they've been near universal. The advantage is that you can machine grind them faster without drawing the temper (handy for cheap mass production). The disadvantge is that they won't go anything like as hard, nor will they take a _really_ good edge.
There are complex alloys around that _are_ good for woodworking tools, A2 in particular. On the whole though, simple old high carbon alloys like 1095 are still some of the best, or O1 if you're making your own.
But the 'wire edge' thing happens with my oldest chisels - some ancient mortice chisels definitely pre war if not pre 1st war. What brands of tool use better alloys?
cheers
Jacob
Don't worry about prima-donna-ish ballcocks (to use a plumbing phrase).
I bet most of your chisels are like mine, and not made of chrome vanadium. Remember that some people spend all their time titivating and yapping and no flippin' time working!
J.B.
They're more useful with some sort of variable speed. Excellent for sharpening/shaping things on, too, as you say.
J.B.
Your right Jerry. I bet people with 'tormeks' etc get through no end of chisels and don't have time for much woodwork. My pathetic set will probably see me out - I'm certainly not going to exchange them for the latest trendy and expensive alternatives.
cheers
Jacob
Surprisingly not, Jacob. A water cooled revolving wet stone is hardly modern high technology and is a fast and easy way of keeping virtually all tools with edges in excellent condition. The Tormek has the variety of jigs to make it easy and fast to sharpen items when needed to the required angles. This gives me more time to actually use the tools and I wouldn't use either of the words 'trendy' and 'expensive' to describe it.
These days, cloth is made on powered looms as well....... :-)
.andy
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Ah, but the length of time that it takes to sharpen by hand means that you can spend less time blunting them on wood. This reduction in work means that they need sharpening less often and so last longer. :-)
I expect you are right, but there is an astonishing amount of gear freakery associated with wood work nowadays which in my view should be treated with a good helping of sceptiscm. Lots of traditional babies getting thrown out with the bath water.
jacob
Some people get their kicks from indulging a passion for good tools. Lots make very little use of them. Its still a valid pastime nevertheless.
Chacun a son gout (I can't be bothered inserting the cidilla and circumflex)
The other point might be that a lot of people don't have the time to gain the experience to just whip out a whetstone, spit on it, and sharpen a chisel in a jiffy. Tools like the Tormek allow those people, and I am one in a lot of cases, achieve satisfactory proficiency.
Paul Mc Cann
I definitely agree with you there. I enjoy using my hand chisels and planes and surprised myself about being reasonably good at doing so.
I get just as much enjoyment from using one of my Lie Nielsen planes as I do with the Lamello biscuit joiner....
I have never had a lot of luck in getting good results with a simple stone arrangement with chisels no matter how long I take. At least I can do that and get back to using the tools.
Oddly, though, I have been able to sharpen router cutters with small diamond pads......
.andy
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