03-15-2017, 11:04 PM
I have to agree with you Rupert. Right after the wheel is trued it is very aggressive, and even considering the slow speed of the grinding wheel, it is capable of hogging off a lot of metal very quickly. So much so that when sharpening a small blade like a pocket knife, you have to be careful not turn the blade into a toothpick.
Interestingly, the Tormek is not limited to just 3 grits. For instance, if the stone grader is used to make the wheel as smooth as can be, according to Tormek it’s around 1,000 grit. Actually I have the feeling that it is really more aggressive than 1,000 grit, but I digress.
If you then start using the rough side of the stone grader, you don’t have to make the grinding wheel as rough as possible. You could, for instance, stop about half way between totally smooth and totally rough. In theory that would be about 500 grit.
Obviously this is not a precise science. To figure it out, you can get various grits of sandpaper to compare it to. That at least gives your some idea.
Every Tormek user knows from experience that if you grade the wheel to as rough as you can get it, as you sharpen the wheel gets smoother and you have to use the stone grader again to maintain the aggressive grit level. So, in a way, every Tormek user has experienced using the grinding wheel at varying grit levels. Not totally smooth and not totally rough.
Interestingly, the Tormek is not limited to just 3 grits. For instance, if the stone grader is used to make the wheel as smooth as can be, according to Tormek it’s around 1,000 grit. Actually I have the feeling that it is really more aggressive than 1,000 grit, but I digress.
If you then start using the rough side of the stone grader, you don’t have to make the grinding wheel as rough as possible. You could, for instance, stop about half way between totally smooth and totally rough. In theory that would be about 500 grit.
Obviously this is not a precise science. To figure it out, you can get various grits of sandpaper to compare it to. That at least gives your some idea.
Every Tormek user knows from experience that if you grade the wheel to as rough as you can get it, as you sharpen the wheel gets smoother and you have to use the stone grader again to maintain the aggressive grit level. So, in a way, every Tormek user has experienced using the grinding wheel at varying grit levels. Not totally smooth and not totally rough.