01-20-2019, 10:38 PM
Hi Mr. Sam and welcome to the forum.
You ask good questions and your decision to not spend more $$$ before figuring out what’s up is wise one. Your Tormek with the standard wheel is plenty capable of producing very sharp edges. IMHO, the SJ is only for experienced sharpeners who are looking to produce a very specific result. I now sharpen on a Kalamazoo 1SM belt grinder, but I have a Tormek and have sharpened many blades with it.
I think you will be amazed at how much you can learn by getting the PT50B. The most important thing to understand about it is that it works, is extremely accurate and can tell you a lot about what’s going on at the edge. When, and you will, see variation in sharpness readings along the edge it’s because there is still burr in some areas or the edge is not completely sharpened. It’s an amazingly accurate instrument. You can trust the information it provides.
Burr removal is far more difficult to understand and takes more practice than simply getting the edge sharp. If your goal is a polished edge burr removal is not that difficult, but if you pine after a toothy edge like I do, burr removal requires a good understanding and some practice. There is a lot of information about it here in postings on the Exchange.
Your PT50B will provide a lot of good feedback but I would also recommend you also get at least a 10X loupe or a USB microscope to examine your edges. An edge tester and a microscope are an invaluable combination for learning about sharpening and burr removal.
http://bessex.com/forum/showthread.php?t...24#pid3824
To answer your question, with the Tormek, I would shoot for around a 150 sharpness reading. You can get sharper but that does not necessarily mean better. The thing to understand is that these super sharp edges are extremely thin, and that includes a 150 edge. Anything sharper is so thin it bends (rolls) so easily that it will lose sharpness very quickly even when treated most grandmotherly during normal use. 150 is not that difficult to get with the Tormek and the standard wheel.
Hope that helps, and looking FW to your results and questions. There are a lot of experienced folks here more than willing to assist if we can.
You ask good questions and your decision to not spend more $$$ before figuring out what’s up is wise one. Your Tormek with the standard wheel is plenty capable of producing very sharp edges. IMHO, the SJ is only for experienced sharpeners who are looking to produce a very specific result. I now sharpen on a Kalamazoo 1SM belt grinder, but I have a Tormek and have sharpened many blades with it.
I think you will be amazed at how much you can learn by getting the PT50B. The most important thing to understand about it is that it works, is extremely accurate and can tell you a lot about what’s going on at the edge. When, and you will, see variation in sharpness readings along the edge it’s because there is still burr in some areas or the edge is not completely sharpened. It’s an amazingly accurate instrument. You can trust the information it provides.
Burr removal is far more difficult to understand and takes more practice than simply getting the edge sharp. If your goal is a polished edge burr removal is not that difficult, but if you pine after a toothy edge like I do, burr removal requires a good understanding and some practice. There is a lot of information about it here in postings on the Exchange.
Your PT50B will provide a lot of good feedback but I would also recommend you also get at least a 10X loupe or a USB microscope to examine your edges. An edge tester and a microscope are an invaluable combination for learning about sharpening and burr removal.
http://bessex.com/forum/showthread.php?t...24#pid3824
To answer your question, with the Tormek, I would shoot for around a 150 sharpness reading. You can get sharper but that does not necessarily mean better. The thing to understand is that these super sharp edges are extremely thin, and that includes a 150 edge. Anything sharper is so thin it bends (rolls) so easily that it will lose sharpness very quickly even when treated most grandmotherly during normal use. 150 is not that difficult to get with the Tormek and the standard wheel.
Hope that helps, and looking FW to your results and questions. There are a lot of experienced folks here more than willing to assist if we can.