This is exactly how I sharpen all my knives and clients knives! The support used in the vertical position and sharpening against the wheel rotation is awkward and like you said, leaves a smaller burr. In the horizontal position I have much more room to move and access the machine. This technique leaves the right amount of wire burr and I can feel the edge contact the wheel 100%!
Our method of using the Tormek from the front support, followed by honing and stripping on paper wheels reliably produces a shaving edge. It has now been adopted and improved by Knife Grinders in Australia. By making an improved front support and using finer abrasives they are able to produce an edge twice as sharp as a standard razor on a kitchen knife.
I believe you are suppose to keep the jig against the bar the entire swipe. You were picking it up off the bar and rotating to get the tip ground, this will dramatically change the angle of the top versus the rest of the knife. When doing the tip lift the knife handle while keeping the jig on the guide bar to maintain the bevel through out the knife. never lift the jig off the guide bar to grind the you, will loose the angle you are trying so hard to keep.
To maintain a consistent angle using this method, (1) the metal shaft of the jig must maintain contact with the guide rod, and (2) the part of the blade being ground must remain on that imaginary line across the grindstone. When you get to the tip, you haved to rotate the knife/jig (horizontally) as necessary to keep the tip on that line, and you have to simultaneously lift the knife handle to keep the tip in contact with the grindstone on that line, and while doing that, the metal shaft of the jig should stay in contact with the guide bar. This method gives you a perfectly consistent bevel for the entire length of the blade. Look closely again at the video. That is exactly what Bottorf does. Look real closely at the 2:45 mark. It looks a little like the shaft of the jig is not touching the guide bar, but it is touching. He's got 2 fingers pushing down on the jig and his little finger is pulling the jig towards the wheel. If you want, you can use what some people call the "Buck Knife" method. That method consists of lifting the handle when you get to the tip, but NOT rotating the knife/jig to keep the tip on that imaginary line across the grindstone. That will (usually) give you a narrower bevel at the tip, and if you lift the handle high enough, you can give yourself a blunt edge (at the extreme, you can keep lifting until the knife is at a 90 degree angle to the stone). The downside of this method is that you have to lift the knife at the same time and to the same height on every pass, so consistency can be difficult. Once you stop using that imaginary line and just freehand the tip area, well, you're free handing the bevel angle in the tip area of the knife. No offense, but giving Bottorf advice on sharpening is like giving Sugar Ray Leonard advice on boxing.
@@johnbluebeard4355 I think he's right. The only way I've been able to successfully create an even bevel is by simply lifting the handle with the curve of the knife without pivoting at all. I've been experimenting every way possible.
Very nice. Thank you sir. You restored my confidence in this type sharpening and beveling technique. I also didn't realize the grinder stones turned through water. Smart.
Correct. This is how they tell you NOT to do. Plus go against the wheel so you can see where the wheel is contacting the knife by how the water comes off the knife. I bought my Tormek 2 weeks ago and my knives have never been sharper. Knife Grinder Australia is also another great channel along with Tormek videos.
When sharpening bolstered knives, I include sharpening the bolster as I move my blade across the wheel. Later I blend in the grinding marks on the bolster using a slack belt.
Good morning, I am new to sharpening; I have a blade (straight blade with no curves) that is 3.5" long and 1.5" wide with only one side bevel. Which jig would you recommend. I see that you are you using to different jigs. AgainThanks for your teachings.
Buy one yesterday, not easy as i was thinking. Almost all videos i see is long straigt edge knife, none of mine are like that, they are kind of round edge. I have a lot of difficulties toward the point, can't keep the good angle Got to lift up the handle? tilt? both? I am dissapointed right now, i'm just a regular guy who wants his kitchen knifes real sharp. A lot of $$$ wasted? I hope my technic will be better with time. I will not buy expensive knife yet.
+Philip Fox I use the jigs when I need a perfect edge - a show knife. or when I want an exact bevel for practicing freehand. Mark the bevel and them see that you grind off the mark freehand.
Each knife and each tip is made differently. To know exactly how to make the tip have the exact width bevel as the rest of the knife is one of two things. Vast experience or a lot of dumb luck. For most it is enough to make a hansom tip that may not identically match the majority of bevel and the very best way to consistently achieve this knife after knife is ALWAYS keep the knife jig snug against the guide bar and raise the knife handle to have the tip contact the stone. I start at the tip so I can see the exact lift needed to contact to tip to stone perfectly, then lower the tip into the water and start to draw the knife towards the heel in a way that keeps the blade flat against the stone. Doing it “my way” there is no learning curve and by knife 2 or 3, you can turn out a bevel to be proud of time after time. You do not need the wide knife jig for wide knives. You need the wide jig for flexible knives. You could do a hundred knives a day on a wet water wheel guided sharpener. Try that on a WE. I own a JET version and a Gen 3 Pro Wicked Edge. Both have a place.
