Tormek rebuild

[Doug]

Thought I'd post this project up in case it's of any use to others, from conversations I've had with other Tormek owners I'm not alone in having a problem with being unable to get a square edge on anything I grind on it.

I've had the Supergrind for 12+ years & other than the problem I mentioned I was happy with how it works. At first I thought the out of square blades were down to user error until a few years ago I clocked the drive shaft to the jig support bar & found they weren't parallel.

So for quite a few years the machine has been gathering dust that is until last week when I had reason to move it & thought if I can't fix the problem I may as well sling it, so I started by completely stripping the machine



The first problem I encountered was I couldn't get the stone off the shaft, water had corroded the chromed steel shaft& it was stuck fast. I soak the nut in penetrating oil but to no avail 2 days later the shaft wouldn't budge so I decided a bit of googling was in order.

It turns out seized shafts were a common problem :| only one way forward as the stone is more expensive than the shaft & I couldn't see the point of only half doing a job & rebuilding it with a seized shaft/stone.



After much drilling & machining the stone was finally free & happily in one piece. I've managed to source a new shaft which not only is stainless steel to address the corrosion problem, it also has a quick release locking nut & best of all comes with 2 new bearings which I had thought I'd have to make.

The new shaft should be with me in time for next weekend when hopefully I'll have chance to sort out the alignment problem & start to put the grinder back together.

 

[the bear]

Doug
May I ask how much the new stainless shaft was. Last time I looked they were daft money but I really would like to replace mine
Mark

 

[Doug]

Hi Mark,

The cheapest I found was E-Bay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tormek-EzyLoc ... noapp=true £52.17 inc P&P

 

[the bear]

Thanks Doug. That's the sort of price I've seen. Mine might have to wait a bit later longer

Mark

 

[Rod]

Is it possible to make one of those Doug - somebody with a lathe?

Do you keep the stone in the water all the time even when not in use?

Rod

 

[Doug]

Thanks Doug. That's the sort of price I've seen. Mine might have to wait a bit later longer

Mark

To be honest Mark my first thought was it was a little dear but after watching the video & saw it wasn't just the shaft but new bearings & quick release nut plus it being stainless I figured it was worth it

 

[Doug]

Is it possible to make one of those Doug - somebody with a lathe?

Do you keep the stone in the water all the time even when not in use?

Rod

Yes Rod it is possible to make one & the friend who's lathe I borrowed to remove the stone did offer to turn one for me, but I didn't think it was worth all the effort, I'd have had to buy some 16mm stainless rod, I'd still have to sort bearings & I like the look of the quick release nut.

I didn't use to keep the stone in water when not in use, I read years ago of the pros & cons but figured if I wasn't rotating the stone daily in its trough then the top half of the stone would dry out anyway so tended to empty the water after use.