Jet Wet Grinder

[Joe Close]

Has anyone experinced problems trying to get a square edge on a blade? (Square as in NOT skewed). I'm trying to put an initial grind on a handplane blade. The blade clamp seems to hold the blade on a different plane than the wheel, as well as different to the support bar. I'm not sure I'm explaning this correctly. But in short, the clamp appears to be the problem.

I was curious if anyone has had this problem and possibly resolved it through getting a new clamp?

[Bill Hylton]

I have run into this with the Jet. The circumstances were such that I had two of the straight-edge clamps from Jet, and neither of them would consistently produce a square edge, even after truing the stone so it was parallel to the support arm. However, by coincidence, I also had Tormek's straight-edge jig. With it on the Jet I got a square edge every time.

Bill

[Cliff Polubinsky]

Second vote for the Tormek Square-edge jig. It made a big difference on my Jet. And as mentioned, also make sure the wheel has been trued to the jig arm.

Cliff

[Joe Close]

So the Tormek straight edge jig fits the Jet arm?

[Eddie Darby]

If you decide to go to a Tormek jig, then I would advise you to get it before the 18% price hike kicks in.

The old Tormek jig had the same problems that you seem to be having with the Jet jig.
The pressure applied to the knobs has to be just right to keep the blade sitting properly in the jig. The new modified jig has a stronger edge that registers the tool more firmly, so that it is less sensitive to knob pressure.

I would myself deal with Jet since they have an obligation to get it to work right or send you a proper working unit. If it was a basic design flaw, then we would hear from everyone and their Uncle about what a useless piece of leftover yak droppings it is, but we don't. :D

[Joe Close]

I already ordered the revised Tormek jig. Frankly, I'm growing tired of Jet. I purchased a drill press whose assembly was substandard. This grinder is the second unit. The first one would not turn on. It took 2 months to get a replacement. Now this jig problem. The support arm's fit is poor. You have to mess with it and tri-squares to get it aligned properly as you tighten the locking screws. They are proud of their "revised" water channeling gizmo, but it is poorly designed, water still runs all over the place if you move the object you are sharpening left and right on the wheel. Maybe I expect too much. It's just that we all pay a bit of money for these products, and they are just substandard in my opinion.

Anyway, thanks for the input guys!

[Don Dorn]

I bought the Jet and use the knobs through loosening one and tightening the other and am able to get it squared. However, I'm not real happy with the Jet. Personally, I find the stone of less quality and torque is nowhere near as consistent as my friends Tormec. I'll live with it because it works, but if I had it to do over again, I'd have sprung for the extra $100 and bought the Tormec.

[Dave Sabo]

This grinder is the second unit. The first one would not turn on. It took 2 months to get a replacement. Now this jig problem. The support arm's fit is poor. You have to mess with it and tri-squares to get it aligned properly as you tighten the locking screws. They are proud of their "revised" water channeling gizmo, but it is poorly designed, water still runs all over the place if you move the object you are sharpening left and right on the wheel. Maybe I expect too much. It's just that we all pay a bit of money for these products, and they are just substandard in my opinion.


Joe, hate to kick you when your down, but......

You didn't pay a bit o money" for the grinder. You went with the "low cost leader". The firm that copied the origianal and made it in a low cost Asian factory. Why did you expect so much. Seems to me it works OK. Sure the probs. you detail are anoying but not out of the realm when you consider you and they chose to compete on price. Tormek has high labor costs, partly due to training, uses better materials, and speds bucks on R&D that Jet doesn't have to because they are in the clone business. If my goal is to offer something cheaper than you, then quality has to suffer. The reason Tormek or other innovator's higher priced tools are more expensive is not because of excessive profit. Jet makes nice margins on their sharpener too. The higher price is because of higer costs and not just those in the labor column.

Folks, wake up and get out of Wal Mart mode where everything is cheaper.

[Michael Hammers]

I posted this earlier this year when I got in on the Amazon Jet deal....
Was a little unclear on linking the other thread so I just coppied it....
Good luck!

Jet sharpener nightmare
I am not one to complain about good deals. However this is the first time I have ordered anything besides a book or cd from Amazon online. I had quite alot of trepidation in ordering this unit especially after reading others comments. My gut said "be patient and save for a Tormek". I really should heed my fathers advice. You get what you pay for.
The unit arrived with what only can be described as packaging done by an drunken autistic blind monkey. The sharpener was within a larger box and had a single piece of brown packing paper trying to protect it, effectively letting the unit bounce about like a BB in a boxcar. The tape had almost completely come undone and 3/4 of the top was open.
Once I unpacked the unit I quickly noticed that I too had not received the as advertised packaged deal. No worries I thought. I am confident Amazon would take care of that minor issue.
Time to check the fit and finish. I removed the foam piece holding the motor. I noticed the switch on the back was assembled wrong. It was cocked and crooked. I continued to assemble the machine. The bar was out of alignment by more than a 1/4". The leather wheel had 1/16" of leather on one side of the wheel and 1/4" on the opposite. The straight jig has two plastic pieces that help guide the jig. The pieces fell out and would not stick or snap in. Useless.
I then plugged in the machine. I was welcomed with.....nothing. Not even a hum. I fiddled with the unit and finally was able to get some response. The rheostat spun crazily with no stop. The motor hummed a little more then tried to turn. The leather wheel so out of shape looked like an egg rolling around. The unit however would not work.
I cannot fathom how frustrated I would have been if I paid the regular retail for this machine. 300$ plus for this?
So there is my rant. Take it for what it is worth.

[Joe Close]

Joe, hate to kick you when your down, but......

You didn't pay a bit o money" for the grinder. You went with the "low cost leader". The firm that copied the origianal and made it in a low cost Asian factory. Why did you expect so much. Seems to me it works OK. Sure the probs. you detail are anoying but not out of the realm when you consider you and they chose to compete on price. Tormek has high labor costs, partly due to training, uses better materials, and speds bucks on R&D that Jet doesn't have to because they are in the clone business. If my goal is to offer something cheaper than you, then quality has to suffer. The reason Tormek or other innovator's higher priced tools are more expensive is not because of excessive profit. Jet makes nice margins on their sharpener too. The higher price is because of higer costs and not just those in the labor column.

Folks, wake up and get out of Wal Mart mode where everything is cheaper.

I hear what you are saying, and agree to a limited extent. However, it seems that there is "very" little left in the market place that is not made overseas in some labor expense saving facility. Choices for quality products are getting slim. I personally prefer to buy a local made product, of higher quality, rather than save a few bucks. In the case of this grinder, it seemed like a simple tool. My thinking at the time was how bad could they screw up a grinder?!?! I learned a lesson! As Dorn said, if I had to do it over again, I could go w/ the Tormek. And by the way, $300 for a grinder is a bit-o-money if it does not function as the manufacturer claims.

[John Shuk]

This grinder is the second unit. The first one would not turn on. It took 2 months to get a replacement. Now this jig problem. The support arm's fit is poor. You have to mess with it and tri-squares to get it aligned properly as you tighten the locking screws. They are proud of their "revised" water channeling gizmo, but it is poorly designed, water still runs all over the place if you move the object you are sharpening left and right on the wheel. Maybe I expect too much. It's just that we all pay a bit of money for these products, and they are just substandard in my opinion.


Joe, hate to kick you when your down, but......

You didn't pay a bit o money" for the grinder. You went with the "low cost leader". The firm that copied the origianal and made it in a low cost Asian factory. Why did you expect so much. Seems to me it works OK. Sure the probs. you detail are anoying but not out of the realm when you consider you and they chose to compete on price. Tormek has high labor costs, partly due to training, uses better materials, and speds bucks on R&D that Jet doesn't have to because they are in the clone business. If my goal is to offer something cheaper than you, then quality has to suffer. The reason Tormek or other innovator's higher priced tools are more expensive is not because of excessive profit. Jet makes nice margins on their sharpener too. The higher price is because of higer costs and not just those in the labor column.

Folks, wake up and get out of Wal Mart mode where everything is cheaper.

$300 really is a fair bit of money.
Second Jet more or less claims that their grinder has better features than the Tormek.
I don't have either but I have kept my eye this market as I hope to buy one of these systems one of these days.

[Alan Trout]

I have had my Jet sharpener since the infamous Jet Deal. Mine has been a great unit. The bar was not perfect but loosened the screws that hold the post and had it aligned perfect in less than 5 min. The torque is more that adequate. I have never had the need to press that hard. I had no trouble with my straight jig. I do have to fiddle a little with the knobs to get even clamping pressure even so the blade is even but is about like the original Tormek jig. The new Tormek jig is much better but I understood what I was getting before I bought it. I did glue the bushings in with a little CA before I used it so never had any trouble with the bushings falling out. I have never noticed unusual wear with the stone. All in all was a very good value for me.

However I do understand that some had trouble with their circuit boards and bar. I am not saying that there have not been troubles. It is my understanding that most troubles have been taken care of.

For me it was an opportunity to get a slow speed wet sharpener that I had wanted at a price that I could justify. I spent $250 total with several jigs with free shipping. I have used the Tormek and to me there is no great difference and in some ways I do like the jet better.

Just wanted to give a little different perspective from someone that has had good luck with his and completely satisfied.

Alan

[Glenn Pearston]

Alan - I am with you. I have the Jet (3 weeks) now. It works as advertised. My biggest complaint is that the bushings in the jig popped out twice so I glued them in.

If I get over zealous I can get water on the grinder or the work top but if I go slow and even the water falls to the plastic tray.

The wheel wears uniformly. At the end of the process I have a nice sharp blade.

I have no experience with the Tormek. If I had to do it all over again I would buy the Jet. $100 is not a huge amount but it is a fair amount and when I look at percents it is huge. I am happy with paying $299 for a sharpener, I would not pay over $400. Things may change in the future but for now I am a sharpening fool.

Glenn

[Bill Keehn]

I bought a Jet Wet Grinder a few months ago but hadn't had a chance to play with it. I finally watched the DVD all the way through this weekend and felt confident enough to give it a shot.

Initially the wheel was definitely out of round and not true. As I started the process of truing the wheel I noticed a number of things.

1) When adjusting the support bar there is considerable play in it. It is easy to lock the bar in an out-of-true position. This didn't seem reasonable, since I'd have to re-true the wheel everytime I moved the bar. So I pondered this for a while.

Turns out there is a right way and a wrong way to adjust the bar. There is a height adjustment nut on the support bar post closest to the wheel. It must remain on that post and you must use this set the bar to the correct height.

With both locking screws loose, allow the bar to slide down and come to rest on the height adjustment nut. Without touching the bar on either end, tighten the locking screw closest to the wheel first. Still without touching the bar, tighten the other screw.

After numerous attempts, I found this to be the only reliable way to adjust the bar.

2) The height adjustment nut must be properly threaded! The post that the height adjustment nut is on is flat on the front and back. This makes it easy to have the nut be either cross threaded or crooked somehow. You'll know because it won't sit flat when you allow the bar to slide in the holes. If it doesn't sit flat, then the repeatability from step one is out the window.

3) The bar is suprisingly flexible. The weight of your hand resting on the end of the bar is enough to pull it out of true with the wheel. Don't worry, it will go back to true once you take your hand away to scratch your head in wonder as you try to figure out why your grind isn't true.

4) It's true, the plastic bushings do fall out of the straight jig easily. Rather than glue these in, I rubbed them with some beeswax. Seems to work for now.

5) Unless you like to be wet, you should run the wheel at the lowest speed when it is new. Also, the higher the level of the water in the trough, the more water it will throw when you move your blade side to side.

6) If you use the side wheel grinding jig, you'll need to true the face of the side of the wheel. It's not flat.

7) I agree the honing wheel seems pretty cheap and has a bump a the glue line. That went away however as the sharpened edge of my triangular awl shaved its way across it. Now I have black leather dust all over my grinder.

Overall I am satisfied with the product. I'd give it a grade of B. I bought this instead of a Tormek because I wanted to buy my system from my local woodcraft and they don't carry the Tormek.

They carry the Jet and I want to get support locally. I have a good relationship with them and know (from experience) that if I am dissatisfied with any product that they will either exchange it or give me a refund. Yes, even months later.

I'll let you know if I have any complaints after I sharpen my plane blades.

[Alan Trout]

Bill I have been using my Jet sharpener a lot lately, since I started wood turning. Let me give you a few pointers that I have found out in my use.

1. For water level keep it about half way between the max fill line and the bottom. Still plenty of water and it will not get you wet at any speed.

2. Far as bar deflection goes I have used the Tormek and can get that bar to deflect pretty easy as well. If needed you put pressure on the tool in contact with the stone not the bar. The bar is intended as a guide. One thing I am going to do is purchase another bare to keep it in the lower position. The way that I sharpen my turning tools When I want to sharpen a scraper I use the lower bar because I sharpen away from the edge to raise a bur but I sharpen gouges and skews with the wheel going into the edge so I use the bar in the top position. I can have 2 bars on the machine and keep from having to change all the time.

3.The strops will stop shedding fibers after a while. Be sure to keep the strop well oiled. It really does work better.

4. The straight jig works fine if you tighten the knobs properly. I developed a feel for it after a while. While it works as well as the original Tormek jig the new Tormek SE76 is a much better jig. The knife jigs work as well as each other. However I did buy the Tormek turning tool jigs, The multi Jig, and the SE 185 Gouge jig and setting fixtures. With the setting fixture I get the same grind every time and they are razor sharp.

5. After a few days of use I do clean the machine up. I empty and clean the dregs tray, Pull the wheel off and oil the shaft and all the non plated screws and re-assemble the unit. I do this to keep any corrosion away. I still have no issues with rust or other corrosion and I figure that this maintenance has prevent it from happening.

I have not had any issues with appreciable stone wear. Mine is still pretty much at the trued diameter. I have trued my a couple of times over the last year just from using the wheel to much in one spot. But overall it is cutting well and lasting well. However once tools are sharp I just use the machine for touch up and am not putting any real pressure on the stone.

All and all I am very happy with mine. And for what I paid for mine during the infamous Amazon deal today I would even consider paying the normal street price for it now because it has become part of my shop routine.

Bill I wish you the same luck that I have had.

Alan

[Bill Keehn]

Alan, don't get me wrong.. I wasn't complaining. As far as I'm concerned a "B" is good. Like most tools, this system clearly requires some practice.

I'm definitely going to buy a second bar too, for the reasons you said. I'm thinking it might be good to have the little add on bar for the honing wheel as well. I think the less I have to move the bars the better.

I used 3-in-1 oil on the leather. Still the compound seems to disappear pretty quickly. How much do you use in a single session?

I was considering buying the Plane Camber Jig, but the price tag of $99 makes me want to wait. I've got a number of old Stanley planes I want to restore for use, but until then I don't really need it.

Until I get into a routine of sharpening often, I'll probably empty it out every time. After I trued the wheel and played with it a while, there was some seriously thick sludge left behind when I dumped the water. I'm afraid if I leave it in there it will harden.

[Alan Trout]

Bill, I was not thinking you were complaining. I just wanted to help with a few pointers. I really have no dog in this hunt other than I am happy with the performance of mine. If I was doing a lot of hand planes I would consider getting the cambering jig however I don't do to many at this time. Overall I think the Tormek jigs are nicer and that it the reason I purchase their jigs for the turning tools.

Far as the compound goes, It is pretty fine and cuts slow. I to use 3-n-1 oil and use quite a bit. The only things I strop are my bench chisels, gouges on the inside of the flute to knock off the burr and I also lightly strop the skew chisels. I do sharpen a ton of knives for myself and the neighborhood but again I don't like a stropped edge for a kitchen knife. I don't have a lot of hand planes so I do not sharpen them very often. In other words I don't use a ton of compound but again I am not trying to refine the edge as much as you may be doing. I thought that if I ever get into heavy stropping of edges in the future I might try either the Tormek paste or even the fine or extra fine clover compound. However I still have over 1/2 tube of the original paste.

Good Luck

Alan