Robert Sorby ProEdge PROBLEM

[Mike Minto]

I just bought the American 'version' of the ProEdge Sharpening System from Sorby. While my initial use of it showed it to sharpen very well, there is a problem with part of it. The toolrest on mine has four large screws in it's face, screws not shown on the Sorby advertisement of the tool nor shown on the carton the unit comes in. The screws are above the level of the toolrest, and interfere with sliding the skew and gouge jigs across it's surface. I just can't believe a company that makes the quality tools Sorby does would do something this wrong - do any other users of this tool here in the US have the same problem? Got a fix for it? And yes, I did try driving the screws in to see if they would go in further. Must I grind the tops of the screws off, making the seat for the appropriate allen wrench that fits them less secure? For a tool that costs $500, whose function is solely to sharpen things, I'm VERY disappointed. Mike:(

[Chuck Wintle]

Could you post a pic to have a better idea of the problem?

[Mike Minto]

Sure, here it is. Low in the photo you can also see a plate, or guard, that must be removed to use the fingernail gouge jig. It's not shown in any pics of the ProEdge I have found, either, including on the cover of the manual that came with my unit. Also not seen in any photos I've found is what looks like a large capacitor, behind the motor, somewhat delicately mounted. Mike

[Chuck Wintle]

Sure, here it is. Low in the photo you can also see a plate, or guard, that must be removed to use the fingernail gouge jig. It's not shown in any pics of the ProEdge I have found, either, including on the cover of the manual that came with my unit. Also not seen in any photos I've found is what looks like a large capacitor, behind the motor, somewhat delicately mounted. Mike
The plate on yours does not look anything like what is shown in the instruction booklet on the Sorby website. In the instructions the tool rest is square with a groove running side to side. Is it possible you got an older model or a modified one?

[Mike Minto]

Don't know. I emailed Sorby sales yesterday (the day I received my unit from Klingspor - who I will be calling about this - the sole US vendor of this product at this time). I hope this is not a mod for the US market, or a dumping of an inferior, older design. I await Sorby's reply and action - like sending me a new tool rest. Mike

[Chuck Wintle]

Mike,
In the Sorby video the tool rest does not look the same as the one on yours or on their website. If I could post a pic I would but screen capture did not work on a paused video. :)

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

From the picture It would appear that those screws are "flathead " and are supposed to be flush or below the surface of that tool rest so as not to interfere with the work and to allow adjustment of the rest's position.

I am guessing that the Countersink was not deep enough or that the screw specs were not adhered to by the screw supplier and in either event no one caught it on the way out the door.

Contact Sorby. This isn't the sort of thing they will likely ignore.

[Mike Minto]

Having received a reply from Sorby, the fix will be for them to mail me the "UK" version of the toolrest, the one we have all seen in Sorby's advertisments. What I have, and I assume all others in the US will have, is the two piece toolrest as required by "UL" and some other organization, they tell me. They did not address the problem of the screws sitting above the plane of the toolrest, causing my original consternation. I hope mine was just a fluke and no others have to deal with this. Mike

[Mike Minto]

Well, Sorby did not send me the "UK" version of the toolrest as they said they would. What they did mail me was another of the same type of rest my tool came with. I have not taken it from the package, and won't unless I need to. I'm just using the one mine came with, having by now ground down the screw tops to a level even with the toolrest. Oh, well. Also, I was just out in my workshop and while sharpening a Glaser 'V' shaped gouge, I must have caught the rotating sanding belt just right, because it exploded and was torn to shreds. Just some info for those of you thinking of buying one. I like it, but the ultimate sharpener, it ain't, IMO. Mike

[Mike Minto]

the saga continues. after telling them i got the 'wrong' toolrest, sorby are now posting me a UK toolrest. will let you know how it goes from there. mike

[Lee Richmond]

I have read with great interest this thread on the Robert Sorby ProEdge. It raised a lot of concerns for me, since this exchange clearly is not favorable to the ProEdge. I would like to address some of the issues raised. I have personally been using a ProEdge for over a year, and we have been selling them since it first passed UL approval. Mike states that he bought his machine from the only US dealer, but I don't know where he got this idea from. As I said, we have been selling them from the start, and we are not the only dealers. Our company is The Best Things Corp. Robert Sorby sent me a ProEdge for testing long before it had passed UL approval, so I have a lot of experience with the machine. It is true that UL required a change to the tool rest. The machine I have has the UK version of the tool rest. It is a matter of taste which you prefer, but if a customer requests the UK version, we will send it to them free of charge. Making wild speculations on-line about Robert Sorby sending out inferior or obsolete products to the US seems very irresponsible to me. Robert Sorby is one of the most reputable companies with which we do business and I can say with absolute confidence that they would never knowingly ship an inferior product. If in fact the screws on this particular machine were sitting a bit proud of the surface of the tool rest, then this is a mistake on this particular machine, not part of some kind of a broad conspiracy. Nobody is perfect. The point is that Robert Sorby is the kind of company that puts things right immediately when they are alerted to a problem.

This brings me to what is perhaps the most surprising aspect of these postings. Not once is any interaction mentioned between Mike and the retailer. How can this be? If a customer called us with an issue like this, I would personally get involved and, if necessary, we would work with the manufacturer to resolve the problem. Why bother to deal with reputable dealers if you are not going to avail yourself of their assistance when you need it? Had one of our customers called with this issue, it would have been resolved without the need for anxiety and wild speculation. We are in frequent contact with powers that be at Robert Sorby and can answer most questions off hand, others we will quickly get answered.

I have used many different sharpening systems over the years, both wet and dry. To claim that one is the best for all users is absurd, but I can certainly say without hesitation that this machine is the best one that I have found for my needs. I don't like a lot of jigs and do most of my grinding free hand. This machine has a very accurate and solid tool rest which allows me to quickly set a grinding angle. Other than this, I want to do the rest myself. With this machine I can both remove metal very quickly, or change belts and get a very fine grind. So for example, if you bought a new jack plane, the blade would be ground straight across. They all come that way, so before you can use it, you need to regrind the blade. With the Robert Sorby ProEdge, I can quickly grind an appropriate curvature for a jack plane onto the blade using a ceramic belt, change the belt in about a minute, and grind the edge smooth and ready to hone. To do that with jigs and a water based system would take about 5 times as long. So while others may prefer a different system, I am thrilled with this one. When selling a sharpening system, I first try and evaluate the customer's expectations and needs. All of the customers that I have steered to the Robert Sorby ProEdge sytem have been thrilled with it.

There was one other comment made that needs to be addressed. The complaint was made that one belt unravelled right away. The direction is critical on these belts. If you put it on backwards, a belt can unravel. I have never had a properly installed belt fail. They wear out, but they don't normally fail.

Lee Richmond
The Best Things Corp.

[Clive Brooks]

I have been following the threads on the Robert Sorby ProEdge and I would like to clear a couple of points as the Product Manager of Robert Sorby.

A number of production modifications had to be made to the ProEdge to comply with and achieve cCSAus (Canada and USA standards) certification.

The majority of these are manufacturing alterations have not changed the performance or aesthetics of the machine.

The only major alteration that affects the use of the ProEdge is the addition of a second tool platform.

This has been included to ensure that the gap between the tool platform and the abrasive belt is no more than 1/16” (1.6mm) as required by cCSAus and stated by the warning label on every ProEdge supplied to the USA and Canada.

As the tool platform angle becomes more acute the lip of the base platform moves away from the belt so the secondary table has to be moved forward.

This is done by loosening the retaining screws and moving the table forward until it is at the correct distance from the belt and then re-tightening the screws in place.

Following on from Lee Richmonds thread I agree entirely that over the thousands of belts we have sold we have never had a belt explode. This is not to say that there was not a fault with the belt and we would always like to have faulty equipment returned for examination..

Robert Sorby takes very seriouly any issue with any product associated with the Robert Sorby name.

Lee was correct in stating that abrasive belts are directionally arrowed to ensure correct operation as they are lap jointed. The belts for the ProEdge are manufactured in Sheffield to our specification in the same way as the belts used on our factory machines. These are butt jointed and have no overlap so even though they have arrows on as standard material they can be used in either direction.

[John Kunze]

the saga continues. after telling them i got the 'wrong' toolrest, sorby are now posting me a UK toolrest. will let you know how it goes from there. mike


I've been reading this thread regarding the proedge. How do you like it after several months? Are you now satisfied?

John K

[Thomas Dougall]

I bought the Sorby Proedge some time ago, I must say that I am very pleased with the results I get.

I would like to comment on the belt unravelling. I sharpened a straight scraper on an 80 grit belt and changed to the 120 grit
I was a bit careless on presenting the tool and caught the belt with a corner of the tool, the belt unravelled immediately giving me a bit of a fright. Great care should be taken to ensure the tool is presented correctly. The other problem I had was sharpening a skew chisel. Using the Sorby recommendation of 15 deg. the handle of the tool was catching on the left hand side of the motor housing. Then I remembered that the master of the skew chisel Alan Batty recommends an included angle of 40 deg. I reset the proedge to 20 and had no problems at all. For those of you who live in the U.K The tool shop sells belts at nearly half price. Remember that the belt is coming down towards the tool so it is very easy to get a catch and ruined belt if you are not careful.

Tom

[ALAN HOLLAR]

Klingspor is not the only US dealer. Packard Woodworks sell it as well. I have had mine since the introduction in the US with no issues whatsoever. I do use Klingspor belts mostly on mine and have never had a problem with either the Sorby or the Klingspor belts. I have gone through about 100 adding up all the grits, and never bothered with the arrows. Had I had an issue, I would have expected to contact the retailer first and had them resolve the problem for a newly bought machine.

[Chris Padilla]

I'm just pointing out to folks responding that this thread was revived from about 7 years ago. Keep that in mind. :)

[carl mesaros]

I recently purchased this machine at the Tennessee woodturners symposium and couldn't be more satisfied. Finally I can sharpen all my lathe tools perfectly. In a matter of seconds I can change from skew sharpening, to spindle gouge sharpening to bowl gouge sharpening, to scraper sharpening, with perfect results each time.
When I first set up my machine, I installed the 60 grit belt and set the profile I desired for each tool. I then installed a 120 grit ceramic belt to give the final edge. That is all I use now. I am at the lathe everyday 6 days a week and have touched up my gouges constantly. The ceramic belt is still in excellent shape.
$500 was a bit hard to part with for a sharpening system in which I wasn't sure would work for me, but after a months use I don't regret a penny of it.