Is It
Wheel Truing
or
Wheel Dressing?
There IS a difference

It's called a "Truing Tool". In fact, the manufacturer calls it just that - a "Diamond Truing Tool". Therefore, it must be a tool for truing, right? Well, yes and no. There are 2 different terminologies used in grinding. Wheel True and Wheel Dress. Let's look at the differences in the two.

WHEEL TRUE

Wheel TRUE is commonly refers to the amount of "Run-Out" that a wheel has. Run-Out can be measured in different ways. For instance, "End Play" refers to  the amount of in/out movement the wheel possesses. Imagine while facing the grinding wheel, grasping it with both hands then push the wheel away from you. You would measure that point in which the wheel can go no further in that direction. Now pull the wheel toward you until it stops and then measure the distance it has moved. The difference is called "End-Play". With the Tormek™ or JET™, End-Play is not anything to be concerned with. Especially since it is not all that adjustable anyway.

The next type of run-out is like a sideways "wobble". It's the type of movement the wheel would have as if the shaft were bent. Most Tormek™ and JET™ wheels have some of this type of movement, even straight from of the box. We would venture to say that it is due, in a large part, to the use of nylon bearings. No grinding wheel will ever be perfectly true using this type of bearing due to the wear and give of the nylon material. Again, unless it is excessive, it will not affect most sharpening tasks. The DIAMOND TRUING TOOL is not capable of  correcting either end-play or wobble.

The other type of run-out is an up/down motion, as if the wheel is out-of-round or its center-hole is not quite centered. Of course, it probably is centered just fine, but this example was just for reference sake. This type of run-out can be corrected with the Diamond Truing Tool. And it does a good job of it provided you're using the truing tool properly. But this is where the "TRUING" abilities end with either the ADV-50D, DT-1 or TT-50 Truing Tools.

WHEEL DRESS

WHEEL DRESS is using the diamond to expose fresh, new cutting material and restore the wheel's surface to a perfectly straight, flat, smooth surface. Yes, it will correct an up/down run-out problem, but that should NOT be it's primary purpose.
WHEEL DRESSING IS ONE OF THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS IN GRINDING! If these conditions are not correct before sharpening, it is virtually impossible to achieve a "perfect" edge. This should be your primary goal when using the Truing Tool: Straight, Flat and Smooth, with no ridges or missed spots. If you believe that using the stone grader on an improperly dressed wheel will achieve a smooth, FLAT surface, you are mistaken. It will not, especially when the grader starts wearing and developing hollowed-out areas. The stone grader's only purpose should be to change the grit characteristics. While the manufacturer advises using the stone grader to "smooth out the rough spots" after truing the wheel, this is because of the rather, for lack of a better word, "crude" method required to use the Diamond Truing Tool including especially the TT-50.

This bears repeating...WHEEL DRESS is using the diamond to restore the wheel's surface to a perfectly straight, flat, smooth surface. Not the grader. The quality of the dress will depend mostly upon how well you are able to advance the diamond steadily across the wheel. If you need the grader for anything other than changing the grit characteristics after dress, then the wheel dress was not done correctly. When using the TRUING TOOL ADVANCER this will no longer be a concern because the wheel will be dressed perfectly first time...every time.

TallowTree Mfg.