To Tormek or not and Wolverine

[Josh Bowman]

As you guys know I'm new to bowl turning. I have a Tormek with all the do-dads. Some have said the Wolverine is better for lathe tools. I need some hands on advise here. Is the Wolverine and a slow speed grinder worth the expense or will the Tormek do the job just as well? A side question after talking with some nice folks at Crafts Supplies USA mentioned that using just the Tormeks grinder mount with a slow speed grinder will do the same as the Wolverine and I can just use my Tormeks jigs. He indicated that the slow speed grinders leave a burr that I should strive for in turning.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Josh I have the Tormek and the Tormek jig for the dry grinder. I use that to shape but the Tormek to sharpen and hone my tools.

[Jack Mincey]

Hi Josh,
If you already have the tormek I would use it for all my gouges. I prefer to use my tormek for all my gouges. For me they just cut better off it. For my scrapers, skews, and other turning tools other than a gouge I prefer using a slow speed grinder. You will need the setting jig for the gouges, it makes it very easy to repeat the angle every time. Use a diamond hone on your skew after you grind it and then polish the edge on the leather wheel of the tormek and your skew will be scary sharp.
Jack

[Bill Bolen]

Lime Bernie I also use a bench grinder and wolverine jig to re-shape a tool. But, I sharpen all my tools using the Tormek...Bill...

[Ryan Baker]

I have both systems, but I use the Wolverine setup for turning tools. The Tormek is just way too slow for me for as often as turning tools need sharpening -- and that includes the Tormek jigs on a dry grinder. It just takes too long to get the jigs set up, stone graded, water tray, etc. YMMV. You need to decide what works best for you. Skews do need additional work after a dry grinder.

[Jim Sebring]

I've had my Tormek much longer than the 4 years I've been turning. It's a difficult (read s l o w) way to shape turning tools, but excels at frequent quick edge touchups. I have all the jigs, too, including two gouge jigs. One is set for 45* bevels and the other for 60* bevels.

The only skew I have that won't fit in the appropriate jig is my 1 3/8 inch Lacer monster. I usually touch that one up with a diamond hone, since it seldom needs to be reground.

If you want to set up your dry grinder to use the Tormek jigs, just buy a mount for the universal bar the jigs fit on. Jeff Farris at Sharp Tools USA has them for about $25. Unless The folks at Tormek Corp. have wised up, you can download the instructions for setting up the dry grinder from their web site for free!

[Harlan Coverdale]

Lime Bernie I also use a bench grinder and wolverine jig to re-shape a tool. But, I sharpen all my tools using the Tormek...Bill...

Same here. I would give up my slow speed grinder before I gave up my Tormek. Using the Tormek jigs on the bench grinder is a bonus, but not vital unless you like to change tool profiles often.

[Sean Hughto]

Either will do alone, but it's awful nice to have the slow speed grinder (SSG) if you want to establish a profile or grind away a chipped edge, for example, because the Tormek will take forever to remove much steel. The Tormek leaves a nice keen polished edge compared to the grinder, but the price is speed. Edges with lots of metal can take a while even just to touch up - like wide skews - on a Tormek. On some bowls, I sharpen my gouge a few times in the course of a single turning session. With the Wolverine on the SSG, I can put a new edge on in about 60 seconds. The Tormek would take me significantly longer (others may be faster if they have all their jigs and settings ready to go.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2486/4141838751_c70051cfe7_o.jpg

Bottom line - both work well, and both have advantages - you can get by fine with either, but having both is sure nice.

[Greg Ketell]

Silly question: why can't you use the wolverine with the tormek? Then you get all the benefits of the wolverine's repeatable sharpening with the Tormeks 10" diameter, fine-grain wheels.

Sounds like the best of both worlds to me. What am I missing?

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I have a Tormek, and no grinder. If you're going to do production turning, and speed and time is of essence, you may want to get a grinder. But for me, the Tormek is great. It takes a few seconds longer to set the jig, and touch up. Assuming you have your tray set up etc. already. Since you are new, like me, the Tormek gives you exactly the same grind every time. Once you find the angle that you like, you have the same one all the time. Arguably, the Tormek edge lasts longer than the dry grinder edge, so the extra seconds when sharpening, is worth the extra time spent turning, IMO.

Just my $0.02.

[Sean Hughto]

Both have repeatability. I, personally, can achieve a repeatable set up for bowl gouges on my wolverine faster.

I'm not sure how one would physically mount a wolvering so that it could be used on the Tormek. I know that the opposite is readily doable - one can use Tormek jigs on a grinder.

The main issue with the Tormek is the lack of aggressivness of the wheel. It produces a finer edge, but takes a long time to remove any significant amounts of steel. When simply renewing a somewhat dull edge, the amount of steel removed is slight, so it's not an issue. It becomes an issue when you need to remove more, which happens fairly routinely for most turners I would think.

[David Walser]

Silly question: why can't you use the wolverine with the tormek? Then you get all the benefits of the wolverine's repeatable sharpening with the Tormeks 10" diameter, fine-grain wheels.

Sounds like the best of both worlds to me. What am I missing?

Greg,

Tormek has a jig, their Universal Gouge Jig, that is similar to the Wolverine Vari-Grind Jig. Even if you could figure out how to mount the Wolverine's V-arm under the Tormek, I doubt you'd prefer the Vari-Grind Jig to Tormek's Universal Gouge Jig. I think the Tormek design is superior.