Tormek for planer and jointer blades

[Dave Norris]

Hi Everyone,
I think there's probably a Tormek in my near future. I know there are other options, but the Tormek gets consistently high marks it seems, and I'm at a point where I just don't want to fuss with other systems. I have a couple other systems, and I can get good edges with them, but I always seem to be starting over with each edge. I want to be able to sharpen reliably and move on.

With that said, I'd like to hear from Tormek users as to results with the system for planer and jointer blades. I have about 70" of blades to keep consistently sharp, and being able to do them myself on the Tormek would be a key factor in buying the Tormek. Would anyone have any results or thoughts they could share?

Thanks!

[Greg Portland]

I own a Tormek but have not tried to sharpen conventional planer blades. I will mention that there -is- a learning curve with any Tormek jig... practice with some junk blades 1st. I typically use a large diamond stone and quickly hone my planer blades by hand.

[Justin Bukoski]

Tormek makes short work of sharpening planer blades as long as you have the very expensive jig. I use mine for it often.

[Josh Bowman]

Hey Dave,
I have and use a Tormek. I have the planer attachment. Here's the deal, the Tormek will sharpen an established bevel quickly and precisely. If you change the bevel it will take a good bit of time to establish the new one. The jigs let you have repeatability. I now use it constantly for my lathe tools and it is wonderful.
Planer blades......it has done the worst job and the best job. I had a fit trying to get it not to snipe the ends of the planer blades. The company finally......after a long time replaced the jig. For the life of me I don't know what was wrong with it! But the new jig does just fine. Now having said that, I've found lots of jigs that you can hand sharpen planer and jointer blades like the General type jigs, just a bigger home made version.
I have now added a slow speed grinder to the mix. I bought the Tormek jigs for it, now I can change a bevel quickly and with the same setup go straight to the Tormek.
The machine is really simple (and expensive). It's a motor whose shaft rubs a wheel on the main shaft. No electronics....just simple. The jigs really make it easy to use. Sharp USA has a guy named Farris, it's worth it to buy from him.....his support is outstanding. There's not much he hasn't tried to use the Tormek for, therefore there isn't much he can't solve. They also have a forum that's pretty good.
Good luck
Josh

[Dick Mahany]

Dave,

I've used a Tormek for planer blades and really like it. I've sharpened many sets of 13" blades for a JJP12 and a DW 7XX lunchbox planer with excellent results. A few Creekers have had set up issues with the planer jig, but nothing major AFAIK. My Tormek took a 5' nosedive during a local quake and I had to replace the wheel (no Fault of Tormek, no pun intended) and it worked flawlessly after the wheel replacement.

I don't use it for turning tools as I have finally learned to use a HS grinder, but for planer blades the Tormek is my go-to tool !

[Steve Griffin]

Hi Dave,
I used a Tormek for years to sharpen 20" planer and 8" jointer blades. IF you don't have a large nick in them, it works quite well. It does take a bit of time though, and the last 3 or 4 years I found good sharpening service and find it is worth a few bucks for the pleasure of not having to sharpen them myself.

I still swear by it for chisels and hand plane blades. Again, if you have a large nick in the blade, it's slow. But for normal tuning up of blades, it's fast and does a fantastic job. I've sometimes used my old fashioned grinder to take out big problems first.

-Steve

[Rick Lizek]

We had a Tormek in our shop one of the guys brought in. He moved on and took his Tormek with him and we decided to try the Jet equivalent and our guys are as fussy as you can be and no complaints on the Jet unit. Accessories are interchangeable. I still send out the planer and jointer blades as we do a lot with recycled lumber so the nicks can be more frequent but for light honing I can see the system working. I say "honinng"! HSS planer blades are quite another matter on that machine, Tormek or whatever.

[george wilson]

Rick:If your Jet suddenly stops working,take out the little printed circuit board. The wire connectors are made of EXCEEDINGLY THIN metal,and they can crack when the wires were shoved onto their little posts. Re solder the wire onto its connector and it will work fine. This happened to me,and is a common fault with new units right out of the box. I talked to a few dealers who are always sending new ones back. I just figured out what the problem was on my own.

[Dave Norris]

That answers a lot of concerns I had.

Doesn't seem like anyone has trouble with shifting longer blades for a planer?

[Josh Bowman]

That answers a lot of concerns I had.

Doesn't seem like anyone has trouble with shifting longer blades for a planer?
Nope, the jig does just fine letting you slide a blade.