Tormek grinding wheel

[Tim O'Hearn]

Hi all,

I'm a brand new turner wannabe and have a question about sharpening. I have a Tormek grinder and am practicing sharpening on a HSS roughing gouge. I can see that changing gouge shapes ( not this one, I mean) will take a while with the stock wheel. I see they have a black carbide wheel for HSS steel and other modern steel tools. Does anyone have this? Does it make a difference?

I also have a Baldor high speed 6" grinder, but it doesn't have any side covering and am leery of using it. Also it seems from reading that most people are using 8" grinders.

I plan on going to the local turning club and joining but due to health reasons may not make the next meeting.

Thanks for any input.

[Rick Markham]

Hi Tim! Welcome!

I have a tormek, and it is all I use to sharpen my gouges. I just have the regular grey wheel. If you are changing gouge shapes it is going to take awhile, and wear your wheel quite a bit, on the Tormek. It can be done, (I do it) I love touch ups on the tormek, it makes quick work and super sharp tools. Having the Baldor, I'd learn to use both. they both have their advantages, someone will be along here to help you with that. I haven't tried the black wheel for the Tormek, but I am interested to see who has, it is getting to be about time for me to purchase a new wheel for mine.

[Michelle Rich]

read tormek literature..they have a "grit changer"

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I have the Black Stone wheel. I think it re-shapes gouges faster. Yeah, I know everything is relative. It's pricey, but I think if you're sharpening a lot of HSS turning tools, its a good investment. I do not own a regular grinder. I think that the grey wheel provides a "sharper" edge, but I like the speed of the BS wheel. It just seems to grind more steel, and at the same time, not get worn away in the process. The BS wheel stays on my Tormek. I switch to the grey one if I have to sharpen knives or *gasp* sharpen regular flat work chisels.

[tom martin]

Tim,
I have the black stone and like it. When I need to reshape a tool I use a slow speed 8 inch grinder with the tormek jigs. They sell a kit that has the extra bar you can mount on your dry grinder. Kyle is right about faster shaping with the black stone, but its much quicker with the dry grinder.
Tom

[Joe Herrmann]

The Jig that tom mentioned works great and is well worth the extra money to get one. It save a lot of time when you have to re-shape your tools.

[Rick Markham]

read tormek literature..they have a "grit changer"

I've never had much luck with the grit changer FWIW. Although it may be "operator error" on my part ;)

Kyle, I'm glad to hear the black stone wears better, It's high on my list right now, I would like to save what is left of my grey stone for my plane blades, chisels etc.

[Tim O'Hearn]

I think I will probably order the black stone. Lee Valley has free shipping at the moment to take advantage of.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I use a slow speed grinder to do the shaping and the Tormek for sharpening. I have the accessory that fits the dry grinder which allows you to use the same jig on the Tormek.

[Jim Sebring]

I've had a Tormek for more than ten years. I wore the original grey stone down to 8 inches before I bought the black stone. I have seen little difference between the two types of stones. The black stone gets grooved about as quickly as the old grey one did and needs to be trued fairly often. Most of the use I've put the black stone to is sharpening bowl gouges, which tend to groove the stone easily because of their shape.

I have both the Oneway and Tormek accessories for my dry 8 inch grinder. I only use them for initial shaping of new tools. I use the Tormek wet system for all subsequent sharpening.

[Alan Trout]

I have the slow speed grinder and also just like Bernie my setup to use my Tormek jigs on my dry grinder. The dry grinder is much faster at reshaping. I have used the blackstone on a friends machine and would rather purchase a dry grinder and the adapter for less money than the blackstone. Here is a pick of my setup.

Good Luck

Alan