Tormek

[Brian McInturff]

OK I'm looking at complimenting my Oneway 1042 with a Tormek. Basically my sharpening skills suck other than for scary sharp method. My question is: Which package do I go with. Do they have an Ultimate package? Seems buying the basic and then to keep adding the jigs later would just be frustrating. You always need what you don't have when you can't get it right away. Also who has the best deal? Will Woodcraft meet other peoples prices? Or is Amazon probably the way to go. I can drive 90 miles to a Woodcraft is the reason I ask. Any and all help is surely appreciated. Brian

[Cecil Arnold]

I would love to have a Tormek, however unless it is really fast you will find that the Wolverene is handy and fast. I think Dennis Peacock wrote something on this earlier this week and he has both systems if I recall correctly. For turning tools it is fast and accurate.

[Jim Ketron]

IMO A Tormek would be nice to have if you needed to grind planner knives and such, but If your getting it just for lathe tools I think you would be better off getting the wolverine, add a grinder (I use a high speed) with aluminum-oxide wheels, and use the money you saved for other turning tools.
I made my wolverine type jig and Dennis has one just like it. Its fast and easy to use and you can get a great cuting edge from it.

[Dennis Peacock]

Cecil,

You are correct sir....I do have both setups. For the ultimate in speed of grinding....the Wolverine can't be beat. Now....let me expound here for a second and state "just my observation and opinion here".

1. The wolverine is FAST and easy to put a cutting edge on your turning tools.
2. You can regrind quickly on the wolverine.
3. You can grind edges on your plane irons and chisels easily and quickly. But you'll still need to hone with finer grits to get what you can work with in the shop.

1. The tormek keeps the steel cool and with a 220 grit stone on the tormek which is what it comes with, it puts a finer edge on the tools that the standard 80 or 120 grit grinding wheels on the grinder.
2. I've noticed that my tools stay sharper longer with an edge off the tormek.
3. Regrinding a new edge on the tormek can be done but just be aware that it is slow to grind a new edge on a tool.
4. If you want a very fine edge on your tools....the tormek can be graded to 1,000 grit via the stone grading stone that allows you to switch between 220 and 1000 grit quickly and easily without switching stones.
5. You can use a tormek to sharpen almost everything around the house, knives, scissors, plane irons, chisels, turning tools....etc...etc.... For my chisels, plane irons, and such, I also will hone them on the leather power strop and compound that refines the tool edge to about 4,000 grit.

Anyway.....those are my observations and are of my opinion and experiences only. Don't slam me on this....it's just my experiences......

I love the wolverine setup and use it often.....I love my tormek and use it often. The choice is yours and really depends on what you want from a grinding tool. As fast as safety goes? The Tormek is hard to beat. No heat and no fast spinning wheel. :rolleyes: :D

[Rob Littleton]

I own a Tormek and a Woverine.

I have just recently purchased the gouge jig for the Tormek coz I was thru with blue-ing up my tools. The Wolverine is dormant now and will be for a while.

I have the gouge jig, the shew chisel jig and the straight chisel jig. I also got the stone for grading the wheel and the little device thingy for truing the wheel.

Unfortunately, I got the jigs seperate and am waiting to afford other jigs but I feel, in my opinion, the Tormek is worth every penny........

I do know a LOT of turners that wouldnt part with their Wolverine but given the choice, I choose Tormek.........

SVS50 and SVD185 are the two I use for gouges........

Good luck in your choosing.

[Steven Wilson]

I have a Tormek and a Wolverine system. I've forced myself to be fairly proficient on the Wolverine because most folk's in our turning club use one. I prefer to use the Tormek though for my edge tools except when grinding a new profile, for that I use the Wolverine setup. I just find the Tormek much more relaxing to use and I've developed stops that allow me to repeat settings easily (and just as fast as using the Wolverine). The Tormek is great for turning tools and actually gets a skew fairly sharp (which it needs to be), although I will finish a skew off on a couple of Shapton stones for real fine cuts.

[Jim Becker]

Since turning often requires very frequent resharpening, I don't favor something like the Tormek for most turning tools. I want fast and get that with the Wolverine and a regular 8" grinder. (80 or 100 grit wheels, depending on the tool) This is not a statment about the quality or usefullness of the Tormek system...it's awesome. If I used skews more than once a year, I might be more interested in owning one, but I don't. For my gouges, I'll stick to what I have. (I actually keep three Ellsworth grind gouges so I can stretch out the time between sharpening sessions, especially when working with very abrasive spalted materials)

[Brian McInturff]

Seems I remember seeing an article(I'll have to dig thru my urls) where someone setup the Wolverine on the Tormek and was happy with the results. I'll try and find the article and post the url. But so far I gather that if I had both setups then that would be best. That I need the faster rpms for the Wolverine and then the Tormek would be great for finishing off with either the 1000 grit and or the honing strop. Is this what I should gather so far? I've sold off some other tools I've acquired and am dead set on learning to use all the versatility the lathe offers. No, I'm not even proficient at turning yet, but I know I need to keep my tools sharp otherwise I will get discouraged. That's why I'm not so so concerned about the amount I have to spend right now. I've aquired a good amount of turning tools over the years so I have plenty of the regular onews to start with, but not anything like Sorbys or Crowns, or Ellsworth. Although I know quite of few of the ones I have are HSS. So basically I'm a newby in training when it comes to turning. I do plan on buying the wolverine regardless, after watching their video clips on their website I'm sold on it. I'm just wondering if the Tormek would add icing on the cake. Guess I better find the artoicle I mentioned and let you guys read it and see what you think. Thanks for all the suggestions and comments so far. Brian

[Brian McInturff]

Guys, here is ther url on using the Wolverine jig with the Tormek
http://www.turningwood.com/tormek.htm

[Steven Wilson]

Jim, you can sharpen (not grind a new bevel, but sharpen) just as quickly on a Tormek as you can with a Wolverine setup. I have a wood stop screwed next to my Tormek for setting the protrusion and it takes 5-15 seconds to setup a gouge, the sharpening takes very little time. Try it, you won't find a speed difference between the two systems

[Robert Tarr]

Well, I am answering a question you didn't ask, but here it goes...

I am guilty of adapting my Tormek jigs to a dry grinder (think of the tool rest bar that the jigs rest/ride on, in a wooden block attached (drilled) to the front of the bench where the grinder is mounted, and then using the jigs on it, like you would the tormek.) I love my Tormek and use it often, but for rough grinding, I want/need something much faster. I can rough turn and sharpen using the grinder and then take it over to the Tormek and finish with a super sharp edge....best of both worlds. For straight edges (chisels, plane irons, skews) I use Shaptons/Scary Sharp/Diamond/oilstones/water stones/valve grinding compound/Automotive clear coat polishing compound abrasive (obviously not all of them all of the time.)

I am a sharpening addict and have just about one of everything and sharper is always better, in my mind.

Hope that helps.

Robert

[Brian McInturff]

Thanks guys for all the responses. I've not totally made up my mind yet but I'm pretty positive on the Tormek and supplementing it with the wolverine. I know it's a lot to dough out but I look at it as an investment.

[Chris Barton]

Hi Brian,


I, like many others, have them both. I kind of look at it like comparing apples and oranges. The Tormek will do it all, maybe not as fast as the Wolverine, but in most cases better, and allowing a longer life to your tools. For skews and gouges, nothing beats the speed of the Wolverine. However, you pay a price for that and it's not an up front price like the Tormek. If you use the Wolverine a lot and turn a lot then you can expect a fairly short lifetime to your turning tools. The Tormek will keep a razor sharp edge on any tool you have short of a saw blade for the rest of you life without replacement necessary. The "Wolf" will keep you gouges sharp but, at a fairly high price in the loss of metal.