Tormek Diamond Wheel

[ken hatch]

I'm always the last to know, from a Tormek email:

"We are now launching three new diamond wheels and a Multi Base for edge tool sharpening. Both the Multi Base and Diamond Wheels are designed for use with the Tormek Water Cooled Sharpening System and will give woodworkers the perfect condition for always having sharp tools in their work."

ken

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I'm always the last to know, from a Tormek email:

"We are now launching three new diamond wheels and a Multi Base for edge tool sharpening. Both the Multi Base and Diamond Wheels are designed for use with the Tormek Water Cooled Sharpening System and will give woodworkers the perfect condition for always having sharp tools in their work."

ken

Apparently you are next to last, and I am last. I wonder what the price will be. I would probably consider one.

[John K Jordan]

News to me too. I found this new video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRAa8MA-Nr0

Those wheels sure have a wide flat grit area on the side!

I see they are running the wheels in water. I use a 1200 grit CBN on my Tormek (from Woodturners Wonders) that has a 1" flat on each side but I use it dry, not in water.

JKJ

[Todd Stock]

I hope the guy that just bought my Tormek considers them.

[ken hatch]

News to me too. I found this new video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRAa8MA-Nr0

Those wheels sure have a wide flat grit area on the side!

I see they are running the wheels in water. I use a 1200 grit CBN on my Tormek (from Woodturners Wonders) that has a 1" flat on each side but I use it dry, not in water.

JKJ

John,

I've been running my CBN wheel in water to control dust with no problem. Seems about as fast/slow either way. IIRC my CBN wheel is 160 grit and is still slow, the Tormek course wheel is 320 grit.

ken

[Tom M King]

I wonder why they used diamond, and not CBN. I like the idea of the design though.

[Patrick Chase]

I wonder why they used diamond, and not CBN. I like the idea of the design though.

Because diamond is about 50% harder (for synthetic monocrystalline) and therefore longer lasting, and because the low speed and water cooling means that Carbon migration isn't a concern.

When diamonds get really hot (several hundred degrees Centigrade) while in contact with steel, the Carbon from the diamonds can migrate to the steel. CBN doesn't contain carbon and is immune. That's why CBN is the super-abrasive of choice for dry-grinding in production settings, and why it's popular with people like turners who grind HSS a lot and don't want to worry about temperature. Other than that it's strictly inferior to diamond.

For those of us who grind plain tools steels at lower temperatures CBN is arguably a worse choice even for our dry grinders, but we're limited by what's available off the shelf. Tormek wasn't, and they did the right thing.

[Tom M King]

Thanks Patrick. Looks like I'll probably be going back to Tormek. I don't like dealing with friable wheels, but dry grinding leaves a mess. Water contains the mess, even if not needed for cooling. My permanent sharpening sink has a long, stainless counter, so splashes don't bother me as much as metal dust. Even a CBN wheeled grinder, as fast as it does the job, leaves a mess after a while. I wonder how easily the wheels can be swapped. I'm sure it's not too bad, but wasted time is gone.

I like their new cast housing, but wish they made one that would run a water wheel on each side. I never used the leather wheels on the last one I had. A coarse one would be fine for irons, and chisels, but it would be nice to run an x-fine one for scissors, and such.

[John K Jordan]

Thanks Patrick. Looks like I'll probably be going back to Tormek. I don't like dealing with friable wheels, but dry grinding leaves a mess. Water contains the mess, even if not needed for cooling. My permanent sharpening sink has a long, stainless counter, so splashes don't bother me as much as metal dust. Even a CBN wheeled grinder, as fast as it does the job, leaves a mess after a while. I wonder how easily the wheels can be swapped. I'm sure it's not too bad, but wasted time is gone.
I like their new cast housing, but wish they made one that would run a water wheel on each side. I never used the leather wheels on the last one I had. A coarse one would be fine for irons, and chisels, but it would be nice to run an x-fine one for scissors, and such.

Ken Rizza told me not to run the CBN in water but I don't know why. I know some have noticed rust on steel CBN wheels.

The Tormek with the non-friable wheel is great. I like that it never needs dressing. I bought the CBN but diamond would have been just as good for that slow a speed as Patrick mentioned. I grind some tools on a bench grinder with CBN but I like to use the 1200 grit for my spindle gouges. It's worthless for shaping a new turning tool like a big scraper, though - for that I use an 80 grit CBN on a bench grinder, with 220 and 600 on other grinders. A useful thing for me when I made an attachment to use the Tormek jigs on the bench grinder. I think they have a kit for that now but not then.

380445 380446

I switch between the Tormek and Wolverine on occasion.

I do use the leather wheels a lot on the Tormek, to knock off grinding burrs and hone/polish the edge sometimes. The profiled wheel is good for the inside of spindle gouges.

The wheels can be swapped fairly quickly, swapped between 600 and 1200 wheels a couple of times recently. I think a dual wheel Tormek would be good but they might need to beef up the motor. Could probably build one... I've had my eye out for a second used Tormek for some time but I may have waited too long - for a while there not many people wanted them but now there seems to be a revival. May just have to buy new again - yikes!

One thing I want to try to do on mine is reverse the motor somehow so I can spin the wheel in both directions and still work from the front.

I just picked up a used Work Sharp horizontal disk sharpener to play with. (How many sharping things does a woodturner need?!) I sharpened a chisel on it and it seemed to work fine. However, I'm sure my chisel needs are rather casual compared to most in this forum, though!

JKJ

[Tom M King]

I was looking at the Tormek offerings a day or so ago. They have a base, to go under the grinder, that's let's you turn the whole thing around-easily back and forth, so you can use the wheels going either towards you, or away from you. They even have a video of it on their site.

[Chet R Parks]

Tom, The rotating base is nice and I use it quite often. I bought the 10" CBN wheel (800 and 1200 grit) from Ken Rizza and like John and Ken stated it shouldn't be used in water. To avoid the mess of metal shavings I had this magnet from LV http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=32071&cat=1,42363,42356 It's 5 inches long, fits easily into a fold top plastic sandwich bag. I attach it to the housing of the Tormek inside the bag so it overhangs the wheel and move it to a position so it clears the wheel by about 3/32. I won't say it collects everything but 95% would not be exaggerating. When finished I just remove the bag turning it inside out collecting all the metal grit and toss it. For about $200 delivered I thought the CBN was a good deal and has worked for me.
Chet

[Tom M King]

That sounds like a good setup Chet, but my setups are in museum houses, and I won't dry grind metal in one any kind of way. A wet grinder allows me to deal with it, but I'd rather walk outside (have high speed, and half speed grinders with CBN wheels) than deal with a friable wheel. I sometimes have people watching (that are paying me), and talking while I'm working. If I'm cutting wood, I don't mind, but I need to get sharpening done as quickly, and impressively as possible, as I wouldn't feel comfortable doing some sharpening task that takes more than a couple of minutes, so don't want to spend time truing wheels, and such.

[John K Jordan]

Tormek...They have a base, to go under the grinder, that's let's you turn the whole thing around-easily back and forth, so you can use the wheels going either towards you, or away from you.

I used to do that. Good in theory but for the way I worked I found it practically useless since the tool support bar is in such different positions for front and rear use, one comfortably in front of me and one up high with the tool pointed downwards. The only way I could stand to use it in reverse was pick the Tormek off the bench and move it to a lower surface.

I might investigate electrical or idler reverse or perhaps replace the motor.

[Tom M King]

I looked at the Tradesman grinders again. They're variable speed, reversible, and run a wheel on both ends, but not designed to run wet wheels. As usual, exactly what I want is not commercially available.

[Andrew Hughes]

I really want a new Tormek my 2000 is not worth fixing anymore. Now I just need a rich uncle to pass away and leave me some scratch. I've had to get very creative to keep my edges.
Most woodworkers will never know how much they can do on a Tormek till they have one.

[John K Jordan]

I really want a new Tormek my 2000 is not worth fixing anymore. Now I just need a rich uncle to pass away and leave me some scratch. I've had to get very creative to keep my edges.
Most woodworkers will never know how much they can do on a Tormek till they have one.

Just curious what went wrong so it can't be fixed. Maybe you could sell it as is and start a New Tormek Rich Uncle Fund.

[Ken Schroeder]

I have successfully used D-Way (steel, with steel reducing bushings) successfully wet and dry with my Tormek. I use Honerite Gold at the recommended 1:25 dilution and have not had a rust problem. I carefully dry off the wheel and bushing after use and oil the bushing. This may be overkill, but it works. I have 80 and 180 grit CBZn wheels in the ten inch size (SuperGrind, T7/8) and 180 grit in the eight inch size T4). The combination of T4 and CBN is surprisingly formidable!

Tormek recommends that its new 250mm diamond wheels be used wet with its ACC-150 anti corrosion compound 150ml bottles. These will not be available until June. With the flat abrasive side and new multi base attachment, I expect a much expanded capability for the Tormek.

I have used the two diamond wheels designed for the T2. The T2 is a specialized machine designed to be used by restaurant personnel. It performs its designed function well. Both the diamond wheels and the rubber honing wheel are fully functional on the T4. In fact, if the diamond wheel is removed from the T2 and placed on a SuperGrind or T7/8 with the washer from the shaft of the T2 placed behind the wheel, it is a perfect fit on the larger Tormeks. The smaller diameter wheel works as well on the big Tormeks as any wheel worn to 200 mm.

I have used the DWC-200 (diamond wheel coarse 200mm diameter, grit 360, not 320) more than the finer wheel, 600grit. I find that the 360 grit diamond wheel cuts faster than the 220 grit SG Tormek wheel. It is very important to use a light touch, as the diamonds are brittle.

The DWF costs $220 US. The DWC costs $234. That is roughly twice the cost of the SG-200, the equivalent standard Tormek wheel. I do not expect the diamond wheels to last "forever". I do expect them to last considerably longer than the friable wheels. Keep in mind that these smaller diamond wheels have no side diamonds. I expect the new larger wheels to be Cadillac products at Cadillac prices.

Incidentally, the diamond wheels are listed for carbide use, not just for carbide touch up.

If the motor is running properly and the metal housing is in working order on an ancient SuperGrind, I would certainly continue using it, or, better still, sell it to John. Keep in mind that a new stainless steel EZYlock shaft, an updated TT-50 truing tool and a US-105 microadjust shaft will cost around $250. If you don't need the parts, it should be a fine second unit.

Ken (not the original poster)