To TORMEK, or not to TORMEK - that is the question

[Frederick Skelly]

Im way over the top on sharpening equipment. I have a bunch of good sharpening stones. I have a Worksharp (that Ive never been too thrilled with). I have a Rikon slow speed grinder that I use to change bevel angles and fix chips. I once had a TORMEK clone from Triton but sent it back (not durable enough & IMO a cheap grindstone). Ive always had a hankering to try a TORMEK and I use Christmas as a time to get what I wont normally buy myself. So Im trying to decide whether or not to buy the T4 with an SE77 square edge jig.

For those of you with both sharpening stones and a TORMEK:
* How much do you use it?
* When and for what do you use it?
* Do you still use your stones?
* Any opinions on the T4 - durability, etc?

Thanks folks!
Fred

Edit: Im sharpening plane irons and chisels.

[Edwin Santos]

Im way over the top on sharpening equipment. I have a bunch of good sharpening stones. I have a Worksharp (that Ive never been too thrilled with). I have a Rikon slow speed grinder that I use to change bevel angles and fix chips. I once had a TORMEK clone from Triton but sent it back (not durable enough & IMO a cheap grindstone). Ive always had a hankering to try a TORMEK and I use Christmas as a time to get what I wont normally buy myself. So Im trying to decide whether or not to buy the T4 with an SE77 square edge jig.

For those of you with both sharpening stones and a TORMEK:
* How much do you use it?
* When and for what do you use it?
* Do you still use your stones?
* Any opinions on the T4 - durability, etc?

Thanks folks!
Fred

Edit: Im sharpening plane irons and chisels.

Hi Fred,
I have the T-7 and use it all the time. Thumbs up on quality of machine, design and ingenious jigging for consistency
I used it mostly for plane irons and chisels when I want a clean fresh starting point
From there I move on to stones, moving through the grits fairly quickly. The Tormek alone will not get me to the level of sharp I want for chisels and planes
The Tormek came in very handy when I got interested in carving and bought a few gouges
I now use it for knives and scissors around the house and finish on the Tormek stropping wheel (no stones)
I've had a couple of mini sharpening parties where I invited friends over with their kitchen knives and we sat around drinking a beer or two and sharpened a pile of knives. Tormek was front and center
I would definitely buy it again

Hope this opinion helps you,
Edwin

[mike v flaim]

I've owned a Tormek for over fifteen years and never regretted it. It works well for what it does. I don't use the strop part of it though. I grind my bevel on the Tormek then hone the edge with 6000 and 12000 water stones. I've never used any other sharpening system so I can't compare a Tormek to anything else out there. Someone once showed a website where you can buy an upgraded stone that never goes out of round and doesn't need water, but I forgot what the site was called. My stone is 7 1/2" in diameter and I use it all the time so, it will be a few more years before I need a new stone anyway.

[Andrew Seemann]

My usual sharpening ritual is to do a hollow grind with the jig on the Tormek for plane and chisel blades, then do the cutting bevel freehand on a 4000 grit water stone, and then do a quick strop on the leather wheel. I touch up the edges with either the strop, the water stone and then the strop, or a diamond stone then water stone then strop if the edge is a little roughed up. I redo the hollow grind on the Tormek when touching up the edge takes too long or the bevel starts getting rounded. I also do the wife's kitchen knives on the grinding wheel.

I have the green one from about a dozen years ago. Rockler was closing them out when they got the new model in and it was a steal. I've tried about every sharpening method except ceramic stones (and I have a drawerful of stuff to prove it), but this is the method I go back to each time.

I tend to save up (i.e. procrastinate) a bunch of things that need to be reground and do them in one sitting while watching a movie or football game. It isn't slow but it isn't real fast either. I true up the stone with the diamond jig prior to these sharpening sessions.

I really like mine. It beats stones and sandpaper by a mile for setting the initial angle. I like hand tools as much as the next guy, but I never have seen the point in doing everything as slowly and tediously as possible.

[ken hatch]

Im way over the top on sharpening equipment. I have a bunch of good sharpening stones. I have a Worksharp (that Ive never been too thrilled with). I have a Rikon slow speed grinder that I use to change bevel angles and fix chips. I once had a TORMEK clone from Triton but sent it back (not durable enough & IMO a cheap grindstone). Ive always had a hankering to try a TORMEK and I use Christmas as a time to get what I wont normally buy myself. So Im trying to decide whether or not to buy the T4 with an SE77 square edge jig.

For those of you with both sharpening stones and a TORMEK:
* How much do you use it?
* When and for what do you use it?
* Do you still use your stones?
* Any opinions on the T4 - durability, etc?

Thanks folks!
Fred

Edit: Im sharpening plane irons and chisels.

Fred,

I use mine to re-establish bevels. It works well for that job, slower than a dry grinder but but not too slow. I hone on stones, sometimes water but mostly oil.

The T-4 diamond wheel will only hollow grind. The T-7-8 (250mm) diamond wheel will flat grind as well as hollow. I'm waiting to receive a 250mm diamond wheel sometime in the next day or two and will know more once I can put it to use.

ken

[Derek Cohen]

Im way over the top on sharpening equipment. I have a bunch of good sharpening stones. I have a Worksharp (that Ive never been too thrilled with). I have a Rikon slow speed grinder that I use to change bevel angles and fix chips. I once had a TORMEK clone from Triton but sent it back (not durable enough & IMO a cheap grindstone). Ive always had a hankering to try a TORMEK and I use Christmas as a time to get what I wont normally buy myself. So Im trying to decide whether or not to buy the T4 with an SE77 square edge jig.

For those of you with both sharpening stones and a TORMEK:
* How much do you use it?
* When and for what do you use it?
* Do you still use your stones?
* Any opinions on the T4 - durability, etc?

Thanks folks!
Fred

Edit: Im sharpening plane irons and chisels.

Hi Fred

I have had a Tormek for about 10 years. Since discovering CBN wheels (180 and 80 grit) and using them on a half-speed bench grinder with the Tormek guides (about 3 years ago now), the Tormek, per se, has had minimal use. The CBN wheels are simply streets ahead in regard to set up, speed of grinding, lack of wear, never needing to be adjusted or re-surfaced .... and the use of the Tormek guides means that I have the best of both worlds.

You must have read the article I wrote a few years ago: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Woodwor...ningSetUp.html

My enthusiasm for this set up has not changed, and I believe that many have modelled their grinder on mine. It is a real game changer.

So my advice is to look into the cost of a half speed machine. I believe Rikon sell one. Get a 180 grit CBN wheel if you can only get one (I use this 90% of the time). I do not use the SE77 jig (I have one and find it excessively finicky, unnecessary). I use the SE76, and then add the micro camber in by hand.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Dominik Dudkiewicz]

Hi Fred,

I have a T-8 and like others use it to get/restore a hollow-grind on chisels and plane irons before moving to hand sharpening on waterstones; working up from 1000 - 6000 - 13000. I am yet to use the leather strop but will probably use it a lot when i get into carving and turning.

I also use it to grind out chips when I drop/hit a chisel but find this can take a while if a lot of materiel needs to be removed (likewise if changing the bevel angle on a blade) - it's times like this I think I'd like a regular grinder.

Overall I'm very happy with it and don't regret picking one up.

Cheers, Dom

[Frederick Skelly]

Thanks guys! This all helps me!
Have a good day.
Fred

[Pete Taran]

To take it one step further, you can eliminate completely hand stones. Tormek makes a 6000 grit waterstone which you can use to put a nice microbevel on your blade. I bought it originally and swapped out the main stone, but I liked the results so much I bought a second Tormek. One with the stock 220 grit stone, and one with the 6000 grit. Since most of my sharpening is plane irons and chisels and 25 degrees, you can bang out a lot of sharpening in a short amount of time. Highest endorsement for the Tormek!

[David Silverson]

I agree and also don’t like the se77 jig, I bought it ,tried it and returned it. I usually square the blade being sharpened in the se76 with a small square,it’s simple and it works.

[Kevin Adams]

Fred,

I use mine to re-establish bevels. It works well for that job, slower than a dry grinder but but not too slow. I hone on stones, sometimes water but mostly oil.

The T-4 diamond wheel will only hollow grind. The T-7-8 (250mm) diamond wheel will flat grind as well as hollow. I'm waiting to receive a 250mm diamond wheel sometime in the next day or two and will know more once I can put it to use.

ken

Hi Ken, curious what grit diamond wheel did you order and why?

Thanks.
Kevin

[Jim Koepke]

Get a 180 grit CBN wheel if you can only get one (I use this 90% of the time).

Interesting, this is close to the grit for my flat disc sharpening system. It also does the heavy lifting.

It is a good grit for removing light chips and then to the stones.

jtk

[Mike Henderson]

I've used Tormek units and they worked okay. The things I didn't like about them is that they're very expensive and they're a wet system. Like others who posted here, I used it simply to set the primary bevel on chisels and plane irons and then finished on stones.

For chisels, now, I use a WorkSharp to set the primary bevel and finish on stones. I can set plane iron bevels on the top of the WorkSharp, but most of my use is for chisels. The WorkSharp is a dry system and significantly less expensive than a Tormek.

If it were possible, I suggest you see if you can get access to a unit and try it out.

Mike

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I bought a Tormek with a plan to make it pay for itself by sharpening knives for extra money. It took a little over a month to pay for itself. I mainly use it to sharpen knives in bulk and sharpening power planer blades. For hand work I use stones- mainly because setup is easier, and I finish on a fine stone anyway.

If you use gouges, a Tormek is a great way to sharpen those. I use it first for those. It is also a great scissor sharpener. I love my Tormek. I can’t count the times I have needed to sharpen something weird- like a guillotine used to cut flowers- and it made quick work of it.

[Jason Martin Winnipeg]

I also have a Work Sharp 3000, but I only use it for refurbishing old chisels or plane blades. I originally bought it with the intention of using it as my primary method of sharpening, but I wasn't satisfied with the results, due to the spinning disc creating an uneven grinding.

All of my primary hand tool sharpening is done by hand on diamond plates and a leather stop now.