Hi All,

Have been pondering an upgrade to my sharpening system for some time now. Was pretty set to give Ken an order for some CBN wheels and maybe an 8" grinder too. I have a Tormek 2000 which has been taking up space on my bench for years. it has never been a satisfying tool and so I have been left to sharpen all my edge tools on my Shaptons. Getting time to renew some edges beyond basic sharpening though and my bench stones will make this a long project. The Tormek too makes this a tedious process.

SO - I turn to you guys for some advice.

1) In the interest of saving $$s will simply getting a CBN for the Tormek be a huge and useful upgrade? Downsides?

2) Again, in the interest of saving $$s but also bench space - I would be happy to have a 1/2 HP 8" grinder with 2 mounted wheels but will that prove to be a more useful tool up than simply replacing the Tormek wheel?

3) GRITS - If I buy one wheel (square edge) is there a need to go beyond 220? Will that provide a chisel edge that can be tweaked with stropping or will I want more polish off the grinder?

4) If I go with a 2 wheel set up what might you recommend please. 1 for general purpose edge tools like knives and axes (80 grit?) and 1 for the edge tools -180 or 220 or 350? I really have no idea how these compare to other systems in regards to grits.

Thank you for any advice and real world experience.

Sam