Tormek sharpening

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onewaywood

onewaywood

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Aug 28, 2004
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Location
Madison, WI, USA.
Just curious - I'm thinking about the Tormek sharpening system. Has anyone used it? Results, comments pro and con. . . Did you find it worth the cost? I would be using this for sharpening, not for shaping.

Thanks.
 
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I also have it and it is a great tool. It has added confidence in my ability to sharpen my tools. I purchased most of the available jigs when I purchased it. I do not use some of them and would be more specific in the jigs I buy if I were doing it again.

Herb
 
We had one for a while, but when we consolidated shops, the Jet version was chosen as the better of the two by us.
 
The Tormek is FAR superior in it's ability to consistently sharpen cutting tools.

The Tormek jigs are better made than the JET jigs and many that buy the JET machine will buy the Tormek jigs as they are compatible.

I have the Tormek and would not accept any other sharpening machine to replace it in my shop. The Tormek is the Cadillac of tool sharpening machines for the shop. It will make scary sharp tools out of anything out there.

If you think your tools are really sharp when you first buy them, think again. Put the factory edge under magnification and examine the edge. Then sharpen the edge on a Tormek and re-examine the edge ... there is a big difference and you will see and feel the results in your wood working.

It may cost a bit more, but in the opinion of all that I know that have used it for a bit not a one would have anything else.

The accessories for the Tormek will completely fill any one's sharpening needs with no problems at all. Look through the Tormek catalog and consider their wood turners set of jigs. Look at each jig and determine if you need that particular jig or not. In the end you might want to consider your own selection of jigs as some of the packages offered may have jigs in them that you would never need in your shop.

I especially like the fact that the stone can be "graded" differently by simply using the grading stone to change the grit size. This keeps you from having to change the stone manually.

Those that use a grinder are removing far more tool metal than those that use a slow, wet sharpening machine. For a test of this put a small magnet near the grinding stone and collect the metal that is removed. Then put another magnet near the top of the water in the trough of the Tormek (or the JET) and collect the metal removed. Compare the two 'collected' samples and see the difference. You will see right away that grinding vs sharpening removes far more expensive tool metal.

If you get the Tormek, be sure to get the leather honing accessory to properly hone the gouges.

Go with the Tormek ... IMHO you cannot go wrong! :biggrin:
 
The truth?? I have one but if I had it to do over I wouldn't. The wheel on it is so fine that it takes FOREVER to sharpen something. The only thing it does is take something that's ALREADY sharp and makes it sharper. IMO it's a waste for lathe tools because they don't need to be THAT sharp. A Wolverine jig and a regular grinder is FAST and it gets chisels plenty sharp to cut wood on a lathe. I keep a diamond stone at my lathe to freshen the edge so I only need to sharpen with the grinder after about 30 pens.
If you really want one you better also have a grinder because if you want to sharpen a chisel for the first time or change a profile the Tormek is useless.
If you really want scary sharp just buy some W/D paper and glue it to some ceramic floor tiles. You'll save $500 and get the same result.
The only reason I'm keeping mine is for sharpening my jointer knives.:wink:
 
Check out the grizzly sharpener. Then buy the Tormek jigs for it. This is what I did. Works great. Be sure to buy the dressing stone, this will make the stone coarse and fine depending on what you are doing.
 
Got a pristine used Tormek with many jigs for $150, and I kiss myself every time I use it... :tongue:
 
The Tormek sharpener was the first tool I bought. Yes, even before my lathe. I went to a wood show to select between two lathes could not make up my mind so I looked at two sharpening systems the wolverine {sp} and the tormek. First thing I did was to sharpen every kitchen knife my wife has and then her sissiors . Never had a question about the expense of it! there after.
 
I just bought the one the spurg was selling two weeks ago. Yes, it does take a long time to shape something, forever when compared to a dry grinder. Once you go through the shaping process, sharpening is really easy, consistent, and an absolute pleasure compared to a dry grinder. I never really know how difficult turning was until I had truly sharp tools!

Not having to apply much pressure and allowing the toll to 'cut' on its own is a dream.

Yes, its expensive, but its quality, and will likely last a long time. So far, my 1" skew took the longest to reshape, and my 1/2" bowl gouge only took minutes due to the thinner amount of metal that needed to be shaped. I actually have a grind on my bowl gouge that I can repeat consistently, it does not have a blued tip, and is sharp.

Oh, I will still likely use my grinder for scraping tools and maybe roughing gouges because they do not lose temper as easily and it is much quicker. They're shape is also not as important as skews and bowl gouges. The leather honing wheels on the Tormak come in handy though.
 
I have a Tormek and it works great. If I was buying again I would buy the jet and use the Tormek jigs. The number it does on my fingernail gouge is amazing.
 
I have a Tormek and love it for wood chisels and carving tools. But aside from a skew I don't like it for turning tools. The reason is simply 'time.' I can stop turning, sharpen a gouge, and be back to turning in less that 5 minutes on my grinder. With a tormek it takes closer to 15. Even with the skew I Tormek once and then just hone the blade for, sometimes, a whole weekend of work.

But even so, I think the tormek is an important tool in any workshop that does a variety of woodwork.

Marc
 
Like practically any tool, part of the trick is learning when to use it, and when to use something else...
 
i am in total agreement with fred, truly a magnificent, well made machine.
its the dogs danglies as we say in the uk :eek::eek::eek:
 
I have a Tormek and have just replaced the wheel (it was 10", down to 6.5" when replaced).

So, I've used it a little. I sharpen everything "freehand", but 95% of the time its a skew. Not too tough.

Biggest thing - no sparks - no fire. IF you have a very neat shop, no big deal. I DON'T.
 
Amazon had a German knock off on sale a couple days ago----I sharpen with a low RPM grinder and a belt sander with a blue Norton metal belt.-----only takes seconds.
 
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