Any Tormek owners? Looking for advice.

C

Cayenneman

Joined
Feb 29, 2024
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I'm not new to sharpening, but moreover always in search of the best sharpening system. I have whetstones and a strop and I have the Grizzly Razor Sharp system. I have been tinkering with the thought of getting a Tormek and wondered what any owners thought about them. I sharpen mainly kitchen knives but want to be able to sharpen other things as well. Thanks.
 
So I used my dad's recently and sharpened a buck 119 on it for the first time. I had zero experience on this machine. Overall I was pretty happy with the results and could see it getting better with practice. I've seen diamond wheels available also. There is a guy on you tube using one I believe from Australia. His results were amazing. He had alot invested in wheels though.
 
I used one professionally for almost a year. Sharpened al sorts of knives, scissors, chisels and garden tools with it. It is a very well build machine, get's the job done. However, for me it was too slow for knives and not very well suited for scissors. I sold the T-8 and bought a Twice as Sharp for the scissors. Much better. If you have no rush, aka clients waiting, in my opinion it is an excellent machine.
The claim about water cooling to prevent heat is, also my opinion, nonsense, the rpm of the wheel is so slow, It is almost impossible to build up that much heat it would affect tempering of the steel.
 
Coming to this late, sorry. I got my Tormek 2000 used for about half the new price, which I couldn’t have afforded at the time. The previous owner (deceased) had a very disorganized shop, so whatever jigs he had I didn’t get, with the exception of one knife clamp that I spotted on a nearby table. I convinced his son that the clamp went with the machine by using it to sharpen his pocketknife. Fortunately, it had the lower horizontal bar already installed (I later added an upper one).

So there I was, a newb Tormek owner with only one jig, and insufficient funds to purchase more. I went to freehanding on it and found it good for some tools.

Fortunately I already owned a Belsaw scissor grinder and a Makita 9820 for jointer/planer knives, so I didn’t have to use the Tormek for those. I did have a pile of edge damaged hatchets and axes, which I reground enough that I could file them symmetrical. Then I went through my chisel box, then all my buddies’ chisels on the jobsite. Then I progressed to skew and lathe chisels on the side of the stone, then roughing gouges on the face. Woohoo!

Anyway, what Munckmm says about the friction heat is probably true except for thin paring and fillet knives if you apply too much pressure. That said, I almost always run mine wet. It washes off some of the swarf, and for some tools I find the water gives me feedback on how parallel to the face I am before steel actually touches the stone.

One thing I hate about it is the stone grading paste, tried it once and never again. I just use the 225-ish grit of the standard stone, gives a toothy working edge on most of my knives. Chisels get kissed on the 1000 grit Makita.

I loaned it to a woodturning acquaintance for a week when he got tired of bench grinding his lathe chisels, he gave it back and bought one brand new. He periodically thanks me for that when I run into him.

Overall, I’ve gotten good value out of it. I haven’t really needed all the jigs, I have attached a couple shaft collars as stops occasionally, made some angle gauges to help in setting the bar height. I empty the reservoir after every session in the winter, so it doesn’t freeze in my unheated shed.

If your work is like mine, you’ll find it useful.

Parker
 
Love my Tormek T-8. It isn't a fast way to sharpen knives, but will produce some of the best edges possible. If I was starting over, I would buy a T-8 custom and add CBN wheels in 80 and 400 grit. Add a FVB for honing. Get a set of digital calipers and learn to use one of the (free) angle grinding calculators. With some practice and patience, this setup along with the Tormek honing paste will allow you to set any angle on a knife and get repeatable 120-100 BESS scores if you choose a lower (12-16) dps.

It isn't cheap. The above will cost between $1200-$1500. The next level would be adding a 250mm rock hard felt wheel and will cost another 200 bucks, but will get knives into the sub-100 BESS levels that are something that is truly extraordinary.
 
I use a T-8 and I have the standard grinding wheel, the Japanese wheel, and CBN wheels in 180, 400, 600, and 1000 grits. IMO it's the best compromise between the speed of a 1x30 and the precision of a fixed angle system. With the CBN wheels I can reprofile a knife in Maxamet from something like 20 dps to 15 dps in about 10 minutes. That would take over an hour on a fixed angle system. Standard sharpening takes me about 7 minutes. Yeah, you could do it in about 1-2 minutes on a 1x30, but you risk burning the edge, and using alox or sic instead of diamond or cbn will reduce edge retention with super steels.

My advice for starting out would be to buy the naked machine, the knife jig, and a 600 grit CBN wheel. These days, that's all I use 80% of the time. It's fast and it produces a screaming sharp edge that still has a nice bite.

Water isn't necessary to prevent burned edges, but I use it to eliminate metal dust, which is not something you want to be sucking into your lungs.
 
I bought a T-4 to replace my Lansky system that I had for 10 years. I also purchased a 4000 grit Japanese waterstone that does a good job. I will say that there is a steep learning curve to setting bevel angles. The bevel tool isn't very accurate in my book. Also, you need to MAKE SURE that the knife is perfectly flat before you touch the stone or you will get all sorts of scars on the primary bevel(don't ask me how I know). It also doesn't work well when stropping long knives without angling the knife so the handle doesn't hit the stone. All in all, it's ok and still use it but I replaced the T-4 with a Worksharp Pro Elite angled system. I've been happy with that aside from having to use proprietary diamond plates and hones.

Good luck.
 
I don't have the Tormek, but I have a similar Grizzly rig. I like it for stuff like chisels and plane irons, but for knives, I much prefer the 1x30 belt sander I bought recently from the big Chicom tool place (maybe $50) with a $20 bevel jig. I was actually able to put an edge on a couple of knives in the house that I had given up on, which is saying something.

I like the (more expensive, but longer-lived) ceramic abrasive belts for it...
 
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Using the WM-200 angle thingamajig to set the bevel angle is the WRONG way to sharpen knives on the Tormek. It's well suited to setting angles on things like planar blades and chisels, but it's terrible for knives. The best way to set the angle is to use software and a vernier caliper. In the software, you set the desired sharpening angle, the diameter of the wheel, and the projection distance, which is the distance between the stop on the clamp and the apex of the edge. Through the magic of math, the software then spits out the exact height you need to set the universal support bar (USB) in order to achieve your desired angle. You then set that height on your caliper and use it to set the height of the USB.

I know it sounds wildly convoluted and time consuming, but once you get the hang of it, it only takes about minute, which is at least as quick as using the WM-200 or the Sharpie trick, and it's a heckuva lot more accurate.
 
I have a T-8 with three CBN wheels (160, 400, 1000 grit) and a Frontal Vertical Base (FVB) for honing. I mainly use a leather wheel with one-micron diamond spray for honing. I pretty much use it exclusively for knife sharpening (mine or friend’s; I’m a hobbyist). I get results I could never achieve free-hand. I typically get edges between about 80-110 BESS. The CBN wheels make short work of super steels. They’re a huge time saver.

I got my Tormek when I retired and added accessories over time as I could afford them. I probably have quite a bit invested in it now, but it’s a pleasure to use. It’s also fairly quiet for a powered machine so you can set it up inside. I use mine on a dedicated table in my office. Hope this helps.
 
I have been trying a couple of systems and own worksharp blade grinder attachment and a Hapstone R2. Recently i got a Tormek T4. It is by far the best and less frustrating system i have tried. I have the original stone and could get really good results the second day.

im a hobbyist and Sharpen mostly knives. I think it’s very rewarding using it.

I like that air isn’t full of metal dust. I don’t know for sure that it is the case when using the worksharp BGA, all i know is that dust is all over the place on my work bench and the floor.
 
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