Anyone use the Tormek T7?

[Rob-GB]

As per the title. I am looking for a new sharpening system and the Tormek T7 looks and sounds the part. Just wondered if any of you guys use one and how you rate it. I will use it mostly for chisels and plane blades with a side order of carving and turning tools.

Cheers, Rob.

 

[neeleman]

Hi Rob,

Why not take a look at the Worksharp 3000.
It does all you mentioned up to 2,5" wide blades.
Otherwise you can grind them freehand on top of the wheel with the help from a honing guide.

I get very good results with it on chisels and plane blades without the need for honing on a waterstone.

Rutlands has a very good price (199,95 pounds) on the machine.

 

[Guy Ashley]

Rob

I have the Tormek T7 and I like it for sharpening chisels and plane blades and use it conjunction with DMT diamond stones for flattening the backs of the blades.

As long as you dress the stone every so often it is fine. A lot of people complain about them but dont maintain them properly.

I have no experience of the Worksharp so cant comment.

If you get the T7 kit it comes with the usual instruction manual and diamond dressing stone and should you need them there are lots of add ons.

Shame your not closer you could try mine.

Guy

 

[jonny round boy]

Rob,

I don't have the Tormek, but I do have one of the Scheppach systems, which is basically a cheaper rip-off of the Tormek. Some of the comments I have on that are relevant to the Tormek, though;

It's messy. It's only water, but it does get all over the place.

There's only one grit. That's fine if all your chisels/blades are in good condition & just need a bit of a tune-up, but if a chisel is badly damaged, or has been used to do something it's not designed for (like removing plaster from a wall - not me, of course ) then it can take forever to get it back to a good edge. I have a badly-abused 1 1/2" chisel that I tried to get back - I spent over 30 mins grinding it on mine, and it wasn't even half-way there, so I gave up on it.
Tormek do have a 'grading stone' which is supposed to give you effectively 2 grits, but that accelerates the wear on the stone. If you go with a Tormek, you will in all likelyhood still need a normal bench grinder to do the heavy work.

I've just started a new job, and in preperation I sharpened all my chisels/blades a couple of weekends ago. It was really frustrating. I'm seriously thinking of getting rid of the Scheppach & looking at the WorkSharp. It's now available in the UK from a lot of places including Rutlands. There's a thread HERE about it, and I know from that that Peter (Halle) has one & raves about it. It's considerably cheaper, too, at GBP200 or thereabouts, than the Tormek T7.

May be worth looking at that instead...

PS - I don't know enough about it to say if it's any good for carving & turning tools though. I'm sure Peter will chime in soon!

 

[woodguy7]

I also have been using the Tormek for many years, on my second one now.  The first one was the smaller cheaper one but i now have the big one.  I love it.  It can get a bit messy but if you put a tray under it then the overspill will be contained.  I really like the hollow grind on my chisel & plane irons & the paste on the leather wheel can be amazing.
I Finnish my chisels & irons on the "scary sharp" from workshop heaven.  If doing bench work then this system gives fantastic results.  I am going to get the profiled leather wheels for my turning tools soon. 

Guy, i don't have the diamond dressing attachment for the wheel.  Does it make a big difference ?

Cheers, Woodguy.

 

[Guy Ashley]

Hi Woodguy

Like any waterstone after use it can become uneven or glazed and doesn't grind as well or as fast.

With the diamond dressing tool you can true up the stone to flat again and open up the cutting action again.

Makes a difference in my mind.

Guy 

 

[Corwin]

Hi Woodguy

Like any waterstone after use it can become uneven or glazed and doesn't grind as well or as fast.

With the diamond dressing tool you can true up the stone to flat again and open up the cutting action again.

Makes a difference in my mind.

Guy 

Guy,  I guess that you've been keeping your nose to the grindstone a little too long.    [unsure]

 

[wnagle]

Rob-GB,

I have the Tormek and have been using a few years now.  I use it mostly on my lathe tools.  I prefer a flat grind on my plane irons and chisels so I do them on waterstones with the system taught by Lie-Neilsen.  I find it better and faster doing my Plane irons and chisels this way.  With my lathe tools, I touch them up by hand with a small diamond stone as frequently as I am turning.  Every once in a while I regrind them with the Tormek. 

 

[Ken Nagrod]

I've heard mostly excellent comments regarding Tormek's line over the years.  I prefer the somewhat old fashioned way, slow rpm bench grinder for really bad stuff and Norton water stones for the sharpening and touch up.  I'm not one to go overboard, but some do like to use a paste afterwards to hone things even further.

 

[Kevin D.]

I am not into hand tools, but had wanted a Tormek for years with the thought of sharpening jointer, planer, chisels blades, and various other neglected household bladed items.  Over the years though, have found I probably wouldn't need it, and would be better off with the Worksharp.  This is not an issue of money, it is strictly what each machine's range is, and how difficult and time consuming they are to use.

Willing to deal with the mess, and having the need to resharpen flat blades for handtools frequently, the Tormek, with it's dedicated space and proper implementation modifications near a sink/source of water.

Wanting to occasionally deal with sharpening various instruments, with litlle fuss, stones collection or a Worksharp.

Currently, I have none.  One day though, I'll try some incredibly sharp plane for the first time since my teen years, and I'll slide down another slippery slope and get one of the above along with an arsenal of planes etc.

 

[MarkF]

One option no one has mentioned is Tormek's Bench Grinder Mount system.  This allows you  to use their jigs on a bench grinder for the initial rough work and then transfer the jig with blade attached over to the T-7 smooth stone and leather strop to finish.  This maintains the same geometry and speeds up the initial process considerably as the Tormek type system is painfully slow to hog off steel...even with the stone graded to rough.  It's an inexpensive way to make a considerable investment more useful.

 

[Rob-GB]

Many thanks for all the thoughts so far.
Being stuck out on site work the last year or so my chisels in particular are getting very ugly.
I have an old horizontal wet grinder, but that is gathering dust in Mum's garage and is very messy to use.
My current system and hence the need for a new one is, a belt sander and two grades of diamond stones from Axi' [eek]
Fortunately my turning and carving tools don't get called into use often at the moment, so have escaped harm. ;D

Tormek is, so far, seemingly the best system approach I have found, I like a good system! I wonder why?  [scratch chin]

Will a T7 fit in a Sys4?

Rob.

 

[woodguy7]

Nice looking workshop there Chris, any more pics ?  [smile]

 

[Rob-GB]

Thanks for that Chris. So I'd have to add a sys5 into the purchase equation.  [big grin]

Rob.

 

[irvin00]

Veritas' Sharpening System is top-notch

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=48435&cat=1,43072

Good luck!

 

[nickao]

I am happy with my lowly Work Sharp 3000. I get my chisels so sharp I just do not see the need to get a more expensive unit, at least for chisels.

 

[jonny round boy]

Rob,

One thing I forgot to mention in my earlier post - with the Tormek (or any other wet grinding system) there is no method of flattening the backs of chisels & blades. You'll still need to find something to do that.

The worksharp does have this function, at least on the bigger model.

 

[Rob-GB]

Rob,

One thing I forgot to mention in my earlier post - with the Tormek (or any other wet grinding system) there is no method of flattening the backs of chisels & blades. You'll still need to find something to do that.

The worksharp does have this function, at least on the bigger model.

Tormek's blurb say you can use the side of the stone to flatten chisel backs, but I will probably get a decent diamond stone for this task. My old 12" DMT got nicked some time ago hence my using two cheap Axi' ones. Thanks for the thoughts JRB, appreciated.
Rob.

 

[tbellemare]

It's the same with a typical bench grinder.

Tom

 

[jonny round boy]

Rob,

One thing I forgot to mention in my earlier post - with the Tormek (or any other wet grinding system) there is no method of flattening the backs of chisels & blades. You'll still need to find something to do that.

The worksharp does have this function, at least on the bigger model.

Tormek's blurb say you can use the side of the stone to flatten chisel backs, but I will probably get a decent diamond stone for this task. My old 12" DMT got nicked some time ago hence my using two cheap Axi' ones. Thanks for the thoughts JRB, appreciated.
Rob.

Ah, OK. On the Scheppach I've got, it specifically says in the instructions NOT to use the side of the stone for this purpose (but I do anyway). I assumed (obviously wrongly) that the Tormek would be the same... [embarassed]