Tormek Sharpening systems

[Bluekingfisher]

Afternoon Folks,

I was looking at the Axminster site this morning and noticed they have the Tormek sharpening systems on sale. £199 & £349

I have heard great things about them so was considering a pre Christmas splash on one of them.

My concern is that there is a huge gulf in the price of the two systems (8" & 10" versions)

My question is, is there a great difference in the capacities of the two versions, can the larger one do anything the smaller one can't ? and can both models use the same additional jigs?

Thanks David
_________________

 

[NeilO]

David,
I think the only difference apart from the diameter of the stone (8" and 10") is that the larger is rated continous use ie all day long, whereas the smaller version is limited to 30/60 minutes IIRC or something of that nature, least that is what it was with the 1200 & 2000 models.
As far as the jigs are concerned they`re universal across the models and many of them are interchangable with the Jet, scheppach and clones.

HTH

 

[Bluekingfisher]

Thanks Neil, it all makes sense now! cheers

David

 

[wobblycogs]

I've had the larger model for a couple of years now which I bought when I was doing a fair bit of turning. It's a great system and will produce a wickedly sharp edge on turning tools.

Now I'm moving more into cabinetry I find it a litle less impressive. With straight edged tools the edge is still just as sharp but setting up the jig is a bit of a pain IMHO - I find it quicker to just do a chisel free hand on a stone or, as I do at the moment, on the Tormeks honing wheel.

One piece of advice I would give though is to make sure you keep the stone trued up and graded correctly. When I first got the machine I looked at the price of a new stone and what the diamond truing tool did to it and I chickened out of using it for ages. I ended up trying to sharpen things on a blunt stone with ridges all over it. All that ends up doing is causing frustration and poorly sharpend tools.

 

[Bluekingfisher]

Thanks wobbly, I checked out the price of replacement stones too so you wouldn't want to abiuse them too much.

I will be using them mostly for chisels and plavne blades as I don't do much turning unless something specifically requires it so I'll now have a think about splashing out so much if it doesn't make chisel sharpening any easier.

Thanks for the advice, I'll dop a bit more research on this now!

David

 

[miles_hot]

I have the T7 and love it however there seems to be a lot of love for the Pro Edge belt system as well - not least in that it gives a flat rather than slightly convex edge....

MIles

 

[Paul Chapman]

I've recently bought the T7, primarily for doing the primary bevels on plane blades and chisels. A fabulous machine - wish I'd bought one years ago.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[9fingers]

I have the 2000 model and it makes a great job of P/T knives with the appropriate jig.

Bob

 

[wobblycogs]

Don't get me wrong I really like the Tormek and I'm sure I'll be using it for years to come. It's fantastic for sharpening things that are difficult to do by hand for instance anything that is curved or long. For small straight edged items a couple of passes on a fine stone or a touch up on the honing wheel is enough for me generally. One jig I don't own which I should get is the knife sharpener, I'm forever sharpening SWMBOs kitchen knives and I've even got friends and relatives bring knives with then when they visit!

 

[Mike.C]

Afternoon Folks,

I was looking at the Axminster site this morning and noticed they have the Tormek sharpening systems on sale. £199 & £349

I have heard great things about them so was considering a pre Christmas splash on one of them.

My concern is that there is a huge gulf in the price of the two systems (8" & 10" versions)

My question is, is there a great difference in the capacities of the two versions, can the larger one do anything the smaller one can't ? and can both models use the same additional jigs?

Thanks David
_________________

Hi David,

I have the 2000 (now the T7) and agree that it is an excellent machine, but if you are only going to be sharpening the odd chisel, plane, and planer (from your planing machine) blades, ie no turning chisels, than I would go for the cheaper model, because you are not going to need the continuous motor.

The only reason I have the larger model is because I got a bargain from a former members wife after he passed away (Who remembers Trev the turner? God rest his soul), otherwise I would have went for the smaller machine.
On the other hand if you are going to take up turning in the future then that is different, but for the big price difference you are going to have to be sure that you want to be a turner. :wink:

Hope this helps

Mike

 

[Brian Jackson]

Is that 349 for the T7?,if so I would find it hard to justify unless sharpening lots of tools.

 

[Mike.C]

Is that 349 for the T7?,if so I would find it hard to justify unless sharpening lots of tools.

Yes Brian its for the T7.

I have just noticed that Tormek are giving you a 7 year warranty. For a hobbyist at £199 that is very good value for money. And for a pro or hobbyist that turns and so sharpen their chisels a lot that is excellent.

Cheers

Mike

 

[Brian Jackson]

The T7 is not 199 though.


I have the T7 and paid circa 200 about 7 years ago.

 

[Mike.C]

The T7 is not 199 though.


I have the T7 and paid circa 200 about 7 years ago.

No its the T 3. Sorry Brian I was carrying on from my previous post where I was talking about the £199 T3.

Cheers

Mike

 

[Smudger]

I've got the T3 (or the earlier equivalent) plus some extra jigs, and I find it to be excellent. The T7 is really the trade-rated version, so for a hobbyist the T3 should be fine. I may need a truing jig before long, though.

 

[Bluekingfisher]

Thanks for the input and advice gents.

I think I'll go for the T3 at £199, the bigger version at £349 seems a lot of money for what it is and I will not be doing any turning other than perhaps the odd chisel handle and the like.

The offer ends the 20th of December then it's back to its normal price (£229) although being a born pessimist I have a feeling it might be reduced even further in the new year. :roll:

 

[Bluekingfisher]

I had a rethink about this one, although I probably won't be doing a lot of turning and therefore I will not have a great need for the benefits it can bring to sharpening gouges etc, I do want to make use of the ability to sharpen just about everything else, including planer and thicknesser blades.

Long term, I think I have made the right decision in going for the T7 version. It should be here in a couple of days so I hope I've made the right choice...I'll just regard it as a Crimbo present to myself.

Thanks for the advice and for those that took the time to add further details via PM :ho2

David

 

[Brian Jackson]

I had a rethink about this one, although I probably won't be doing a lot of turning and therefore I will not have a great need for the benefits it can bring to sharpening gouges etc, I do want to make use of the ability to sharpen just about everything else, including planer and thicknesser blades.

Long term, I think I have made the right decision in going for the T7 version. It should be here in a couple of days so I hope I've made the right choice...I'll just regard it as a Crimbo present to myself.

Thanks for the advice and for those that took the time to add further details via PM :ho2

David

Mate I am sure you will never regret once you have paid for it.

You never regret buying quality.

Painful at the time,but time heals :lol:

 

[Bluekingfisher]

Mate I am sure you will never regret once you have paid for it.

You never regret buying quality.

Painful at the time,but time heals :lol:[/quote]

I'm sure your right Brian, I was about to order the planer blade jig this morning but I may just wait to see what Santa brings first. :ho2

By the way how do you reply with a quote from an earlier post??

I seem to have bother understanding the sequence of clicking and highlighting, giving me everything that has been typed. I've tried it this time but I had to delete all the stuff that wasn't appropriate....is this how it's done....bring back the quill and parchment. :roll:

 

[JMcK]

Mate I am sure you will never regret once you have paid for it.

You never regret buying quality.

Painful at the time,but time heals :lol:

You must leave the quote="AN Other" in square brackets at the start of the bit you want to quote intact. And finish with /quote also in square brackets. You just deleted a wee bit too much.