Tormek users

[gwr]

Hi I have had a tormek 2000 for some time and that was good enough on chisels,plane blades for the work I done site joiner kitchen fitting etc. However for more refined work do you find that you go from tormek to finer grit stones of whatever your preferred type is ? If so what is your next step to finish off.

 

[ColeyS1]

I use to consider the tormek much like a grinder on chisels and plane irons. I always hone the edge after on a dmt 8x3 diamond stone - best £120 quid I ever spent

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[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Hi I have had a tormek 2000 for some time and that was good enough on chisels,plane blades for the work I done site joiner kitchen fitting etc. However for more refined work do you find that you go from tormek to finer grit stones of whatever your preferred type is ? If so what is your next step to finish off.

Using the wheel in its coarser state, you have an edge that is 220 grit. Refining the edge gets you closer to 1000 grit. Now if you polish that on the leather wheel, you get a polished serrated edge. It will cut but is best suited to chisels where you are chopping and not paring. It is not good enough for plane blades, especially smoothers.

Turners may enjoy the Tormek as a sharpening system, but I consider it no more than a grinder and, when I used it, left it in 220 grit mode (the only reason I do not use it is because I now prefer a 180 grit CBN wheel on a dry grinder).

Sharpening stones are necessary.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[deema]

My experience is slightly different, I find it excellent for redressing a hollow grind or resharpening with the modified wheel. A quick buff on the leather wheel produces an edge I can shave with, so from my perspective that's sharp enough for any tool and any task.

 

[G S Haydon]

I agree with Deema. Most of the guys in our shop only do this, the leather wheel with some paste on it brings a very good edge. I prefer using a stone as I find it quicker and cheaper.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

What are you using the blades for - chisels, smoothing plane or both?

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[custard]

I agree that the Tormek can provide a sharp, polished edge. But blimey it's slow! I had one for a while and ended up using it just as grinder, and used stones for honing. I'm not even sure that the blackstone wheel that I got for A2 steels (waste of money by the way) can actually be re-graded, I can't recall?

The people who seem to get on well with Tormek appear to be those who do relatively little sharpening but across a wide variety of tools, where Tormek's excellent jigs may prove useful. They also seem to appeal to woodworkers who are very concerned about bluing their tools. In my opinion this concern is overstated, get a decent wheel on a dry grinder (or a decent belt on a linsiher) and you're unlikely to blue tools, and even if you occasionally do it's not the end of the world.

 

[D_W]

Black wheel has to be hit with diamonds to be refreshed. I hated it! I sent my whole supergrind to someone for free. Black wheel fused to the shaft and broke when I tried to get it off to ship it. What a waste of money.

 

[G S Haydon]

I do agree, Custard. But as you point out it can be done.

To the OP, if you want to finish off, a fine Norton India is good. However, many prefer something finer. Do you want to use a honing guide or would you like to freehand your chisels and plane irons?

 

[D_W]

If so what is your next step to finish off.

Anything of medium, then fine. When I had mine, I was using a shapton 1k and then 15k pro. Those were great stones.

Any stone progression is fine, though. If I was still using a tormek (instead of a dry grinder), I'm sure the follow-on stone would just be a washita. The importance is that you're using a stone, which will create a more even and stronger edge than the tormek itself from grading and then compounding the edge with the wheels.

 

[Sawdust=manglitter]

I have a Tormek which I find great for my turning and carving tools, but having recently gotten into some more hand tool work i was finding the edge on plane irons and some chisels not quite sharp enough. I then started using the crazy sharp system from Workshop Heaven, and i find this perfect to top up the sharpness with the hollow grind produced on the Tormek. If you were to consider the crazy sharp system get the float glass from a local glaziers... a lot cheaper than the float glass from Workshop Heaven. Try out the £10 sharpening film sample pack and see what you think

 

[deema]

I may have been lucky with my Tormek T7, as it cuts IMO really fast. Not as fast as a dry wheel, but, for re-creating a hollow grind where I don't want to remove much material, I find that a few swipes back and forth across the wheel is all that it takes. I use mainly oil quench steel which doesn't require anything special to sharpen.

The spinning leather wheel for buffing is incredibly fast at restoring an edge that's just going off, and I don't for instance have to take the plane blade apart to do it which saves a lot of time. After two of three buffs, a hard Arkansas stone free hand is my preferred method.

I will happily use a smoother plane blade that's been hollow ground and buffed straight fom the tormek I don't sharpen pairing chisels on it as I find a primary bevel of say 15 degrees is too shallow for any grinding wheel at say 8".

 

[Eric The Viking]

I've got a Dakota ("Tormekalike"). I have to agree with Derek and Custard. The worst thing is that silly stropping wheel: it's way too easy to dub over the edge you almost finished. So I use mine for grinding, and Scary Sharp for getting a proper edge. And the latter is pretty quick actually.

It works for me; your mileage may vary.

E.

PS: It is pretty handy for kitchen knives, however. But even that is slow.

 

[D_W]

I've got a Dakota ("Tormekalike"). I have to agree with Derek and Custard. The worst thing is that silly stropping wheel: it's way too easy to dub over the edge you almost finished. So I use mine for grinding, and Scary Sharp for getting a proper edge. And the latter is pretty quick actually.

It works for me; your mileage may vary.

E.

PS: It is pretty handy for kitchen knives, however. But even that is slow.

A great thing for kitchen knives (though it does require a little bit of touch) is a medium crystolon, a fine india and then something to polish. Norton makes a contraption to hold those three stones over here (or any three you want) called an IM 313 that is horribly expensive over there, but the stones themselves are not so much.

I had the knife thing for the tormek, and find using the setup I just mentioned to be faster and more accurate, though more accurate is a developed skill. Refreshing by hand then is superfast. A few swipes on a fine india and then a few on the polishing stone and a knife is ready to be steeled again for a few months.

I'd ultimately dumped my tormek because there just wasn't anything I couldn't do faster elsewhere. I've never been quite satisfied with anything power-based for knives, though due to toolmaking and tinker type stuff, I've had two wet grinders, two dry grinders, a small belt grinder with trizact belts and a buffer. The buffer with a hard buff and compound is actually quite nice for refreshing serrated knives - not something I use, but my wife volunteers me to sharpen her friends' knives quite often.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Thanks. I'll try that on serrated knives. You're probably right about the Norton setup, but I've got all the components for SS (including a good mix of decent wet+dry grades), and I'm familiar with it now so will stick.

Cheers, E.

PS: I do have a double sided Norton stone still, although I rarely use it nowadays.

 

[gwr]

Thanks for taking the time to reply, a mixed bunch of opinions which I expected on a sharpening question the reason I asked was to save me wasting a small fortune on getting the wrong stones etc if it wouldn't make much of a difference. I will be using mainly for chisels and plane irons,No fancy steels yet.
From the info I have received I'm leaning towards 1 stone of 8000 grit to use after the 1000 on the tormek! does this sound feasible or too much of a jump?

Thanks again for your replys

 

[gwr]

I do agree, Custard. But as you point out it can be done.

To the OP, if you want to finish off, a fine Norton India is good. However, many prefer something finer. Do you want to use a honing guide or would you like to freehand your chisels and plane irons?

I would like to mainly freehand but would have no problem using a jig I've done both on the past,Would this make a difference as to what stone to get or using scary sharp?

 

[D_W]

I do agree, Custard. But as you point out it can be done.

To the OP, if you want to finish off, a fine Norton India is good. However, many prefer something finer. Do you want to use a honing guide or would you like to freehand your chisels and plane irons?

I would like to mainly freehand but would have no problem using a jig I've done both on the past,Would this make a difference as to what stone to get or using scary sharp?

If you're using a jig, you want wide stones or surfaces. If you go free hand, you can use any reasonable width. That's about it.

 

[gwr]

Thanks DW all great info, I'm starting to feel like an old newbie starting all over again.

 

[ColeyS1]

My dmt diamond is a double sided green and red.
https://www.dmtsharp.com/sharpeners/fol ... d-diafold/
95% of the time I use it on the 1200 side. I tried the Norton India when I started, until finally buying a single sided 600 grit dmt diamond stone. It was nearly perfect, just a tad too course. The double sided 600 and 1200 is perfect though ! I sometimes use a 8000 Waterstone to refine the edge further, though the majority of the time 1200 is sharp enough. I know others who have bought cheaper diamond stones with hit and miss results- dmt is dependable, but you pay for it.


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