Tony,
as i said each to his own, :lol:
I had forgotten you saw things as a hobby
cost when making mods.
you are right about the costs of a tormek, but I found
that as I get more experienced using it I want to do more
with it. indeed i found recently a very cheap mdf jig to allow
me to sharpen and hone smaller axes,so it is possible to modify
it quite cheaply. rather like most tools, we tend to modify them for
our own usage. maybe that's why so many of us on the forum
turn more and more to hand tools for many jobs that we previously
did with machines.
actually, i kind of agree with Alf, where he says the tormek is more
a honing machine, but i find it does remove metal quickly enough
for me personally.
seeing other threads, i note that a number of reasonable brands
are having problems with back flattening, and in my case feel
able to do the main job quite well with the tormek, but i
do finish off with my waterstones, so like many people,
i use a number of means to get the acceptable finish to my cutting
edges, and for me, they seem to work.
as i said before, check the number of tools that have major damage,
then see how much your local tool dealer may charge for "sharpening"
then that gives you an indication of the budget you should consider,
and then you can make a decision.
note i am not saying that shop sharpening fits in with the general
ethos on the site, only it gives you an indication of how much fettling
you edge tools back toward getting sharp might start out costing.
THEN YOU HAVE TO SHARPEN THEM :lol: :lol: :lol:
finally, just found my dads old hand grinder, a "morse" brand, anyone know anything about them. he used it to sharpen his chisels for stone masonry, but what surprises me is how narrow the wheel is. hope i can find time and maybe a manual to strip it and rebuild it, then see how well it works with a modern wheel.
i think the aldi type grinder may well be the way to go starting out, or
as tony says, the rexon, then gain some experience, and see where you
want togo. for me, at the time, i had the dosh, so i went the tormek route, but i am not knocking any one elses choice, since after cleaning up
the edge, then you have to work with stones to get the sharpness you require.
nice to have conversations like this though.
paul :wink:
