When is a Tormek not a Tormek?

[engineer one]

thanks spodge, good link, and for once in a non magazine context, a good review on an american site.

it seems a balanced review, and obviously they are pretty similar.
the tormek, since i have one is a good machine which works well,
and having been around for some time is quite likely to get competitors.
until jet nobody has looked at the whole machine and tried to address that situation, it seems they may have.

to me the biggest actual working problem with the tormek is water spillage on top of the case when grinding, and of course the water fill is useful too
on the jet. :?

actually what i was expecting was a right slagging off of the tormek because of what the guy had said about the "internal" report before. however for once i was impressed by the balance. :roll: :twisted:

finally, the camber jig looks interesting, wonder when and if axminster will actually get them in???? :twisted:

finally remember that for many years in the uk, brimarc promoted the tormek for lathe users, and the majority of the jigs reflect that fact.
i certainly believe that in that roll, jet will find it difficult to beat, but for those looking for a similar, but not quite the same machine, maybe the jet is the way to go. the only question is whether the motor is as long lived compared with the expensive tormek one.

by the by, i still finish my tools on either a waterstone, or an oil one :lol:
paul :wink:

 

[MikeW]

I suppose you can't patent the basic idea, and since the Tormek has been such an international success there are always going to be copy cats.

Yep, Jet waited until the main patents expired to introduce this semi-clone.

There are a few people I know with the Jet on another forum. They like them so far. Probably the biggest mention has been the variable speed. All the jigs are interchangeable either direction.

Time will tell whether the Jet holds up. There are days we run the Tormek 6 hours straight. Sometimes longer. Don't know if the Jet would stand the abuse.

And I go through a wheel or two a tad faster than Tormek's larger commercial accounts. Here's my last wheel...replaced last week.

I'll need another in 2 months. Maybe 3. :lol:

Take care, Mike

 

[Nick W]

Mike,

I know I'm probably going to regret asking, but what on earth do you do to your poor Tormek?

 

[MikeW]

I know I'm probably going to regret asking, but what on earth do you do to your poor Tormek?

Well I hate to dissapoint you, Nick, but I just use it.

I do use it for more than sharpening edge tools. For instance, following taper grinding a saw blade, I do use it to smooth out the grinding marks before further processing. I do get a lot of edge tools sent to me to sharpen. Sometimes that is all my youngest does for a day.

But obviously I don't clean it. :lol: The only reason I got another wheel last week was I had to shim up the water tank in order to have the rim of the grindstone even touch the surface of the water.

The kind lady from Tormek informed me, "You know, you are suppose to change the wheel before now." Made me chuckle.

But it is just a tool. Made to be used. As long as the Tormek is moderately cared for [muck on the paint doesn't count], it simply keeps running. Which is something I could have mentioned. We put far more pressure against the wheel than is recommended, I'm sure. It's one of those purchases I couldn't have made more wisely.

Take care, Mike

 

[Martin Brown]

We put far more pressure against the wheel than is recommended.

There is no maximum pressure on the 2006 (as you have), just when it stops, which is unlikely.

Martin (Tormek UK/USA)

 

[engineer one]

jeez mike so you don't just abuse bears then it's even your own kids :lol: :twisted:

you know you have invented a new kind of tormek wheel,
for skate boards :lol: :lol:

im happy to see that your machine works for so long per day,
do you have any problems with noises or running out of balance?

paul :wink:

 

[MikeW]

Thanks, Martin. fwiw, I have never stopped the wheel, nor had it slip. It's a great machine. I even put a heck of a side load against it on the inboard side when polishing the grind marks out.

Hey Paul, I'm an equal opportunity abuser :lol:

Good thing this isn't a hundred years ago, the boys wouldn't have a day off. I don't get one.

Never have had any problem. No vibration, out of balance nor noises beyond it running. I'm uncertain how many wheels I've had. I once guessed 3, which would make this one a 5th. But talking with the wife, she thinks I have used 2 per year since I bought it. I'll use this one up by year's end unless I get my large wheel polisher finished. It has a 4" by 24" wheel. 1 hp with a gear reduction drive. Incredible torque.

Heck, I've even forgotten to turn it off and gotten up in the morning to find it running. See, I even abuse it :wink:

Take care, Mike

 

[Losos]

Hi Mike.
Your use of the Tormek reflects exactly what a guy I met at an exhibition told me. He owned a building firm & all his chippies had their tools sharpened by the firm. He said his runs every day 8 hours a day.

I think it was this, more than enything, which made me go for Tormek.

 

[inandout]

The scheppach is a good price and I am very tempted but from what I have read it seems all tormek jigs are compatible except the planer blade jig and scheppach don't do their own. Does anyone know different?

 

[David C]

Sawdustproducer,

APTC appear to be the Jet agents and have the camber Jig which I have been using for a short while.

Mine came with no destructions, and the knobs are horrible, with nasty sharp plastic at the bottom edges.

But it seems to work rather well.

It is a monster apparatus. and simply allows a plane blade to rock from side to side. The amount of rock is set with limiting screws. It fits my large Tormek. Have only used it for gently cambered bench plane blades so far.

David Charlesworth

 

[Escudo]

I have a tormek and it is a quality machine.

I have not seen that tormek do a buffing or polishing wheel as I would quite like one to polish my smoking pipes 8) , any ideas?

Esc.

Oh, on another note I wonder if some clever person with time on their hands could investigate and prepare some sort of chart with the different jigs on and there compatability and price between the Tormek, Jet and Scheppach. This would be a useful and informative reference.

 

[Scrit]

To buff effectively you really need a bit more speed and power than the Tormek is capable of, generally somewhere in the 600 to 2000 rpm range, depending on diameter of the mop. Picador used to make this sort of thing. A bench grinder with pulley drive is one option for this, or for stuff like solid surface worktops, etc I utilise a Bosch body polisher wiith a 7in lambswool mop - 2000watts @ 1200 to 2000rpm

Scrit

 

[engineer one]

the other thing to consider is an old fashioned b&d work centre which had a grinding wheel on one side, and an accessory adapter on the other.
not sure if they still make them , but like scrit i agree you need speed.
you could of course always use a dremel or similar mini drill with buffers.
they would help on smaller items.

paul :wink:

 

[Vormulac]

Being on a budget, I have to ask: Does anyone know how the Scheppach Tiger2000 compares with these two fairly established machines? Are the jigs for the Tormek/Jet compatible with the Scheppach?

Cheers,

V.

 

[desmoengine]

hi folks and a good new year to all

for additional info have a look on Yahoo there is a dedicated forum ,US based, for the tormek. they did have a disscussion going on in 2006 relating to the new jet machine at the time.

regards
dave w