Thread: Using Tormek/Sheppach/Triton type tools

The answer is yes. I have gotten great edges from Tormek. On the leather side it is a bit finicky getting curved edges as sharp but with practice it can be done. This answer is "Do as I say, not as I do." I experiment quite a bit.Mike Tobey

I now use my chisels straight off the tormek as I am getting lazy, but still use waterstones for the microbevel on my plane blades. The edge straight off the tormek (which is the best among all those you mentioned) is ok for most work but you can do better using a guide and the right stones.

Marios

The edge off a grinder - and the Tormek, etc is just a grinder, NOT a sharpener - is serrated rather than smooth. Yes, it is possible to use a chisel off this, but the edge will be fragile and the cut will be rough. It will not be particularly sharp (sharp = smooth) either.

The advantage of a wet grinder is that it keeps the blade cool as it grinds. As a result, one can grind right to the very edge of the blade. The resulting thinner strip of steel is quicker to hone on a stone, and it is this factor that makes for rapid honing.

You do need additional media after the Tormek, etc.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Ok, then where does the leather buffing wheel fit in? Do you go back to it after the waterstones, or does it play no role in your sharpening ?

Also, what waterstone (grit sizes) do you use in conjunction with the tormek?

thanks
Arron

I sort of agree with Derek... but it depends what sort of work you do with your handtools. If your shop is predominantly handtool based and you are likely to be doing everything with hand tools you probably should use water stones after the tormek. I suspect Derek fits in this category...

My time is limited in the shed, so I use power tools much more now. The finish I get on the chisels off the Tormek is sharp enough for most jobs but nowhere near as sharp as what I would get going through a series of waterstones (I usually sharpen to 10,000 using the stones). I would not use these chisels for extremely fine work...

I am working around that, I have purchased 2 japanese waterstone wheels which should fit the baby tormek, one is 4000 grit. I am planning to get a secondhand baby tormek and use it for just for this purpose, then I will likely get even more lazy and stop using the waterstones alltogether .

RE: the buffing wheel, this is what I finish most chisels with, but for plane blades I skip the wheel and go straight to stones to avoid rounding off the edge.

How sharp do tools have to be?

regards

Marios

Originally Posted by Arron

Ok, then where does the leather buffing wheel fit in? thanks
Arron

The leather buffing wheel is used with honing compound after sharpening on the fine grade of the Tormek wheel to remove the fine scratches or serrations. Rounding of the tool edge should be minimal if the tool is presented at the same sharpening angle.
If the tool is chipped or needs reshaping, then an initial grind on a conventional grindstone will be a lot quicker. The Tormek is for sharpening not reshaping.

Tormeks are grinders, not sharpeners.

The basic wheel is 220 grit. Re-finished, it will grind at 1000 grit.

1000 grit is where I start when preparing a bevel edge. This is a rough surface .. not smooth .. not sharp!

Sharp = smooth ... smooth = 6000 upwards. Preferably 8000 or 12000 grit.

Now the other factor is that a blade off a grinder does not have a smooth, straight edge. It is finely serrated. Taking a Tormeked edge to a honing wheel will simple polish a serrated edge. Running the edge over a 1000 stone will straighten and smooth this off, readying it for smoothing stones.

A wet grinder is not a wet sharpener.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Can I ask a stupid question,

If the Tormac is just a "Wet Grinder" why would one spend that much money on them, $550.00 up when you still have to use the finer stones anyway?


Greg

Glad you asked that. That is what I was struggling with. Its not just a grinder, but a painfully slow one. I know the chances of overheating are nil but we have had people from the trade telling us on this site many times that a conventional grinder is all they use because the risk of overheating reduces to zero with a white stone and a bit of practice.

It also seems the leather wheel side of things is of no or minimal value if you are after really sharp, well shaped chisels or plane blades.

The tormek seems to be a useful tool for knives and scissors and other household tools which is no surprise as (without checking my facts) Tormek was a knife making company that used the tool internally for many years before making it available.

Arron

i have done some research on this after my triton debarkel and i found an interesting set of video clips on you tube (blow) IMO i think you can get cough up in this sharping issue.

for me i just wanted a machine that would do the whole job and in short the Tormek does it. yes you can go further with wet stones, scary sharp etc but if you time is limited in the shed why spend it sharpening

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=A_OZI_8k7h4

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=uQEH-neQa9A

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=7T1p3vfV-vI

A grinder prepares a blade for sharpening.

There are many ways to do this, two of which are the dry- and the wet grinder. Dry grinders create a lot of heat and run the risk of drawing the temper, but an experienced and skilled user can grind on one. The problem is that many hobbiests are not skilled enough and know from their experience that one can burn an edge in the blink of an eye.

Wet grinders take the risk out of the equation. They do, however, come at a cost - not only in $$$ but also speed. They work slowly.

The other advantage of a wet grinder is that you can safely grind a hollow to the very edge of a blade, which allows one to hone a micro-bevel rather than a wider secondary bevel when creating the final edge on (say) a waterstone. This can dramatically speed up the process of honing and re-honing.

You can do stuff to the dry grinders to reduce the heat - get a coarse (e.g. 46 grit) Norton 3X wheel (very friable) - even the white wheels raise heat and the harder, smoother ones raised the most heat - NEVER use the grey wheels ..... and find a half-speed machine. Also learn how to use a dry grinder!

I have both.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by Strungout

Can I ask a stupid question,

If the Tormac is just a "Wet Grinder" why would one spend that much money on them, $550.00 up when you still have to use the finer stones anyway?


Greg

The tormek can a do a lot more than just sharpen/grind chisels and plane blades. I use mine to regularly sharpen the blades for my jointer/thicknesser. It is a huge time saver and at least when I sharpen the blades I know it is done properly.