Thread: Tormek sharpening machine

Interesting that no one has really pointed out that many who take up woodturning do so later in life and are most definitely NOT from a trade background.Sharpening wil be a real challenge for them.

I have a friend who sharpens his gouges freehand in a particular way - a way I wish I could emulate. I find tools aharpened this way cut better for me, but as I am unable to sharpen like this I just use a Trugrind type jig and I can do a pretty reasonable job with tools so sharpened.

It is hardly fair to criticise those who find sharpening difficult without a jig. We all just want to turn. To do that we need sharp tools. If this requires a jig, then amen to that.

I seem to recall that the guy originally had a question about buying a tormek (all the to & fro was getting a bit much, I nearly forgot his question!).

If you have gotton to this point in the post and are still after a wet grinder, here is a link to a German made one. Hope it helps

http://www.busybeetools.com/products...BENCH-CSA.html

If you read my posts again you will notice that I am not intending to denegrate any person who wishes to use fancy machines, jigs, lots of of wet & dry or whatever. I just meant to point out that the same result can be achieved without huge expense and complicated equipment. Sorry Jeff I decline your offer of a challenge, I know what I am capable of and have no need to prove same

Originally Posted by jefferson

For someone not trying to bag the Tormek system, you're not doing too bad a job of it, Brendan.

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Exactly how have I bagged the T, Jeff. Apart from saying they were expensive (I would've thought this was just stating the obvious) I'm not sure what I have said to denegrade them. In fact I did say I thought they did a good job. The original post was asking about Tormeks and I was simply suggesting there were alternatives that were much cheaper; not better. I, at no stage, wanted to create or feel I have contributed to the creation of a Tormek v Sparky divide amongst forum members. If you are happy with your T then I have no problems and if anyone else wants to buy one then go ahead, I wont lose sleep over it. I'm sure you will be very happy with your purchase.

Originally Posted by Jim Carroll

The crux of all this argy bargy and some even Poo Poo others is that different people have different ways of sharpening their tools

Whether it is with a spark grinder with a Tru grind jig or a tormek or stones and laps.

We all want similar results , sharp tools, how sharp depends on each persons value of sharp.

The other one constant is that all agree that jigs are a necesity, not everyone works all day every day and can sharpen free hand, even some that do are now converts to jigs.

The main thing is that everyone has their way of doing it and others will disagree that is what makes the world go round.

It is good to try other jigs and fixtures and sometimes they will work better for you and you take them up as your way sometimes they dont and you stick to your tried and true way, dont try and discourage someone from trying a new tool or gadget just because you think your way is best.

I'm hoping these comments aren't directed at me. At no point have I tried to discourage anyone from any sharpening option. I thought my original comments were quite constructive and were not suggesting "my way was best" - just cheaper.

Hi don't forget the standard U,S voltage is 110 so you would need a step down tranfromer to use it.

Originally Posted by mark david

Hi don't forget the standard U,S voltage is 110 so you would need a step down tranfromer to use it.

I'm pretty sure u can get a cheap wall plug in transformer that's smaller than a double adaptor. Not bad for less that $200 tho!

Originally Posted by johnredl

I'm pretty sure u can get a cheap wall plug in transformer that's smaller than a double adaptor. Not bad for less that $200 tho!

Any chance of a link as I have not seen one?

Originally Posted by brendan stemp

I'm hoping these comments aren't directed at me. At no point have I tried to discourage anyone from any sharpening option. I thought my original comments were quite constructive and were not suggesting "my way was best" - just cheaper.

Not directed at anyone in particular just trying to get the point across that there was getting to be too much tooing and froing and creating a divide which there should not be.

I also liked the Poo Poo part, have not heard that in a long time.

One point I forgot to mention is that when new turners are taught to sharpen their tools that the person teaching them should be conversant with all types of sharpening from free hand to the wet stone style and then it is up to the newcomer to decide which way works best for them.

I hear all too often my mate reckons this is the best way to do something when he has not been given any other alternatives.
As artme indicated most of the newcomers come into woodturning at a later stage in their life and a lot do not have the required hand skills to go free hand so jigs are the best way to go. We see a lot of freehand grinding and it is not a pretty sight.

Well said Jim.

I also liked Artme's comments which exactly reflects my position.
Turning is a new venture for me during the last few years and no trade background, no 40 years of practice etc, etc,

I want to turn now while I still can, life is short, if I was younger I would probably spend more time looking at mastering the sparky freehand.

We are not all professional turners and some like me come here for help and generally get balanced information.

Cost is not always the only consideration.

I forgot to mention the deal Tormek Aust. had going before Xmas. For around $850, you got a T7, plus the promise of 3 new grey wheels as and when you used them. At over $300 a pop just for the wheels, the deal was too good to pass up.

Didn't hear about it? Get onto Jim Carroll's mailing list!

Originally Posted by KevM

Any chance of a link as I have not seen one?

My friend has one, I'll ask him about it and get back to you later in the week.

Originally Posted by Dez Built

I am about to get back into woodturning and i was thinking of purchasing a Tormek T 7 to sharpen all of my tools.

I noted that Dez wanted the T7 to sharpen all of his tools. Although posted on the turning forum, I assumed that it was not just for turning tools.

If I had a swag of non-HSS blades that I needed to regularly sharpen for non-turning use, I would definitely consider a wet grinder of some sort, but not just for my turning tools.

Any ease, or consistency, of use provided by the T system is equally provided by other jig systems for the bench grinder.

I sharpened my turning tools by freehand until good jigs became more readily available. For the last ten years I have used jigs wherever possible. For me they are quicker.

My 8" diamond wheel does a very nice job on all of my turning tools, including my little 6mm detail gouge. The diamond wheel was the best spent $s so far for me on turning tool sharpening. Currently giving an 8" CBN wheel a test run on the other end of the grinder... too early for a verdict on that.

Written before Neil's post:

Too much of this 'debate' has been about the means and not the quality of the edge. Fitness for purpose is the goal.

I'm a fan of honing the edge where I want a good finish off the tool and I do this by hand. The applications where that pays dividends are in spindle turning with a skew, spindle or detail gouge; and in refining a bowl outside with a bowl or spindle gouge. NeilS has demonstrated clearly that it's of value with a scraper on a bowl too, and I sometimes burnish a hook for this purpose as well as for spindle pieces.

All the other turning I do is basically hacking and the edge quality doesn't matter that much. Regular touching up on any kind of wheel, using an aftermarket platform and freehand, does the job; inc. for fingernail grinds (just a matter of practice and not hard at all). Cheap and quick.

I teach my students to shape and hone a tool edge and offer a range of ways to do do; a Tormek is usually outside their reach and is unnecessary, so having owned one to evaluate for my own purposes I've ditched it.

I regard the whole setup as a naked emperor; the jigs are worth a look but there are others on the market.