Tormek or Grizzly

[Matt Winterowd]

Since I bought the Tormek, I have only used my water stones once and that was to use the ruler trick on a #8 planer blades back, then I went to the Tormek to take it to razor sharp.

Glad to hear that you're loving the Tormek, Josh!

I sold Josh my Tormek because it just wasn't the right system for me. The tool is exceptional, and I never regretted buying the Tormek over the competition in wet grinders. For me, the question was more about wet grinders vs. dry grinder and wetstones. I like the speed of the dry grinder and the finish from the wetstones better.

[Jeff Farris]

Thanks Jeff for clearing that up about Engineered instead made. And the info about the power and quality of stones. This is the kind of info I was looking for. I like to save money, but I try to buy "value" when I purchase a tool. Can you answer me one more question? How long will I need to let the machine (t-3) cool down before uses?

Tom,

I have seen first hand the issue with the T-3 duty cycle. It is not a matter of the motor itself, but rather the plastic frame. The motor mount gets hot, and then the plastic frame softens where the motor mount attaches. Strictly speaking a 50% duty cycle means that it is 30 minutes on and 30 minutes off. I am sure you could push that a little, but not much and not often. My personal experience on the subject came at a trade show. For 18 years I have routinely left the 10" Tormek (T-7 or 2000) running all the time on my demonstration table. I assumed (yeah, I know ) that just running was not "duty". That assumption was dead wrong, however it did take 6 hours of continuous running for the motor mount to deform the frame to the point of allowing the motor to loose contact with the drive wheel.

[Josh Bowman]

Glad to hear that you're loving the Tormek, Josh!

I sold Josh my Tormek because it just wasn't the right system for me. The tool is exceptional, and I never regretted buying the Tormek over the competition in wet grinders. For me, the question was more about wet grinders vs. dry grinder and wetstones. I like the speed of the dry grinder and the finish from the wetstones better.

Oh, Hey Matt.
I've with Jeff Ferris's help have even gotten good at planer blades! I've sharpened 4 sets of them and the only odd problem with how sharp the Tormek gets the blades is the dust collector!!!. The shavenings are so long they will not fold sometimes in the jointer or planer chute and cause a log jam. But the thing works great.

[Tom Welch]

"That assumption was dead wrong, however it did take 6 hours of continuous running for the motor mount to deform the frame to the point of allowing the motor to loose contact with the drive wheel"

Jeff I hope this is not the unit you have on E-bay. Only kidding, I know it is not. Thanks everybody for all the info .