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Thread: Sharpener question. Tormek vs Jet

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    North Plains (Portland), OR
    Posts
    210
    I've had the Jet sharpener for about a year and it works fine. On the other hand, I use my diamond plate and water stones with a Veritas Mark II jig most of the time. It's easier and quicker by hand.

    One of the things I dislike about the Jet, and may be the same for the T-7, is that it can take some fiddling to get the setup right so the blade is ground square to its edge. The Veritas Mark II is less prone to errors.

    With the grinder, I don't just put the blade on it, turn it on, and work on something else. I keep the blade moving left and right so I wear the surface evenly, and apply a little hand pressure. So I'm standing by the machine the whole time.

  2. #17
    I have the Jet and was a waste of money IMHO
    Get a slow speed 8" bench grinder and some bench stones..
    If not bench stones some other sharpening system that you can do a finish honing with..
    aka rarebear - Hand Planes 101 - RexMill - The Resource

  3. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Ryan Baker View Post
    The other half says don't risk breaking that wheel until it needs to be changed anyway (which may be never at the current rate).
    This is the half you want to listen to. Unless you want to have a really large non-friable lapping stone in two pieces.

    The SS shaft is easy to put on, and when the wheel wears down, if it ever does, you can just throw out the whole assembly without even breaking the stone off of the wheel.

    You can play with it a little bit to see if the wheel is loose enough to turn on the shaft, it may be if the plating is intact under the wheel. My first wheel was hard to get off, it took some of the plating with it. That made the second wheel impossible to get off, the rust was a lot worse than the first despite the fact that it was on for less time than the first one.

    If it's not loose, then leave it go until you need to toss the wheel, the penalty is $180 last i checked for breaking an al-ox wheel.
    Last edited by David Weaver; 10-02-2012 at 9:36 AM.

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Williamsburg,Va.
    Posts
    12,402
    Ryan,better do like David says and put on the stainless steel shaft. It takes only a very few minutes. The Tormek is a very simple machine to work on. I put the stainless shaft on the Tormek david gave me.

    The Tormek's motor is about twice the size of the Jet's motor,too. I have both,but as I mentioned,the Jet keeps breaking down.

    John C. is right: These wet wheel grinders will suck up about a quart of water!!! I keep refilling my water tray several times when I use it. But,when you do get the stone full of water,it will grind nice,smooth bevels.

    For years I have used my Wilton Square Wheel belt grinder,but they now cost about $2300.00 WITHOUT the variable speed motor(another $400.00),but are the fastest way to remove steel. When I MAKE knives,it is a must use. It will still burn metal unless

    you are good at quenching,though,and the wet wheel grinders do leave a nice,smooth grind which I like,without overheating the metal.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Middle Tennessee
    Posts
    710
    Glad I read this thread. I have a SuperGrind 2000 with the plated shaft. I've noticed a little rust on the shaft even though I put a light coat of mineral oil on it twice a year (when we do the daylight savings changes). Just ordered a new stainless shaft and upgraded water trough from Sharptools USA. They have free shipping right now on orders of $50 or more.

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Ft. Wayne, IN
    Posts
    1,453
    I have the Worksharp 3000 and love it. However, I also bought their Wide Blade Attachment. This is essentially a flat plate that attaches so that it is level with the top surface of the glass sanding disks. It comes with a honing guide that works fine. I actually use a Veritas MK II though because I wanted the Camber Roller and Skew Registration Jig. Next I'm planning on getting the Worksharp Toolbar Attachment which accepts Tormek Jigs.
    "I've cut the dang thing three times and it's STILL too darn short"
    Name withheld to protect the guilty

    Stew Hagerty

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    St. Louis
    Posts
    3,349
    So out of curiousity, the new Tormek T7s don't have SS shafts?
    Where did I put that tape measure...

  8. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by Gary Herrmann View Post
    So out of curiousity, the new Tormek T7s don't have SS shafts?
    They do, along with the new style square edge jig and the microadjust tool arm.

    If my post was any confusion, what I meant was that tormek should've offered those as a recall item to everyone who otherwise spent big money on a prior generation machine only to have it seize the grinding wheels.

  9. #24
    Wow, thanks for all of the help guys! The info has been really helpful. I think I'm going to see if I can find a good deal on a supergrind or save up for a T-7. After hearing all of the feedback I really just think I'll always wish I did...

    Thanks for the help guys!

    Dale

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Fayetteville, GA
    Posts
    437
    If your primary concern is with shaping plane blades and chisels, the Tormek is really overkill (and slow). I'd use a T7 sometimes for turning tools but mostly hit a grinder when I need to reshape a tool.

  11. hi just want to say i've used a scheppac for 5 or 6 yrs it was ok but not great this week i splashed out on a t7 from tormec and the difference is huge .it cost 650euro but tbh i think it was money well spent it's handled everything i've put on it which is every tool i have as i've spent the last 3 days going over every tool and reshaping or touching up and its done em all plus all the cutter heads from the multi tools .if u cant stretch to the price of the tormek the s brand is fine but if i was starting again i'd save a bit longer and get a tormek as i say i found the difference huge in all ways from quality of product to quality of tool edge .

  12. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by george wilson View Post
    When even the dealers (who would like to make a sale!!!) have told me that Jets often don't work right out of the box,consider yourself very lucky if yours is still working.
    My Jet worked right out of the box 6 years ago and is still working well. Paid half what a Tormek cost.

    Jack

  13. #28
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Williamsburg,Va.
    Posts
    12,402
    It is a matter of pure luck if you have a Jet 6 years old that still works. I have said before that I found the little pressed on wire connectors on the circuit board of the Jet are TRULY,TRULY as thin as a beer can. I am sure they get cracked when they are pressed on. A little solder will fix them,if you know what to do(from reading this and my other posts). Yours must have been assembled by an unusually careful operator. Mine broke down,I fixed it. Now,it is broken again.

  14. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by george wilson View Post
    It is a matter of pure luck if you have a Jet 6 years old that still works. I have said before that I found the little pressed on wire connectors on the circuit board of the Jet are TRULY,TRULY as thin as a beer can. I am sure they get cracked when they are pressed on. A little solder will fix them,if you know what to do(from reading this and my other posts). Yours must have been assembled by an unusually careful operator. Mine broke down,I fixed it. Now,it is broken again.
    George,

    Mine was probably built on Tuesday morning. Long enough after the weekend that the hang over is gone and early enough in the week that the assembler hasn't begun thinking about next weekend's party ;-) Seriously, though, these things have been available for a long time now and it seems Jet has at the very least a reasonably good reputation regarding its other power tools does anyone think they would still be building this thing with serious flaws in the material/workmanship? We tend to be most vocal when we are displeased and less so when we are satisfied with a tool so we will hear 10 times as many rants as complements on the same tool typically.

    Jack

  15. #30
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    MA
    Posts
    2,255
    For plane irons and chisels, you might also consider the makita horizontal wet grinder. Less $$

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