Anyone Own the Tormek T-8?

[Rich Riddle]

Having multiple places, I have found some sharpening tools (as well as other tools) migrating from one homestead to the other. It seems all the sharpening tools/stones now live at the farm. Instead of replacing them with similar ones, I am looking at the new Tormek T-8. It's an expensive pill to swallow, but might be worth it depending on what folks think. What do you folks who own one or have used on think? There are very few reviews online.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

If nobody replies, contact Dennis Peacock by PM here. IIRC, he has one.

[Rich Riddle]

If nobody replies, contact Dennis Peacock by PM here. IIRC, he has one.

Ken, thank you. Dennis seems to own quite a few tools I would like to own. He must have an enormous shop.

[Mike Henderson]

I haven't owned one but I used one quite a bit when I was taking woodworking classes at school. I'm not a big fan of Tormek for chisels and plane blades.

The first thing is that the Tormek is a wet system and it tends to get water around the tool when you use it - so you really have to have a dedicated space for it.

Second, it's very expensive and the jigs that you buy for it are expensive. It's very easy to have more than $1,000 invested in a machine and jigs which is an awful lot of money for sharpening. In fact, this Tormek package on Amazon is $1,700.

For chisels and plane blades, I wound up with a WorkSharp 3000. I use the WorkSharp to set the primary bevel at 25 degrees and then go to water stones to put the final bevel on. The final bevel will be greater than 25 degrees so it's a microbevel. I use a diamond plate on the WorkSharp (about $12) instead of sandpaper. Here's a discussion on my web site about how I sharpen.

The WorkSharp is not perfect - I find it somewhat underpowered - but it does the job for me. And it's only $200.

And if you buy a Tormek, you still need some stones to flatten or hone the back of the chisel or plane blade. Some people will try to tell you that you can flatten the back of a chisel on the side of the Tormek stone but I, and other people I know who have tried that, found that it did not work well.

And the Tormek wheel is generally coarse enough that you need to take it to a fine stone to finish sharpening. If the Tormek stone was fine enough for a finish, it would be very slow. They offer a leather wheel for honing but my experience is that there's too much of a jump from the wheel to the leather hone. I needed a stone to go to before going to the honing wheel.

Of course, if you plan to use it for something other than chisels and plane blades, none of the above may be useful to you.

Mike

[Rich Riddle]

I have a Worksharp 3000, but it's at the farm. As you indicated, it's primarily for plane blades and chisels. It has the "caddy" that Stumpy Nubbs advocated but he didn't indicate anything about diamond disks that you discuss. Where did you purchase such disks? I have no problem getting another Worksharp 3000 and making another caddy.

[Sam Beagle]

I am a new owner of the tormek system, don't worry about the wet issue. I have seen zero reason to be concerned about that. Not even a splash of water.
I also own the worksharp 3000. They both have there places, however I LOVE the tormek system.. I mean really like using it. I got lucky and won a complete system with all the jigs for cheap, and it's worth every dollar of the asking price. The only thing I do not like is flattening the back of chisels and plane irons. I use a DMT stone or the worksharp for that.

[Martin Wasner]

I freaking love mine. I got it for free, but I had to replace all the accessories, jigs, etc.

I'm ticked at myself for not getting one sooner.

[Frederick Skelly]

Rich, I think it depends on what you intend to use it for. I dont know if it helps, but I wish Id known the following before I bought a Tormek clone a while back. The Tormek clone was good for sharpening, but waaaaaaaay too slow for setting the primary bevel angle; eg, going from 30* to 25*, etc.

I thought the problem was because the clone had a cheaper stone. (Its a clone after all, not a real Tormek.) But after reading alot about Tormeks online (Tormek forum and others), I realized my experience was not uncommon when using the "stock" stone. So I bought the wrong machine for my intended use - grinding the bevel. I felt pretty foolish, and if the clone hadnt had other issues that warranted a return, Id have "eaten" the cost and just put it on the shelf as a reminder to do more homework next time. After all, it WAS my mistake.

I will say that I REALLY liked the Tormek-like tool holder - I felt completely in control of the tool while sharpening straight blades and got very sharp, every time.

Maybe you already knew all this, but I thought Id mention it in case you wanted to use it the way I did.

Hope it helps.
Fred

[Orlyn Gaddis]

I was faced with the same dilemma years ago because of the high cost of the Tormek. I could never get satisfactory results free-hand or with the various jigs I wasted money on for honing. My conventional grinder could definitely form the bevel quickly but at the expense of a very blue color on the edge. Sharpening was always something I put off as long as possible because it was such an unpleasant process and unsatisfactory result. Working with anything less than razor sharp tools is a real chore. So I bit the bullet several years ago and bought a Tormek T8 and a bunch of jigs and kicked myself for not buying one sooner. The water bath is simply not a problem for me and eliminates the overheating of the edge. It does take a while to re-establish a bevel but once you've got it all you need to do is touch up the edge periodically. My tools are razor sharp all the time now and there is no hesitancy to take a moment to freshen the edge on the leather stropping wheel. The edges are basically a mirror polish. I've sharpened plane irons, chisels, turning chisels, turning gouges, carving chisels, 12" jointer knives, and 20" planer knives in my woodworking shop. I also do leather work, (shoe-making particularly) and use the Tormek for sharpening 8" splitter blades, skiver blades (which are just an injector razor blade), French edgers, rounding edgers, and needles for an ancient Junker and Ruh sole stitcher. Needles are usually considered throw-away but they are no longer made for the J&R machine and cost around $10 each. It takes less than a minute to touch up the edge of the needles on the leather strop wheel. The key is to not let your tools get dull but to keep them razor sharp at all times. It takes no time at all and you have the pleasure of always working with sharp tools.

[John K Jordan]

Having multiple places, I have found some sharpening tools (as well as other tools) migrating from one homestead to the other. It seems all the sharpening tools/stones now live at the farm. Instead of replacing them with similar ones, I am looking at the new Tormek T-8. It's an expensive pill to swallow, but might be worth it depending on what folks think. What do you folks who own one or have used on think? There are very few reviews online.

Rich, It must be rough to have two shops. I know another guy who has two shops in different states and although he has a lot of duplication sometimes what he needs is far away. If I had a similar situation I think I would want identical tools at each place, assuming I used both shops about the same.

I don't have the T-8 Tormek but I have had the older T-7 for a bunch of years with all the jigs. It looks much the same but with steel instead of zinc casting, same size stone, etc.

I use the Tormek mostly for woodturning tools and occasionally for chisels. I like the finish the wheel puts on turning tools but it is very slow to reshape any tool. About 10 years ago I made an adapter to use the Tormek jigs on my 1/2 speed bench grinder. That is MUCH quicker for regrinding a tool to a new angle or profile. Then I move it to the Tormek to sharpen. Once the tool is sharpened the first time, all other times only take a few seconds.

The jigs are excellent. I like the leather honing wheel for polishing and edge although I often just use a flat leather strop with a little of the Tormek honing compound. I have used all the jigs except for the one for jointer knives.

A year or so ago I replaced the Tormek stone with a 600 grit CBN wheel (from Ken Rizza at Woodturners Wonders). This makes it even easier to use since it never needs flattening and I don't have to mess with the water. (The Tormek turns so slowly heat on the edge is never a problem.) I put CBN wheels on my grinders too for re-profiling and for sharpening certain tools. Having the CBN wheel on it also makes it easier to take places and set up quickly.

I like the CBN wheel but the 600 grit doesn't put quite the same edge on the tools as the water wheel. CBN wheels do take a while to "break in" so maybe I'm just impatient. I may eventually get a 1000 grit wheel and try that.

I'm still looking for a second Tormek if anyone has one they don't use.

JKJ

[Mike Henderson]

I have a Worksharp 3000, but it's at the farm. As you indicated, it's primarily for plane blades and chisels. It has the "caddy" that Stumpy Nubbs advocated but he didn't indicate anything about diamond disks that you discuss. Where did you purchase such disks? I have no problem getting another Worksharp 3000 and making another caddy.

I'll try to find the exact disk I bought but try this link at Amazon to see some options.

A number of other people have purchased the diamond disks for the Worksharp and maybe they'll chime in.

Mike

[Ah, here's the ones I bought. I bought several different grits. This is just one of the grits I purchased. They've held up well in use.]

[Rick Fisher]

I have the T-7 .. I'm sure the T-8 has something better. The T-7 is an amazingly simple sharpener. If you can stomach the cost, you wont regret it .

I'm just finishing a new shop and as Cary said, put in a dedicated sharpening center with water.

[johnny means]

I've got an older one that I won in an auction. It's well made, performs well, and I get good results. But... I don't think it's a good value. It's a very simple machine and other companies make comparable units at a fraction of the cost. If I had to buy new I would look towards Grizzly or Jet.

[Martin Wasner]

I've got an older one that I won in an auction. It's well made, performs well, and I get good results. But... I don't think it's a good value. It's a very simple machine and other companies make comparable units at a fraction of the cost. If I had to buy new I would look towards Grizzly or Jet.

They are kinda Festoolian in a way. Very nice, very expansive. You pay a lot more, for not much more value.

Knowing what I know now, if mine vaporized I'd buy a new one or patiently wait for one to pop up on Craigslist. I got mine for free and I'm not sure I would've pony'd up the cash for one initially. It is stupid how simple it is to get a decent and consistent grind though.

[mark mcfarlane]

It seems like the Tormek T-4 would be more than adequate for a home shop, but I don't see many discussions about it.