Replies

1. 
   frenchy | Jun 28, 2005 04:55am | #1

   Will George,

     I bought my Tormex thinking I could save all the time I used in the past having  my planner blades and jointer blades etc. sharpened by a pro.. I used to have to take them downtown to a shop that did the printers blades, leave them and then come back several days later and pick them up.  That forced me to own three sets of blades (minimum) One in the machine, one at the sharpeners and one going to the sharpener. 

     So I bought mine and found out that the very best job I could do took too long to set up for,  too long to do, and I found that my best efforts still weren't half as good as I could get done by a pro.. changing blades took more time than I gained plus instead of planning stuff I was sharpening stuff.  

     I use the scary sharp method but I beat the heck out of my chisels and I do use the Tormex to take the gouges, chips and cracks out of them .  Once done they get the scary sharp method and then a final hone  with the buffing wheel..

       Now I'll grant you that Stanley chisels aren't the cats meow but when You are beating on them with a hammer to open up a too small mortice pocket half way up a 18 foot timber, all you want is sharp...

     

2. 
   dukeone | Jun 28, 2005 06:40am | #2

   Will: I got my Tormek before I got into woodworking and thought it would do everything I could ever want as far as sharpening kitchen knifes (three cooks in the family), work knifes and my Sunday pocket knife. Now I realize it has limits for me but also speeds up any chip removal or reshaping any edge. Mostly I wish for a place in the shop to keep it set up instead of having to put it away when I'm done; I'd use it a lot more. Have you seen the Japanese water stones to fit the Tormek (at Japan WW'er)? Anyone out there try those?

   KDM

   http://www.japanwoodworker.com/product.asp?s=JapanWoodworker&pf_id=01.097.300&dept_id=13111

   Kenneth Duke Masters
   The Bill of Rights
   December 15 1791
   NRA Endowment Member
   LEAA Life Member
   CRPA Member
1. 
   Handrubbed | Jun 30, 2005 06:25am | #3

   Thanks guys, you saved me $400.00.  Tormek seems like a nice machine, but it is slow. Also that concave bevel is less than ideal. The more I use the Scary Sharp method the less all of the expensive stuff means.  I've totally given up my diamond stones.  I'm having doubts about the waterstones (too much maintenance).  Its taken me many hundreds of dollars to realize that I could have bought $100.00 worth of sandpaper and a reference plate and had superior results for a long time.  I'm also not dunking my A-2 steel in water any more.  Low tech seems to be the winner in this case.

1. 
   frenchy | Jun 30, 2005 05:03pm | #4

   Quartersawn,

        Well it's much miore than the $400.00   By the time you buy the various attachments and covers and etc.. you'll have actaully spent about $700.00 (and that was on a sale deal where you got 20% off)  I didn't get all of the attachments, just those I thought I'd actaully use..

2. 
   lumberjacksson | Jun 30, 2005 06:16pm | #5

   I agree with the scary sharp biz.  I got two pieces of 8-1/2" x 11" x 1/4" glass from the local auto glass place for $10 and some PSA backed 8-1/2" x 11" sandpaper for $20 bucks from Lee Valley. 

   I'd like to get a nice grinding wheel setup to get things close before sanding.

   Andy

1. 
   Bustos963 | Jul 01, 2005 12:42am | #8

   Scary sharp is scary expensive.

   Stones, even water stones last a long time before replacement. Sandpaper is cheap, but it will nickle and dime you to death. Especially if you buy small quantities and use A-2 or other tough steel alloy blades.

    

   George "Bustos" Bustamante

3. 
   WillGeorge | Jul 02, 2005 12:24am | #12

   that concave bevel is less than ideal..

   Yes it is there... BUT... I see no difference in using my blade'S' cept THEY ARE SHARP!

   Yes I have diamond stones and sand papers on a granite block..

   I do not find it SLOW...

   Not fighting anybody here...  Well, maybe self justifying the expense in my mind but seems to work really well.. I'm happy...

   In fact. I just did some work... Where I would have gone back and put a few passes on the iron to touch it up on the 'stones/paper'.. I just used the strop wheel and almost as sharp as new...

   EDIT:: I forgot to say.. I think they are sharper with less effort.. Just me...

   Edited 7/1/2005 5:27 pm ET by Will George

1. 
   ClevelandEd | Jul 10, 2005 05:56am | #26

   I think they are sharper with less effort..

   How true that sounds to me.  I've used someone else's Tormek, and am thoroughly impressed.  The ease of use means that the touch up sharpening gets done more often.

1. 
   WillGeorge | Jul 10, 2005 05:00pm | #27

   Reply.. I think it more the STROP and grit they use than the stone!

4. 
   PlaneWood | Jul 02, 2005 07:12pm | #17

   Hey Quartersawn -

   I have 3 diamond stones, 3" x 8" with 1/4" steel backing.  I glue different grits of silicon w/d paper on the back of each.  I have a wooden base that the stones set in and a jig for holding blades or chisels.   I also have a 10" stone on my lathe for taking out large nicks.

   It works pretty stinkin good!

   PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood

1. 
   BG | Jul 02, 2005 10:06pm | #18

   Planewood,
   I came home today from Woodcraft with a new ceramic stone, the 1000, I already have the 5000. As I'm sitting there admiring my $52 dollar rock, and affraid to tell SWMBO, on comes Jacques Pepin, the french chef. He demonstrates how he keeps his knives sharp...first with an oil stone and a little mineral oil...but in a pinch, he flips a dinner plate upside down and sharpens his knife on the bottom....gees...where was he yesterday...lol 

3. 
   TomHigby | Jun 30, 2005 11:31pm | #6

   For me, putting the final edge on a chisel or plane iron is much easier if preceded by hollow grinding.  The Tormek allows me to do this without worry about over-heating.  I don't find it to be the last word on sharpening.

   Tom

4. 
   Samson | Jun 30, 2005 11:55pm | #7

   I love my Tormek (it has it's own "sharpening" bench in the corner of my shop.  I didn't know what sharp REALLY was until I got it.  I know others have great luck with all sorts of other methods, so I'm just speaking for myself.  Mirror polished backs and nice square to the edge bevels on chisels and plane blades.  Where it really helps me though is on sharpening and honing carving tools.  

   Unless one is a professional, it's hard to "justify" most expensive woodworking purchases.  We all go through a process of rationalizing the "need" just to get ourselves up for taking the crow bar to the wallet (or convincing  our significant others that we're not being complete spendthrifts!

   Enjoy the machine.   

1. 
   plainjames | Jul 01, 2005 11:40pm | #10

   I understand there is a new grinder coming out to compete with the tormek...its supposed to be cheaper with some of the querks having been improved. The information came from the timonnium woodworking show but the individual didnt say who, what or when. I've put the tormek purchase off; waiting, but i have yet to see anything. Does anyone have any info ???

1. 
   Samson | Jul 01, 2005 11:50pm | #11

   What quirks?  Nothing has occurred to me as I've used it that I thought needed improvement - not hat I'm an engineer or anything and would necessarily know how to improve something like that.  I'm sure anything can be improved, but I'm just curious what the perceived "quirks" were?

1. 
   plainjames | Jul 02, 2005 06:56pm | #16

   my first attempt at using the chisel/plane blade "fixture" made me realize that it was not a fixture but merely a holder. Establishing an angle was more subjective  than i expected...first you adjust the holder by adjusting tension of retaining screws to insure that the chisel is parallel to periperal edge of stone...then you rotate the chisel body to insure that resulting grinding is perpendicular to chisel body. As you hold your new 50.00 lie-nielsen chisel and turn on your 800.00 tormek grinder you Quickly rationalize these quirks as under the heading of "all you gotta do..is".  We purchase 150.00 worth of water stones to touch up the bevel cut to keep our tools sharp so that we dont have to grind as often. We tolerate this as normal as there isn't much in the way of competion or we use the scary system. As i asked ...does anyone have info on the new designed grinder that was supposed to be introduced this calander year????

   Edited 7/2/2005 11:59 am ET by plain_james

2. 
   AlbionWood | Jul 03, 2005 04:01am | #19

   Well, it's not a Tormek, but my wife just hectored me into buying a Makita sharpener, with the horizontal waterstone, for $50 at a garage sale. I'll give it a try in the next few days and let you know how I like it.Scary sharp works for me, but the damn paper gets dull so fast, it does end up costing quite a lot over time."Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler."  A. Einstein

   http://www.albionworks.net

1. 
   frenchy | Jul 04, 2005 06:17am | #21

   Albion Wood,

    I found the prime reason for me to own the Tormex is the chisels that I use on the lathe, they all seem to be curved or round or something and holding a constant bevel on a gouge is very tough with out the attachments that I bought with my Tormex..

     I also use the Tormex on the set of chisels That I hammer away with,  They chip and nick easily enough that  It woould take far too long to do without the Tormex..

      But the fine tools like my Lie Nelsons etc.  Scary sharp works best simply because I never let those get dull enough where major material removal is needed..    I also use the work down approach.. That is as a sheet of sandpaper wears doen I simply add a new sheet in that grade for intial cutting and then go to the worn sheet for the finer touches.  I keep all my sheets in a set of tupperwear containers thus they aren't contaminated and often find a sheet that is a decade old still inuse and still OK..

2. 
   wrudiger | Jul 04, 2005 07:43am | #22

   Have you tried the Norton 3X sandpaper?  It really does last longer AND cut better (not sure about 3 times as long, but still, it's certainly worth it IMHO).

5. 
   none | Jul 01, 2005 05:30am | #9

   Dropping anything on a "cement floor" should not hurt it. Portland cement is a properly proportioned mixture of calcarious and ardulatious materials ,  calcined to incipient fusion, and then ground into a powder fine enough to pass through a sieve with 40,000 openings per square inch. You know that gray powdery stuff in bags, no sand or rock.    Concrete is a mixture of portland cement, course (gravel), and fine(sand) aggregates, water and other addamixtures. Concrete is the original epoxy. It tickles me to hear these two terms interchanged, especially by "the ready mixed cement trade". Now to some serious stuff. Get hold of a copy of AWW#71 and look at Ian J Kirby's article on a foolproof grinder system to compliment your scary sharp method. For final polish, get some Tormek paste and use it on a piece of MDF. Spend $7.00 on Tormek paste and invest the rest on other tools( Jack Daniels?). For grinder you can use any 1725 RPM motor and an arbor from Grainger, with a friable wheel. Remember that you don't need to hollow grind to a wire edge, but let sandpaper do that.

1. 
   WillGeorge | Jul 02, 2005 12:26am | #13

   LOL....  LOL..

   I agree BUT nobody told my floor that!

2. 
   lumberjacksson | Jul 02, 2005 09:10am | #14

   "Concrete is the original epoxy. It tickles me to hear these two terms interchanged, especially by "the ready mixed cement trade"You've interchanged concrete for cement. Cement is not an epoxy. You should be smarter when you're trying to make someone look stupid no?Consider me tickled too!

3. 
   cherryjohn | Jul 02, 2005 03:38pm | #15

   This post just told me more than I ever knew about cement.  Now if I can just decypher it.Wicked Decent Woodworks

   (oldest woodworking shop in NH)

   Rochester NH

   " If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy........yessa!"

1. 
   none | Jul 03, 2005 05:03am | #20

   You think it was a little too much for you, you should have seen what it did for spell checker. Spell checker always questions my last name too.

6. 
   Miami | Jul 05, 2005 07:22am | #23

   "okay, what this scary sharp biz? never heard of it."

    

   Assuming that's not sarcasm ... see

   http://www3.telus.net/BrentBeach/Sharpen/overview.html

   "Scary Sharp" generally just means sharpening with flat surface (glass or granite or MDF) and sandpaper.  Some advantages are low initial investment and none of stones' flattening issues.  Brent Beach's page above shows a simple homemade jig that works well with it.   I've just recently tried the fancy adhesive-backed 3M microabrasives all the way down to .3 micron for the first time, and WOW - they are worth every penny, in my book.

   I do like scary-sharpening after putting on a hollow grind / concave bevel, but you don't need a $700 Tormek to get a good hollow grind - an old $20-30 hand-cranked grinding wheel from eBay will do a beautiful job, and like the Tormek, there's virtually no risk of burning the steel.

   Clay

1. 
   WillGeorge | Jul 05, 2005 08:59pm | #24

   hand-cranked grinding wheel ... I remembers that!

   Long ago here in Chicago when I was a boy... Old 'grinder' man came down the alley... Yelling ... 'OLD RAGS AND IRON and I can sharpen your knives...' and did 'sharpening' you would not believe!!

   Me and my brother would watch.. BIG old stone.. I think it was a old worn out grinding wheel from a corn grinder driven by a water wheel it was so big... He turned it with pedals and had a water drip from a tin can.. LOL..

   EDIT:: I think my MOM came up with "scary sharp".. I think she was afraid of the knifes after he was done with them....

   EDIT2:: I have sharpened all my tools on the TORMEK now.......

   I love it! I have diamond stones and a granite stone for 'scary-sharp'...

   Just me... BUT all my 'blades' are sharper..

   Edited 7/5/2005 2:01 pm ET by Will George

   Edited 7/5/2005 2:32 pm ET by Will George

2. 
   81treehouse | Jul 10, 2005 04:11am | #25

   Thanks for the website.  It is really informative.

   But I still love my Tormek for knives and such.

    

    A bad day woodworking is better than a good day working -- yes, I'm retired!

7. 
   PhillipB | Jul 11, 2005 03:17am | #28

   Will George -

   Congratulations on your purchase. I bought my Tormek about 4 years ago and haven't looked back. The most important thing that I use mine for is to sharpen my jointer and planer blades and my carving gouges. IMHO, this machine has no competition when it comes to the sharpening of carving gouges. And the fact that I can sharpen my jointer and planer blades in very little time has more than made up for the money I spent.

   If the truth be known, we probably spent more money trying to keep from buying a tool such as this just to make ourselves believe that are being frugal. I really believed that I could get by without a mechanized sharpening device until I began to add up what I was spending to 'keep from' doing just that.

   I still use my water stones to keep my chisels sharp. I simply prefer to sharpen my Japanese and western chisels in this manner. However, if I do develop a nick in a chisel, then it goes to the Tormek to get rid of the nick and then on to the water stones.

   I've used wet-dry sandpaper, oil and water stones, sanding belts, and the Tormek to do my sharpening tasks. I really feel that there is no perfect do-all sharpening tool on the market. There are occasions, as we all know, when a flat file will do just fine on an old chisel when doing carpentry work.

   Tormek's instructional manuals are very adequate as well. Leonard Lee's wonderful book, 'The Complete Guide to Sharpening', has served me well time and time again. You may want to take a look at this book if you do not have it.

   Good luck,
   Phillip

8. 
   philip | Jul 12, 2005 02:42am | #29

   Will, that Jack Daniels dude is no friend of yours ;)

1. 
   WillGeorge | Jul 13, 2005 08:08pm | #30

   Will, that Jack Daniels dude is no friend of yours ;)..

   Yes he IS!  We talk at the kitchen table at night... If not for Jack, Smoking, and my Shop I'd have nothing to do!