Replies

1. 
   pplc | Dec 19, 2003 06:01pm | #1

   I recently acquired one and think It's well worth its price.

2. 
   Sphere | Dec 19, 2003 11:40pm | #2

   Buy one, send it to me..I'll let ya know if it's any good!!!

3. 
   fretmaster | Dec 19, 2003 11:42pm | #3

   Everyone that has it loves it..  Everyone that doesn't spends that money on other shop tools...

   If you've got the money why not?  However, you can spend about 40-70 on everything you need to do the Scary Sharp method.

   Fred

1. 
   thebluesky | Dec 20, 2003 12:43am | #4

   Well, I have to ask:  what is the Scary Sharp method?

1. 
   fretmaster | Dec 20, 2003 01:09am | #5

   It's a very easy way to get your tools ScarySharp.. I'm not sure who came up with the name.. maybe Mike Dunbar.. but here's a link to some resources on alternative methods including the SS method:

   http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00003.asp

   Just go to your local glass supplier and get some true flat and beveled glass.. it's all in there... other things you might want are some adhesive backed sandpaper in different grits.. Mike Dunbar, in the article, told me that he uses these products:

   http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000223SO/102-6409706-1265768?v=glance

   http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000223SL/102-6409706-1265768?v=glance

   http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000223SI/102-6409706-1265768?v=glance

   Anyway, the method is fast once you master it and it is way cheaper then the tormek.  I don't have the 400 tormek system, but I would love to have it if price was not an issue.. and for what it's worth.. for the technology, if you can call it that, is WAY overpriced.  At any rate it is a good system and people swear by it.  Check out the reviews on amazon and other places on it.. it's a great machine.

   Best,

   Fred

2. 
   RANGERP75R | Dec 20, 2003 06:49pm | #8

   THEBLUESKY

      I think the Tormek is over-priced. I use scary-sharp and a Japanese 6000 stone for final. Slip stones for curved edges. Once set up, it takes a minimum of time as you get the feel.

      An alternative would be to invest in the new Delta variable speed grinder (GR-450) at $130 with a current $30 rebate at Lowe's. That gives you slow speed at 1750 rpm and regular speed at 3450 rpm. Comes with white wheel, 36 grit regular and a buffing wheel. No tool wheel release and a lite. 8" x 1" wheels which are important. Comes with a daimond wheel dresser which out-runs the carborandum sticks.

     Addition of a couple of slip-stones, strop and theres not much you can't sharpen and the added convenience of regular grinding when necessary. I just feel like for the money, I got much more versatility. Everyone see's through different eyes.

   Have fun sharpening...

   sarge..jt

   Proud member of the :  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

   Edited 12/20/2003 10:57:00 AM ET by SARGE

1. 
   thebluesky | Dec 21, 2003 08:56pm | #10

   Thank you all for your comments.  I have noticed how expensive the Tormek and accessories are, so perhaps I'll wait a while.  Won't take much to try the scary sharp method.  After all, I looking for results, not looking to 'look good'. 

   I continue to appreciate how valuable this forum is ......

   John, WNC (mountains of Western North Carolina)

1. 
   fdampier5 | Dec 22, 2003 06:51pm | #11

   You might try the scary sharp method on round or curved chisels like fingernail gouges etc. before you settle on scary sharp.  If all you ever sharpen are flat items then scary sharp can't be beat for low cost decent sharpening. 

    The ease of sharpening curved blades is why I went to the Tormex system, 

2. 
   Blueline | Jan 04, 2004 06:45am | #12

        If you haven't bought anything yet, I've had mine about a year and a half and use it occasionally. However, when its time to sharpen its done in no time at all, and its a relatively clean system as well. I used it to sharpen chisels, hand plane blades and kitchen knives from three to ten inch blades, all with one stone! Next up are my jointer and planer knives. Hope this helps with your decision.

3. 
   fdampier5 | Jan 05, 2004 08:40pm | #16

   I already own one.. had mine for about a year and a half already.. I bought mine to sharpen the gouges I use with the lathe.. then I gotr very busy on my timber frame and haven't hardly used it.  In fact I did sharpen a few planer blades but it can't do the long 20 inch ones and I found it a lot more practical use of my time to bring them in to printers service and have them sharpen them.. The dollars involved won't kill me but the loss of time certainly could cause major delays in finishing my timberframe.. That plus when I sharpened them they lasted about an hour when they sharpened them they lasted over two..  (plus I suspect they used up less of the blade than I did) 

4. 
   Jimma | Dec 20, 2003 01:20am | #6

   I've had one for 5 or 6 years. If you plan to do a lot of sharpening, including kitchen knives as well as woodworking tools, it's probably a good investment for you. If you're just going to keep an edge on some chisels and plane irons, it may be overkill. After buying mine, I've learned how to really sharpen and hone using other methods that result in mirror-sharp edges. Now I mostly use the Tormek to form new profiles on on edge tools where a lot of grinding is needed. It's really good for that, but it's slow. If you're good at using a bench grinder and various honing methods, you don't need a Tormek. It's pricey both initially and for accessories that you'll need, but good. I know a guy who owns a knife store and he has two Tormeks in service all the time. But, once you've got a chisel or plane iron ground to the right bevel, you won't need the Tormek again IMO.

5. 
   DennisS | Dec 20, 2003 07:31am | #7

   Blue -

   I bought the Tormek because I didn't have any other method of sharpening things, turning tools in particular. There are other jigs/accessories that work with nothing more than a basic tool grinder, but with the slow speed Tormek, there's absolutely NO possibility of 'burning' a tool's edge.

   It's relatively fast as well. The other evening I cleaned up and sharpened the iron on an old plane I've had sitting around for a coupla years. The iron was nicked pretty badly. Even the slow speed wheel managed to take off the necessary metal to put on a keen edge in a very short time.

   The downside(s):

   Cost. As another poster has pointed out, it's a rather outrageous price to pay for something that's really a rather simple piece of techology. Although I'll have to say that the engineering and design that produced the geometry for the gouge jigs is pretty clever.

   Lately I've been noticing that the wheel will slip when it's cold and first starts out. Took the leather honing wheel off to trouble shoot the linkage between the motor and the main shaft only to find out that it's no more than a friction drive between the motor shaft and the inside of the drive wheel! No spring tension mechanism to old the motor shaft against the drive wheel, no adjustment whatever that I could find other than some audible 'clicks' that seem to be a toothed washer somewhere in the mounting setup for the drive motor.

   The sharpening jigs are rather expensive - best bought as a package with *everything* you think you'll ever need.

   The replacement stone costs $US90 at Rockler in Seattle. One shouldn't expect to replace the stone wheel very often, though, unless you do a lot of gouge sharpening and end up having to true the wheel often.

   Get the diamond wheel dresser! In a couple two/three evenings of turning sessions along with the accompanying tool sharpening I easily put a number of grooves in the stone making it worthless for doing chisels, plane irons and the like.

   However, don't expect an absolutely square-to-the-side edge on your plane irons and/or chisels unless you check the tool to the wheel. Even after dressing I find that the tool bar thingie along with the chisel sharpening jig does not hold the chisel (or plane iron) *exactly* perpendicular to the face of the stone.

   All that said, I now have a regular bench grinder and the Delta sharpening center (with the horizontal slow speed honing wheel), neither of these get much use except for very rough work such as lawn mower blades and axes. For any woodworking edge tool, my sharpening setup of preference is the Tormek.

   ...........

   Dennis in Bellevue WA

   [email protected]

   
   

   ---

   Edited 12/19/2003 11:36:18 PM ET by DENNIS

6. 
   fdampier5 | Dec 21, 2003 08:53pm | #9

   I traded up to a Tormex, started with a simple bench grinder, got a low speed grinder, bought a fistfull of jigs,  tried the scary sharp method (it works ok but,...)  I bought the Tormex and got all of the jigs etc. with it.. some of which I haven't used yet.

    expensive but I'm happier sharpening my gouges with it than any other method..

     PS don't follow my track avoid the grinder/jigs altogether. go directly to Tormex..

7. 
   ca178858 | Jan 05, 2004 12:25am | #13

   I have a tormek. I think that for what I use it for I would have been better suited to a slow speed grinder and water stones. Most of my sharpening is for plane blades and chisels, no turning tools and occasionally knives.

   It really excels at knives (and turning tools I hear), but its only mediocre for planes and chisels. I now create the main bevel with the tormek, but finish up with stones.

   The biggest problem is trying to get the blade square, also I can get the blade sharper with a 4000 grit stone than I can with the leather wheel...

1. 
   ca178858 | Jan 05, 2004 12:26am | #14

   I should add that if I was going to spend another $400 to sharpen my chisels and such I would get the lee valley sharpening system. It excels at chisels and planes, but is somewhat limited for other types...

8. 
   grousemouse | Jan 05, 2004 08:20pm | #15

   I hate to admit this, but I hate sharpening.  I used to let my chisels and planes get so dull between resharpenings that they were virtually useless.  The tormek is very pricey and you can probably get a better edge if you take other sharpening methods to  the extremes (with practice) but the tormek is so damn easy and clean that I find myself sharpening my tools at slightest hint of dullness, and the edge is certainly adequate.  That alone has made the purchase well worth it in my opinion.

   Brian Klare

1. 
   thebluesky | Jan 05, 2004 10:48pm | #17

   Thanks Brian for your response.

   Easy is certainly worth something, but the darn thing (Tormek) is quite pricey when the add'n jigs are included. Originally thought it would pay for itself by sharpening my own planer and jointer knives, but that would take more than several years.

   Beginning to think a manual jig that holds the blade angle correctly and several good Japanese water stones might be the best solution. The water stones I found on the Japan Woodworker site are expensive compared to the Arkansas stones in the local hardware store, but if they last as long as advertised and produce the edges they claim then I'm beginning to think this is the best route.

   John