tormec sharpener system???

R

razors edge

Joined
Dec 9, 2009
Messages
39
was just wondering if anyones had any experience with the tormec sharpener, if so good, bad, or indifferent. thanks for your opinions
 
I've been sharpening knives since elementary school on various stones and devices. A few months ago I got super excited about this machine and watched every youtube video ever made on it. I saved up and bought one............... and returned it immediately.

It was messy, and the results were not worth the expense to me. I found the clamping system to be very limited with smaller knives. It absolutely chewed up an Opinel, and a little Boker folder. The "angle master" didn't really live up to its name. I grew a beard setting this thing up and trying to line everything out. The stone grader made the stone's grit really inconsistent, and it was a nightmare of a watery sludgy mess.

It did an excellent job on an old chisel I had though, and put a good edge on my Cold Steel Voyager and an old chef's knife. For the hundreds of dollars I spent, a GOOD edge isn't good enough. This thing had better make a knife split an atom, and it just didn't. I paired a lifetime of sharpening experience with this machine and could not get it to do what I wanted it to.

I pretty much cleaned the thing up as best I could and put it back in the box. The customer service with Tormek, and the store where I purchased it was a total disaster. I finally got a full refund with much difficulty.

There are much better and much cheaper alternatives. I'm just sticking with my DMT plates.
 
I have to agree with Josh. I´ve had a Tormek for about 7 years but it has seen very limited service since I got a belt grinder. The problem with the stone is that you have to use a jig to get a consistant angle and secondly the leather finishing wheel is smaller in diameter than the stone, which means that the handle of the knife will get in the way of the stone, when you are finishing one side of the blade. In all fairness I know a lot of guys who like their Tormek but none of them are knifemakers.

Brian
 
learn how to use bench stones and your done. the only time I would consider a sharpening "machine" of any kind would be in a mass production setting.
 
I was given the top line Tormek system w/ all the jigs several years ago. It's wonderful for sharpening beater bench chisels, lawnmower blades and any straight-edged house/garden tool. Yet, I still finish all my chisels on a wet stone and strop. If your system has the contoured leather honing wheels, they are the cat's meow for contoured gouges. Spectacular edges! But, the thing just plain sucks at sharpening most knives........ I've tried and tried and tried..... and I can actually set this thing up correctly! Its not that easy to maintain a perfectly consistent edge line. It likes to bite in and wonder a bit on longer blades. Don't even try on a re-curve and you'll just get frustrated doing blades with long curves.

If you do A LOT of wood carving with gouges..... "fill your boots bye". If not, invest in a set of decent wet stones and some practice time.
 
I have built 2 KMG clones, EF-48 clone, and a 9" Disk......so I don't use my Tormek as much as I use to, however, I do a lot of wood turning so it is great for my lathe tools (especially fingernail gouges, skew chisels. I do however use the leather strop wheels on my knives. If I were just doing knives, I'd have to pass on the system because like others have said that for sharpening knives, it doesn't hold a candle to a slack belt grinder arm.

Jeff
 
My experience is pretty much the same as everybody elses. It's good for woodworking tools, particularly stuff like fingernail style wood turning gouges, but I almost never sharpen a knife on it now that I have a good belt sander. Even before the belt sander a knife had to be pretty beat up before I would use the Tormek rather than the bench stones
 
." I grew a beard setting this thing up and trying to line everything out."

Hahahaha, one of the funniest lines I've come across lately.

SEMPER FI TIL I DIE
 
Well,
I guess I'm in the minority. I use a Tormek for commercial sharpening.
Kitchen knives, hunting knives, scissors, etc. Have NEVER had a blade
come back because of a poor edge. It's quick, wicked accurate, easy to set up,
and produces a very, very, very sharp edge. I don't use the leather hone on
the machine, but one I made with green chrome oxide. A couple of swipes
and the customer has a superb edge. Learning curve, yes. Difficult, no.
Expensive, unfortunately, yes. But it can put a super edge on a blade.
The blade fixtures work just fine, the angle guide works just fine. The stone
grader is useless for anything other than flattening the wheel.

Don't sell it short. The darn thing works and works well and fast.

Bill
 
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