tormek or wicked edge

R

rctk1

Basic Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2005
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Between these 2 brands which would you get. I plan on purchasing the base model of either one which costs about the same price. I want a sharpener that will be easy to use and will give a ridiculously sharp edge. I already have the edge pro but don't really care for it.
 
A Wicked Edge would be a good choice if you just want to sharpen knives.
With some practice you will be able to get edges of sheer perfection, provided you get all or most of the extra stones, strops, and diamond sprays, and you don't object to you yourself being the engine.
I have used mine in the past (and i still use it once in a while) for getting display grade edges on higher quality knives like Spyderco's, Striders, CRK's, and the odd custom knife.
For me the WE excels in sharpening short to medium sized blades that are absolutely straight, as knives that are just a little bit out of alignment will skew the results.
Same with long and flexible knives, for those an Edge Pro will work better.
Reprofiling jobs can take quite a while (like sometimes many hours per knife), especially if you do highly wear-resistant steels and/or your stones are getting a bit worn.

A Tormek lets you sharpen a whole lot more than just knives with or without various jigs, and i get very sharp edges as well (treetopping/hairwhittling), but they will not look as sharply defined or refined as i get with the WE.
I use mine with a SB-250 Black silicon stone (instead of with the standard grey aluminium oxide stone), which i grade to coarse with a diamond grader for reprofiling jobs and to fine with a double-sided diamond stone for sharpening various kinds of knives (mostly freehand), scissors (with a jig), chisels (with a jig) and a score of other tools that need a sharp edge.

Main advantages to me:

- Reprofiling & sharpening is completely watercooled, so burnt edges will never happen.
- The process is motorized using a very strong industrial motor, so everything will go a lot quicker than with a Wicked Edge.
- The process is completely dust-free since all debris is constantly flushed away by the cooling water into the water basin below the stone (where the metal dust is collected separately by a magnet)
- Over time you will discover new possibilities, like playing with the grading of the stone, using the sides of the stone for sharpening, making your own jigs, etc.

I own and have quite extensive experience with both of these, so if you have more specific questions: fire away.
 
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if you were considering a semi pro set up would you buy both and use them accordingly or together to get finer results? Maybe you could suggest a better more industrial system for sharpening knives professionally.
 
kwackster said:
A Wicked Edge would be a good choice if you just want to sharpen knives.
With some practice you will be able to get edges of sheer perfection, provided you get all or most of the extra stones, strops, and diamond sprays, and you don't object to you yourself being the engine.
I have used mine in the past (and i still use it once in a while) for getting display grade edges on higher quality knives like Spyderco's, Striders, CRK's, and the odd custom knife.
For me the WE excels in sharpening short to medium sized blades that are absolutely straight, as knives that are just a little bit out of alignment will skew the results.
Same with long and flexible knives, for those an Edge Pro will work better.
Reprofiling jobs can take quite a while (like sometimes many hours per knife), especially if you do highly wear-resistant steels and/or your stones are getting a bit worn.

A Tormek lets you sharpen a whole lot more than just knives with or without various jigs, and i get very sharp edges as well (treetopping/hairwhittling), but they will not look as sharply defined or refined as i get with the WE.
I use mine with a black silicon stone (instead of with the standard aluminium oxide stone), which i grade to coarse with a diamond stone or diamond grader for reprofiling jobs and to fine for sharpening various kinds of knives (mostly freehand), scissors (with a jig), chisels (with a jig) and a score of other tools that need a sharp edge.

Main advantages to me:

- Reprofiling & sharpening is completely watercooled, so burnt edges will never happen.
- The process is motorized using a very strong industrial motor, so everything will go a lot quicker than with a Wicked Edge.
- The process is completely dust-free since all debris is constantly flushed away by the cooling water into the water basin below the stone (where the metal dust is collected separately by a magnet)
- Over time you will discover new possibilities, like playing with the grading of the stone, using the sides of the stone for sharpening, making your own jigs, etc.

I own and have quite extensive experience with both of these, so if you have more specific questions: fire away.
Click to expand...

Hi Kwackster

I have the WEPS & WSKO but always wanted the tormek........T7 not the T3....what you reckon worth it or not.....also was considering buying both T7 & T3 so I could leave the Japanese sharpening stone on the T3 and regular stone on the T7......therefore no switching stones
 
Nowadays i reprofile & sharpen most knives with a combination of the Tormek T7 wet sharpener fitted with an SB-250 Black Silicon stone, 6 different Paper Wheels (one with SiC grit and 5 with various diamond compounds), and 4 different Rubber Wheels with SiC grit mixed in them.
This set-up can basically handle all my needs.
To me my Tormek T7 is definitely worth it's price (and so are my Paper Wheels), especially since i sharpen quite a lot of knives, ranging from all kinds of (tactical) folders & fixed blades to ceramic kitchen knives.
The Wicked Edge currently stays on the shelf, and i'm sometimes thinking of selling it.
 
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collioure said:
Hi Kwackster

I have the WEPS & WSKO but always wanted the tormek........T7 not the T3....what you reckon worth it or not.....also was considering buying both T7 & T3 so I could leave the Japanese sharpening stone on the T3 and regular stone on the T7......therefore no switching stones
Click to expand...

If you don't want the expense, or space needed for two machines, Tormek makes an EzyLock accessory, that makes changing stones a bit easier (or should I say Ezyer). If all your doing is your own knives, after the initial sharpening, the Japanese stone is probably all you need on most of the time anyway. Depends on your needs of course.
 
I have both. The T-7 is much more flexible in that it'll shartpen darn near anything
using the jigs. The wicked edge will do a wonderful job on a knife, but it takes much
longer to do. Is it better? Perhaps. But I've never had a complaint on a Tormek edge
that it wasn't sharp enough. Best set-up for commercial sharpening is T-7 to reestablish
the grind, finish grind on paper wheel, and polish on paper wheel. Really hard to beat.
 
The t-7 is rated for interment use. You plan on using it more than one knife at a time, with no cool down cycle, you should look at the 10" model.

However, if you want a wet system, IMHO, the Jet should be looked upon for consideration. It is a continuous duty motor, 10" grind stone, vari speed, larger water well with splash edges to capture more water, and a more competitive price. Amazon 315 free delivery with Prime.

Comparing a manual jig system to a wet jig system is a little apples and oranges. They are two vastly different creatures.

I do not own a WE, because I am not fond of trying my skills at being ambidextrous.
 
The Tormek T7 is rated for industrial and continuous duty.
It's in writing on my machine.

From the Tormek website:

"A seven year warranty applies to all customers including industrial users.
This is possible due to the improved coating of the housing, stainless steel main shaft and a powerful, industrial AC motor, which is designed for continuous operation."
 
Tormeks are bulletproof. I have an old 2000 model and a T-7. The 2000 has to be 20+ years old.
Still cranks along as good as the new one. Definitely industrial rated. The evaluations of the Jet
vs Tormek back the Tormek as superior, but the cost has to be a factor. I use mine commercially,
so the expense was worth it.:thumbup:
 
I went with Jet, because it was the one with a variable speed motor.

This way, as the wheel wears down, you can change the speed, to be the same RPM.

Some of you guys may have noticed in my posts, I am a detail guy. Picky about what I use for tools. Even building my own sharpeners, to get something the way I want it.

The Jet water cooled sharpener, is a very well made tool, and at half the price of the T-7, for me, that was a big advantage.

The price did not sell me, but I do love the feel of $300 still in my pocket, and the knowledge I have a well made tool in my war chest.

I think the T-7 is outside some peoples price point, because they realize it is a tool, they may only use from time to time. As in my case.

The T-3 is just too light duty, and the wheel is smaller.

The Jet, is the bear, sleeping in Moms bed. Just right.
 
kwackster said:
A Wicked Edge would be a good choice if you just want to sharpen knives.
With some practice you will be able to get edges of sheer perfection, provided you get all or most of the extra stones, strops, and diamond sprays, and you don't object to you yourself being the engine.
I have used mine in the past (and i still use it once in a while) for getting display grade edges on higher quality knives like Spyderco's, Striders, CRK's, and the odd custom knife.
For me the WE excels in sharpening short to medium sized blades that are absolutely straight, as knives that are just a little bit out of alignment will skew the results.
Same with long and flexible knives, for those an Edge Pro will work better.
Reprofiling jobs can take quite a while (like sometimes many hours per knife), especially if you do highly wear-resistant steels and/or your stones are getting a bit worn.

A Tormek lets you sharpen a whole lot more than just knives with or without various jigs, and i get very sharp edges as well (treetopping/hairwhittling), but they will not look as sharply defined or refined as i get with the WE.
I use mine with a SB-250 Black silicon stone (instead of with the standard grey aluminium oxide stone), which i grade to coarse with a diamond grader for reprofiling jobs and to fine with a double-sided diamond stone for sharpening various kinds of knives (mostly freehand), scissors (with a jig), chisels (with a jig) and a score of other tools that need a sharp edge.

Main advantages to me:

- Reprofiling & sharpening is completely watercooled, so burnt edges will never happen.
- The process is motorized using a very strong industrial motor, so everything will go a lot quicker than with a Wicked Edge.
- The process is completely dust-free since all debris is constantly flushed away by the cooling water into the water basin below the stone (where the metal dust is collected separately by a magnet)
- Over time you will discover new possibilities, like playing with the grading of the stone, using the sides of the stone for sharpening, making your own jigs, etc.

I own and have quite extensive experience with both of these, so if you have more specific questions: fire away.
Click to expand...

Hi; I'm new here, (just a few minutes ago!), and couldn't help being intriqued by your use of the SB 250 stone. I also use the T-7, with the SG 250, which does a good job prepping for the rest, but seems to me to use itself up really fast on the (mostly) stainless steel knives I do. I have hypothesized that the SB 250 would theoretically be better for stainless, but am not really sure. Would you recommend it over the SG 250? (I do 95% knives, with the odd scissors and chisels thrown in, and have been finishing on benchstones, but your paper wheel use after the Tormek has me intrigued. What grit is your paper wheel you use? I know this thread is from a while ago, but I just came upon it while trying to research which stone to get. Thanks for your help.
 
hoovie said:
Hi; I'm new here, (just a few minutes ago!), and couldn't help being intriqued by your use of the SB 250 stone. I also use the T-7, with the SG 250, which does a good job prepping for the rest, but seems to me to use itself up really fast on the (mostly) stainless steel knives I do. I have hypothesized that the SB 250 would theoretically be better for stainless, but am not really sure. Would you recommend it over the SG 250? (I do 95% knives, with the odd scissors and chisels thrown in, and have been finishing on benchstones, but your paper wheel use after the Tormek has me intrigued. What grit is your paper wheel you use? I know this thread is from a while ago, but I just came upon it while trying to research which stone to get. Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

Silicon carbide will always outperform aluminum oxide, no matter what the alloy. Been looking at the T-7 myself, and I'm intrigued by the possibilities of the 4000 grit waterstone wheel, including for hairdresser shears. The grader stone could be used to true the sides of the wheel for lapping the inside of the blades.
 
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