Tormek Sharpener

D

drivadesl

Joined
Mar 7, 2006
Messages
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Has anyone used a Tormek Supergrind slow speed grinder for knife sharpening? What did you think of its performance? Is it worth the $400+ cost and does it deliver the quality and speed for the money? I would pretty much use it for knife sharpening only, though maybe once in while for my jointer blades also. I have a Lansky sharpener for my knifes, which uses your basic stones, (no diamond stones) and would like something thats quicker and hopefully gives a better edge. I plan to try making my own knives and would consider adding this tool to my shop arsenal. :D Thanks for any input.

Peter
 
From what I've heard from others, this is more of a tool for reprofiling than putting on a finished edge that most would prefer. You can get similar performance from a $29.95 grinder/sharpener from Lowes without all the bells and whistles. I personally prefer the Lansky with diamonds or freehanding on Arkansas stones for reprofiling; costs much less and just as effective. It's your dollar ... good luck. :D
 
Have the big one. Great tool. Very versatile.

For knifesharpening:
Very easy to get a new edge.
Very easy to get a shaving-sharp edge.
Very easy to use for touchup.

Expensive, but worth the money.

Do buy the stone grader.
(and Imho, buy the big model, not the small one).
Erik
 
I have had one for close to 3 years now and I wouldn't be without it. No disrespect intended to the other brother who didn't like it but it is not as simple of a tool as some think. I got all of the jigs and sharpening attachments with mine and it has paid for itself many times over. Their 2 videos that show you how to get not only knife blades shaving sharp but it can do plane blades and many, many other woodworking tools as well.

I never was much good at getting lawnmower blades sharpened and balanced until I got the Tormek. That freehanded sharpening guide that you can buy with the accessories just works like a charm for so many basic sharpening chores. Also with the stone constantly being wet you never have to worry about any blade steel or any tool steel you sharpen getting too hot. Plus the instruction guide gives you a really good layout on how to do certain sharpening chores with the Tormek.

Also the people I got mine from www.sharptoolsusa.com used to be located 1 mile from where I live. They have since moved to Springfield Missouri. But they are great to help you over the phone. They have even sent me extra literature and another instructional video which was a great help. It is such a versatile and multi faceted tool that you could spend a lifetime learning new jobs to do with the TORMEK. You can check their website and find out where they might be demonstrating one. They do the woodworking trade shows all over the country. If you see one demonstrated you will want one I can assure you. :thumbup:
 
I've had a Tormek 2006 Supergrind for the past three weeks or so. In order to get my money back out it, I have been sharpening knives for restaurants in my area. So far I have sharpened over 100 knives with it, and overall I am impressed with its performance. My Benchmade AFCK (D2 steel) has a near mirror polished edge that is shaving sharp. This is because I spent more time on it than I spend on knives at restaurants. But given a typical chef's knife that is very dull, I can have it cleanly slicing paper in about four minutes. This includes the setup, grinding a whole new bevel, and stropping it.

I recommend that anyone using it to sharpen filet knives get both knife jigs with the machine. The more expensive jig is actually needed for those flexible blades.
 
The leather stropping wheel is great for finishing a knife. Most of the time you won't even need to grind, just strop on the leather wheel.

As to comparing this machine to a common bench grinder, it is like a Rolls-Royce next to a bicycle. A big, wet, slow, smooth wheel is really what you want for grinding knives. You will have to try hard to ruin a blade on the Tormek.
 
If there were one thing I could do or persuade the manufacturers of the Tormek to do would be to make a stone which would be an Ultra-fine grade. I would love a very fine waterstone ( 15000 grit or finer) for some applications. You can do a lot with what the unit comes with though.

The strop is great as one brother mentioned. I bought an extra stone and took a diamond truing tool and made a radius on one stone. It makes it excellent to do Hawkbills with and some other unusual sharpening jobs.
 
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