What are the Tormek's strengths and weaknesses?

TripleF100

TripleF100

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Dec 30, 2014
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I have been in the market for a new sharpening system. I have been considering the Edge pro, Wicked edge, and the AME system up to this point. Today I saw a video on the Tormek system and I wondered if anyone had any experience with this. With the price around $400, it's less expensive than the Wicked Edge but slightly expensive than the other options I have seen. So what do you all think?
 
The tormek gives you the ability to sharpen other tools besides knives. Such as scissors shears chisels etc. The WE , EP and KME allow you to use various grits and stones to achieve different grit finishes. And they can do the "mirror polish" thing if you're into that. The tormek uses a coarse waterstone that can be lapped to achieve a finer grit finish.
 
I've had one for many years and they are very versatile. More of a hobbyist tool. If you invest in the many attachments / jigs available you can work on many different items.

The downside is its slow and cumbersome until get the hang of it. Your stuck with the hollow grind on items like axes which really shouldn't be sharpened in that manner. Replacement parts will give you sticker shock. If your just sharpening knives its not something I recommend.

Fully equipped I imagine they are over $1000.00 these days.

Kwakster has a good setup and gets great results. But with the addition of other machines and wheels. I may have that wrong. I'm sure thats addressed in the link he posted above.
 
I'm wondering why I would get one instead of a full sized belt sander for the same(or less) price.
 
Clearly not overwhelming support for this unless you need to / want to sharpe a wide variety of tools.

Thanks everyone!
 
TripleF100 said:
Clearly not overwhelming support for this unless you need to / want to sharpe a wide variety of tools.

Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...
Uhh, not even in that case I would suspect. The only grind it can put on is a hollow grind, which to me isn't exactly a superior grind. I believe there is also a belt sander that can be rotated so you can sharpen directly on the rotating wheel, effectively allowing you to put all 3 types of grinds on(flat, hollow, and convex).
 
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