Customer Reviews

Tormek 2006 Super Grind, Includes How-To Video

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Tormek 2004 grinder is recommended by several woodworking magazines as the best tool sharpening system on the market. The reasons are simple. Tormek has created a desceptively simple design and built the machine with quality parts to make it perform properly. The machine addresses the two main issues of sharpening, angle and temper.

In all sharpening operations, the tool must be held at a rigid angle to prevent rounding over the edge. This is difficult for the experienced and impossible for the novice. Tormek addresses this problem with an adjustible bar held rigid in a heavy steel casing. Special jigs hold every tool imaginable at the exact angle you select with an easy to use angle measuring device that comes with the grinder. Once the tool is ground to the final dimension, the wheel is graded to effectively make the grit finer and, without changing ANY settings, the tool is fine ground in less than 30 seconds. The last step is to buff off the small burr created at the edge to create an edge that will shave the hairs off your arm.

The second issue I mentioned above is temper. In the past, all sharpening operations were usually done sloooowly to prevent heat buildup at the fragile edge. If steel was removed too quickly, the edge would overheat and the tool would be destroyed. Tormek addresses this problem with a water bath that continuously bathes the wheel. The result is remakably fast metal removal with NO heat buildup.

In closing whether you are experienced or a novice, if you wish to sharpen vertually every tool in your shop to truely razor sharp edges that will cause envy amoung your friends, THIS is IT.

Like many others that are in to woodworking, I have always looked upon sharpening as a necessary but evil chore.Drag out the stones. Drag out the water or oil.Search around for the damn jig to hold the chisel at the proper angle.Stroke, stroke, stroke. Now spend time on the honing. And sometimes, even when you thought you had done the best you could do, the thing still is not as sharp as you would like it to be.

Cue the Tormek.I looked for a long time at many sharpening machines and systems. I also spent time reading reviews on the various systems and methods out there. I love delta tools, and was about ready to get one of their sharpening centers when I suddenly went into overdrive about Tormek. So I said "what the hell" and bought what was being offered as a Cabinetmakers Package deal. I will never regret the decision.

All I have told my woodworking friends is that if you do not own a Tormek, then you are using dull tools!! Period. This baby can put an edge on a chisel that is truly scary. I have never been able to obtain such an edge and a polish by hand. Now I am confident that there are those of you out there who can and do obtain comparable results by hand, but for me, I'll leave it in the hands of the expert, which in this case is the machine. But a few more jigs...hell...buy them all over time. don't feed the dog for a few weeks, or go to cloth diapers for the kid...just save a few bucks and get to sharpening. I have already saved money by sharpening my own planer and joiner knives several times, and you know how expensive those knives can be, and how active woodworking can eat 'em up.Now these babies are kept sharp and ready.

And lathe tools? My God...it's like a whole new world. I feel like I was using a screwdriver to turn with before I got this tool. It puts such an edge on your lathe turning tools that it is even more of a pleasure to turn, and, naturally, requires less effort.

I am nothing but satisfied with the tool. Pricey, yes. But you are paying for precision, accuracy, repeatability, and results. Just do it.

The Tormek system really does what it says. It is setup quickly and puts a razor sharp edge on almost anything. There are a couple of options that it SHOULD come with. The horizontal clamp and the grading stone are not really optional unless you only sharpen scissors. The leather wheel can be used in a hand-held fashion but works radically better with a jig in the horizontal position. I sharpen knifes, turning gouges, cabinet scrapers, plane blades, scissors, and carving tools (even vee tools) on mine. If you can afford it, buy this tool (and options).

I make my living with tools, ten years as a contractor and the last twenty as a blacksmith. Even though I buy top of the line tools, seldom does a tool surpass my expectations. The Tormek grinder is a notable exception. I bit the bullet and bought the complete setup with all the jigs. I started by grinding about 20 wood chisels that were in various states of dullness, including some with deep nicks. Without exception, I was literally able to shave the hair off my arm with every single chisel after sharpening them on this grinder. I also sharpened some scissors and on my first attempt, was able to cut a piece of cloth as narrow as a single thread wide. A hand plane was able to cut a shaving thin enough to see through. Tormek includes a jig that makes setting the exact blade angle a simple matter and proper angle/blade geomeetry is the key to a good edge.

Though the tools are sharp when you finish grinding, the leather honing wheel puts the finishing touch on a razor edge and cutting a thin curl across the end grain of a piece of wood is a simple matter. The instructions are clear and the machine well engineered. While a bit pricey for just home use, even hobby woodworkers would benefit from this investment. The tool is not difficult to use and I had my wife sharpen a couple chisels. There was no difference in the quality of the edges from those I did. I performed before and after tests with a chisel that appeared sharp. Initially it would cut a reasonably even curl going with the grain of the wood. After sharpening on the Tormek, it would cut the same, or even better, curl going across the grain and through a knot.

The jigs are versatile enough to allow for sharpening a wide range of tools. The edges I obtained were, in nearly all cases, better than the factory edges on a new tool. I highly recommend this grinder, especially to anyone who regularly uses, planes, chisels, gouges, and woodturning tools. It is a heavy duty machine that will do all the manufacturer claimes, and more! You will wonder how you ever lived without it.

There is no doubt that this machine produces the sharpest edges I've ever had on my tools. I got real sick of sharpening the "old" way with bench stones, oil, honing guide, etc... It seems like I spent a lot of time getting things set up and then was only marginally satisfied with the results. The Tormek system is easy to set up, the Angle Master is very ingenious, and the results are perfectly repeatable and extremely quick. I can sharpen a set of seven chisels in the amount of time I used to spend on just one. I use mine for plane irons, chisels, planer and jointer blades, and knives. I don't use it for turning or carving tools so I can't comment on its value in those areas.

Here are the things I like:
- Uses the same stone for grinding and polishing. Sounds too good to be true, but it works.
- The array of jigs available make it possible to sharpen just about anything imaginable. Rather than having a simple tool rest that sharpens everything ok but not great, they've designed a whole system that makes it possible to put a keen edge on every tool you own.
- Water cooled, low RPM. Doesn't create sparks or destroy the temper of the tool. Other water cooled sharpeners are available but not nearly as capable as this one.
- Rock solid construction. Admittedly, this thing isn't very complex but the machine itself and all the jigs are top-notch.
- Outer end of stone is flat so you can lap the back of your chisels and plane irons.
- Makes my kitchen knives unbelievably sharp. Never knew what I was missing before (I like to cook).

What I don't like:
- Generally I prefer a flat-ground edge to a hollow ground edge. There are sharpeners available that will do a flat grinding but overall I'm more than happy to give that up for the results I get with my Tormek
- You really can't get by without the stone grader. Don't know why they don't include it in the base package. Make sure you get one.
- Jigs are expensive. When you get some of these jigs you'll be amazed that they charge so much for it. And unless you don't plan on sharpening anything more than chisels and plane irons, you'll need more jigs. The flip side is that you need only buy the jigs you want.
- Some of the advertised uses seem silly to me. I can hone the edge of a hand scraper with a bench stone in about half the time that it would take to set up the Tormek. And who really needs a razor sharp edge on their axe?

Overall, I'm extremely glad I got the Tormek. I don't like spending time sharpening my tools-I like to spend time using them. The Tormek allows me to get the onerous task of maintenance over and done with so I can move on.

Yes, it is expensive, but if you want a fast, repeatable, very sharp edge, without overheating it, get the Tormec. I carve in slate with woodworking tools and must resharpen them often. I can do it so quickly with this system that it hardly even slows me down, and the tools keep their temper.

I am a professional handyman. I've owned my Tormek now for two weeks and I have sharpened (or tried to sharpen) every blade tool I own (and there are lots).

Overall, I like this unit. Compared to the bench grinder / occasional hand sharpen I used to do, this thing is so much better. It can be accurate enough I'm convinced you could resharpen razor blades!

Neither + nor -, here are a few things I learned after opening the box:
1. The unit is now shipping with a DVD video, not a VCR tape.
2. The 100+ page book which comes with the unit does a good job explaining what the attachments are for and how to use them. You can download this book for free from [...]. Wish I'd seen it before my purchase...
3. If you are used to a "fixed" support similar to a bench grinder, you'll need to get SVD-110. Most (all?) the other attachments pivot about the Universal Support which makes them useless as a "just plain" support. I found the SVD-110 a much more useful attachment for me than the SVA-170.
4. If heavy axes, masonary tools, concrete chipping tools are your concern, the bench grinder gets a "good enough" edge -- and is a lot faster to use.
5. If you are not cash short, a second Universal Support will pay for itself in convience. Then you leave one set up for grinding, one for honing.

Now the "but" parts ...
I thought some design features would have been better handled in such a high-end system. Specifically:

1. The power cord is a short 6'. It should be 2 (or more) feet longer.
2. There is no flange along the top right edge of the green motor housing (next to the grinding wheel) to catch stray water which spills onto it when you run the blade you are sharpening right-to-left over the stone. There *should* be a 3/4" flange there to redirect that water back into the plastic reservoir cup. As it is, you have to sop up the puddle every few minutes.
3. The SVH-60 (chisel attachment) has two problems. First, the screws which hold down the clamping plate are too short by at least 1/2". They open wide enough for wood chisels (~1/4") but not enough for a cold chisel or masonary hammer. Second, while two flanges along one edge are there to assist you in getting the tool perpendicular to the stone, these are often unusable due to the particular configuration of your tool. There should also be engraved on the clamping plate a series of "sight lines" parallel to the stone to help you to visually align your tool.
4. The Universal Support bar is too short by 1 or 2 inches. It is easy to inadvertantly run your jig right off the open end. The bar should be longer and, perhaps, a hole should be drilled in it near the end so a T-shaped "stop pin" could be used as needed.
5. The SVA-170 (axe attachment) is too small for most axes, though it works great for hatchets. Using 2 wing-nuts and steel slots, the unit should be made to allow both longer and thicker axes. As it is, I decided the unit is pretty much worthless for axes -- and I'm back to the bench grinder for these.

I can't comment on attachments other than SVH-60, SVD-110, and SVA-170 as I haven't used them.

I'm an avid woodworker and prefer to use power tools over hand tools. I get turned off by the woodworking purists who declare that only those that use hand tools are real artisans. My shop is full of the latest and greatest power tools. That being said, I can't get away from the need for chisels and planes from time to time. With such tools comes the need to keep them sharp. Since I'm power tool purist, I needed to find a power tool that would allow me to spend a minimum amount of time in order to re-achieve a great edge. After a lot of studying and viewing this item at a woodworking show, the decision was easy. The Tormek is undoubtedly the best thing on the market for sharpening. Expensive, true but well worth it. 15 minutes out of the box I had a scalpel-like edge on a Henkel kitchen knife (I love to cook as well.)

Do yourself a favor and spend the extra money on this unit. You will be extremely glad you did. If you don't, you'll always be wondering, ".. what would it have been like with a Tormek."

I purchased a Tormek 2004 and straight out of the box it gave amazing results. I have been sharpening tools for years and this is the ANSWER! I sharpened an old chisel and got razor sharp results in 10 minutes. It will give excellent results to a novice because it controls most of the angles and grind of the tool to be sharpend with specialty jigs; each designed for a specific sharpening job. Expensive but worth it. Expect tools as sharp as you have ever seen them, perhaps sharper!

I have this machine for more than 2 years and get superb results
The only thing I do not like is to mess with the water every time
I think the Veritas® Mk.II Power Sharpening System from Lee Valley Canada is a better one - it is dry, with superb results and the second bevel is easier and more professional to create