Best sharpening system

[Glynne]

I may have found an answer to my Tormek woes. I've always found the existing wheel that comes with the Tormek unsatisfactory; it's too slow for reshaping turning tools (as Custard rightly mentions), it constantly needs to be trued and seems to glaze over really quickly getting very mucky in the process. Also in my experience it won't handle PMV-11 steels very well either, but it's fine with bog standard O1 carbon steels. However, browsing this morning over coffee in the Ax catalogue, I now see they do a coarse diamond wheel (hammer) for the T7 & 8 - Rob

If you do decide to hang onto your Tormek and invest in a diamond wheel I'd be really interested in your thoughts (as they are not cheap).
I share the same problems as described but having inherited a Tormek along with most of the jigs I'm loathe to get rid of it.

 

[Noho12C]

I have a tormek T4 and really don't like it (sits in a box since 6 months in the garage) . It is crazy slow to set the primary bevel.
For turning tools though, it can be useful as those seem complicated to sharpen.

So for my plane blades and chisel, I'm using a jig (Veritas) and diamond + water stones.

Been considering a proedge, but been told (by a seller !) that they are not that good at keeping edges square.

So it seems the Veritas jig will keep being the way to go for me for some time :/

Sent from my VKY-L09 using Tapatalk

 

[mr.alan.]

Just thought I would update - Not much to answer really but - I called in at Axminister on Saturday as they were demoing there rival to the Pro edge and also the T8. At the end of the day, I really only want a good grinder for my woodturning chisels - Like Woody2shoes - I sharpen most of my plane irons and chisels with Diamond stone and I also use a ceramic. Both machines come to around £600 once all the goodies are added- and to be honest I can't justify spending that much money something just for mainly my woodturning chisels. I thought both machines were solid, like someone mentioned the Axminister sharpening system - you do have to cool your chisels periodically, and the Tormek was a little slow. That said I would be happy to have any in my workshop. I think woody2shoes has a good idea of bench grinder - CBN wheel and woodturning jig kit . Having said that just had a quick look on record power web site - they have there WG 250 PKA wet stone grinder package deal kit at a deal price of £259 - and their woodturners sharpening package for £59.00 . ...Ill make some decision soon I hope!

 

[Trevanion]

I have a Tormek System (BGM-100 mount) on a high speed bench grinder for my turning tools , works a treat and at a speed where it's not taking all day to sharpen something. I think it was £150 for the the Tormek kit (Axminster Link) and I think the grinder probably wasn't £100 new, worked for me because I already had the grinder. I also bought the SVD-110 tool rest separate and it's a major improvement over the old grinder tables.

 

[woodbloke66]

I may have found an answer to my Tormek woes. I've always found the existing wheel that comes with the Tormek unsatisfactory; it's too slow for reshaping turning tools (as Custard rightly mentions), it constantly needs to be trued and seems to glaze over really quickly getting very mucky in the process. Also in my experience it won't handle PMV-11 steels very well either, but it's fine with bog standard O1 carbon steels. However, browsing this morning over coffee in the Ax catalogue, I now see they do a coarse diamond wheel (hammer) for the T7 & 8 - Rob

If you do decide to hang onto your Tormek and invest in a diamond wheel I'd be really interested in your thoughts (as they are not cheap).
I share the same problems as described but having inherited a Tormek along with most of the jigs I'm loathe to get rid of it.

I've been giving it a bit of thought and will definitely get hold of coarse wheel, but agreed, at around £220 it doesn't come cheap. On the other hand, it does overcome all the inherent disadvantages of the Supergrind wheel as supplied with the machine.
One question that bothers me is the suitability of using the coarse diamond wheel to sharpen turning gouges; will this produce an edge which is going to be too rough, even with honing inside and out on the leather wheel(s). If so I may have to invest in an additional extra fine wheel which is going to cost even more pennies :shock: :shock: - Rob

 

[shed9]

Similar experience to others here, I have a T7 and whilst it achieves the results, it's painfully slow. I genuinely believe it fails as a primary singular sharpening system. I use a combination of options now in addition to the T7, namely stones (Ohishi) and diamond plates with a Veritas Mk2.

The one aspect to the T7 which is often overlooked though is the lack of dust created. We keep reminding ourselves and others on the dangers of wood dust however never really mention abrasive dusts caused by grinder wheels and belt sanders on tools. Using belts, standard wheels, the white 'slow speed' wheels and CBN all cause metal dust to dissipate into the air. I suspect CBN will be worse as it doesn't create sparks, just pure metal dust. Given the wheel fixatives, the abrasives and alloys in todays blades, not to mention the boron nitride in the CBN itself this is surely an issue. I appreciate the CBN will wear very very slowly but it will wear. Boron nitride will never break down in your system, you and it are buddies for life once in your lungs.

Next time you use a grinder / belt sander to regrind an edge or remove a nick, shine a light to the air and then go and have a long sit down. Needless to say I wear a mask these days.

I'll get me coat......

 

[merlin]

Viceroy Sharpedge TDS 12/16 for plane irons and chisels as I don't like a hollow grind. I never got on with a Tormek

Creusen slow speed grinder for turning chisels.

Merlin

 

[mr.alan.]

Seems no matter what choice - there is always plus and minuses for each method/tool. At the end of the day I suppose it comes down to persoanl choice - and your budget of course - and risks (health)

Just quickly looking at ebay and came across a few of these advertised - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Woodturning- ... :rk:1f:0

Although not all bling and singing and dancing - These jigs look like they would do the job ( particularly for turning chisels/gouges with a good bench grinder. .......

 

[MikeG.]

..... you aren't going to do irreparable harm by hand like you can with a power tool.......

I'm not at all convinced there is any such thing as irreparable harm, until you've used up the sharpenable length of steel. You just re-grind.