Thinking of buying to sharpen professionally

[Jim W]

Hi all,
I am a Woodturner and so the Tormek is a very attractive choice for sharpening my lathe tools. However when researching the product I soon realized that with all the available attachments I could sharpen almost anything with an edge. Does anyone know someone that sharpens knives, scissors, etc. professionally using the Tormek system? Might be a good way to make a few bucks on the side. My wife complains that it is hard to find someone to sharpen her knives and sewing scissors.
Thanks,
Jim

[Herman Trivilino]

A few people have posted about adding the Tormek to their professional sharpening shop.  I recall one poster with portability issues.  No good way to run the Tormek on a vehicle's battery.  You need an inverter.

I would suggest you inquire about sharpening services at your local hardware stores and home center.  Stores that offer sharpening services will have a bulletin showing the prices.  If there's nothing local you may have to contact more distant stores.  This will help you figure out how much money you might be able to take in.

[jeffs55]

The learning curve on the Tormek is substantial when you try to use all the various attachments. This is not going to be a buy a Tormek and begin to sharpen all the tools that you have ever seen and not professional hair cutter shears at all.

[Jim W]

Thanks for your input. There are a lot of ways to go. Being able to sharpen both knives and scissors on one machine would be nice. Doing clipper blades is a whole new proposition. I am still in the research stage at this point. I might buy one anyway just for my wood turning tools. I am a segmented turner and I resharpen often. Something that takes off less metal than my dry grinder is attractive. Tormek has a good reputation for that

[Ken S]

Welcome, Jim.  Be sure to watch the videos on the Tormek website.  I believe the Tormek jigs for turning tools are some of Tormek's best designed tools. I think the video about the Irish turneris outstanding.

Making money is another matter.  If you happen to live anywhere near Cleveland, Ohio, I would suggest you contact Steve Bottorff.  He teaches weekend one on one classes in knife sharpening.  Part of the training is being his apprentice for a day at the farmers market.  This would be valuable "in the trenches" experience.  My only contact with him was purchasing his book.  My impression is he seems like a square shooter.  If you live far from Cleveland, he might be able to recommend someone in your area.

My point is suggesting investing in practical knowledgd before investing in tooling.

Best of luck with this and please keep us posted.

Ken