Tormek plus your other sharpening types.

[SharpenADullWitt]

Do you always sharpen with your Tormek, or are there tools and preferences you choose other things for?

Some use a dry grinder for general shaping and I am considering that for garage sale tools (make the Tormek stone last longer).  There are other tools, personally I see no need for the Tormek (not going to be using it on my mower blades, a die grinder or angle grinder works great for that).  Then there are habits that I haven't changed, or figured out if I need to yet (keep the hand stones handy, for touch ups when using a chisel).  I look at some of these, and to me they are similar to using a steel to keep kitchen knives sharp, until you have to sharpen.
I hope this isn't too far out of line to ask, because I doubt I am the only one who believes multiple systems work well for them and would like to learn about others experiences.

[Ken S]

Fair question.  Speaking for myself, I use the Tormek where I think it is the most effective tool. I suspect most of us have a collection of various sharpening tools, some no longer used and some still on active duty.

My favorite tool for touching up my lawnmower blade is a file.  I'm sure this is not the preferred method, however, it works for me.  Yes, the Tormek can do a nice job on lawnmower blades.  My file is quick and adequate. My old yard sale belt grinder sees duty with rough projects.  I rarely use the dry grinder now.

I am still not confident flattening chisel backs with the Tormek.  This is somewhat due to operator inexperience.  I use the Tormek to flatten a belly on the back of a chisel, but switch to water stones for the final part.  I recently purchased a large flat diamond plate which keeps the stones flat and would probably work well with flattening backs.

The Tormek has proved most useful for me with taking the hard work out of sharpening.  At 64, my hands can't do as much work as when I was younger.  This is where the Tormek really excels.

So, to answer your question, you won't be excommunicated for occasionally using a non Tormek tool.  Just don't do it very often........

Ken

[Rob]

I'm with Ken...its horses for courses.

I use credit card diamond files for all manner of turning edge tips.  I use the Tormek for knives and some gouges and I use a belt based system for shaping and for all other turning tools.  I also occasionally use an angle grinder but not often and I have a dry grinder which is permanently setup for round nose scrapers.

I use an Oregon style purpose built grinder for my chainsaw blades.  I have recently defected from the Tormek to the belt system for both plane blades and chisels.  The part of the Tormek that gets more use than anything is the strop because it's really useful for deburring all manner of things and you can definitely tickle an edge back on a chisel or plane iron without regrinding if its just gone off the boil.  But for any tool that requires a lot of steel removal, I leave the dust cover on the Tormek.

[Herman Trivilino]

Do you always sharpen with your Tormek, or are there tools and preferences you choose other things for?

I pretty much use the Tormek for sharpening everything.  I keep the dry grinder handy for shaping, though.  On occasion I'll use a bench stone on a tool if I'm in a hurry and don't want to take the time to set up the Tormek.

I recently glued up a series of strips of the 3-M Micro-Abrasives to a sheet of plastic, but haven't had the opportunity to use it yet.

http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=33004&cat=1,43072

There are other tools, personally I see no need for the Tormek (not going to be using it on my mower blades, a die grinder or angle grinder works great for that).

If a mower blade is in bad shape I'll take it to the dry grinder, and I'll always clean it up before taking it to the Tormek.

But I have found that the Tormek is the best tool for sharpening a mower blade, provided it has the right geometry so that it can be ground on the Tormek.  The reason I like the Tormek is that I can control the edge angle.  If the angle is too sharp the steel folds over and ruins the edge.  For this reason many people recommend that you don't put a razor-sharp edge on a mower blade.  I've even heard of people filing the cutting edge flat to avoid this problem.

I find that the best fix is to sharpen the blade at a more blunt angle.

A sharp blade means less water and fertilizer is required on the lawn, but the down side is that I have to mow more often. 

Lately we've had a decent amount of rain so I've been mowing every 4-5 days.  It keeps me busy and gives me an excuse to have a beer afterwards, not that I need one.   

[Dakotapix]

I'm blessed with many sharpening options but I tend to use my Tormek for reshaping the bevels on plane irons and chisels that I might acquire from eBay, Craigslist or garage sales. If these items are in really bad shape I may work them over on a dry grinder first. But after that initial shaping I generally will use my waterstones or diamond plates for touching up edges generally trying to achieve a slight micro bevel.

I use a steel for maintaining the edge on our kitchen knives. I recently did take a couple of my favorite knives down to my waterstones and the results were superb. However, touching up on the steel is fast and efficient and as long as I can easily slice a tomato from the steeled edge, I'm happy.