Tormek T4 in Frankfurt

[cukka]

Dear Ken S, thank you for your good advice I appreciate it. I am happy to find someone who knows about the Oboe. Although I play with European style reeds I would be happy to help if your son/daughter needs any help.

Thank you all for making me feel welcome to the forum. Fernando more or less explained our situation. In my case maybe the tax would not be that high but still... The machine costs a median salary as it is and the added cost and hassle is very frustrating. Regulations change very often and sometimes your order gets stuck in the customs. The day I paid 300$ tax for a 150$ printer was the last time I ordered from abroad. Maybe I make it sound too dramatic, after all 99% of all you need you can find legally imported. There are dealers and resellers for most everything, just no Tormek dealer yet, and I wasn't going to wait any longer

So far I love the results. Usually the reed making knives are around 150-200$. Many are quite thick with a fat beveled edge. Those are not easy to sharpen. People just don't know how to do it or get lazy. Stropping with progressively increasing the angle ruins the bevel after a year or two. After that properly sharpening them is very difficult, just a few wrong moves on the whetstone and the knife needs o lot of metal removal  to get the bevel and the edge to working condition. Doing it by hand is possible with rod guide systems but takes forever. With Tormek not anymore

[Ken S]

Cukka,

The T4 is certainly the right choice for you, even when you get it back home! It has more than enough power for anything you might sharpen, and it is both compact and lightweight. An oboist must have good, reliable reeds. Your Tormek can help you make many musician friends and/ or some money.

It is unfortunate that short sighted leaders impose so many barriers to international trade. Since we must live in our world, while the cost of your Tormek has been inflated by taxes, I still think it will prove to be a wise investment. As you note, good reed knives are very expensive. The Tormek method of repeatable jig sharpening will give consistently sharp results with minimum steel removal. That will both improve the quality of your reedmaking and the longevity of your knives.

We need good oboists. The oboe is the spice which makes the stew of orchestral music interesting.

Please keep us posted.

Ken