T2 knife guide for T8

[SteveHarbour]

I'm wonder if Tormek plans to offer a T2-type knife guide for the T8??   Think about it for high volume knife sharpeners.... put a diamond or CBN wheel on the T8, add the T2 guide and you're ready for sharpening at the farmers market.  No fooling with jigs or verifying angles.  Just saying. 

[Ken S]

Steve,

I think the link below would be a better set up. I have not heard reports from fatmers market guys actually using the T2. The T2 knife jig will not work directly on any other Tormek model. If you can get it to work with them, some custom machining would be involved. It would probably be more cost efficient just to buy the T2.

Tormek has recommended the T8 for trained sharpeners. The T2 is designed for restaurant personnel not trained in sharpening.

If you are still fooling around with much knife jig or bevel angle adjustments, you need to look into the kenjig. Go to members, Rich Colvin, and his signature. There you will find a link to Rich's Sharpening Handbook and the article I wrote describing the kenjig.

Ken
https://youtu.be/LP1_kjUC89U

[SteveHarbour]

Thanks, Ken, for the tip.  I'm pretty quick with setting up the jigs. I have my own system but will look at Rich's jig.

I'm still toying with getting a diamond wheel for my T8.  Of course for a few more $$ I can get a whole T2, with diamond wheel, and use that for my busy days. 

Thanks again. 

[Ken S]

Steve,

Unfortunately, we are somewhat flying blind with both the T2 and the diamond wheels. Tormek has released very little information beyond marketing ads for either of these.

I have never seen a T2 at a Tormek dealer. I would suggest calling the dealers in your area and seeing if they have an in store demo T2 that you could try with half a dozen knives. I doubt you will find this situation, although I would love to be wrong on this.

My best advice would be to purchase the T2 from a place which allows a thirty day exchange policy. Hopefully, you will be satisfied with your purchase and keep it. If not, you should return it. Find a place like Amazon with free shipping and hopefully free return shipping.

Ken

[cbwx34]

I'm wonder if Tormek plans to offer a T2-type knife guide for the T8??   Think about it for high volume knife sharpeners.... put a diamond or CBN wheel on the T8, add the T2 guide and you're ready for sharpening at the farmers market.  No fooling with jigs or verifying angles.  Just saying.

I will, once again, suggest the Homemade Knife Rest over the T-2 option.... or just use the standard jig setup... (or learn freehand).

As I posted HERE, I found the guide on the T-2 very limiting in the type/style of knives it can sharpen.  In addition, you have to work around it scratching up blades (which IMO, is more work than using the standard knife jig, and scratches are also a factor I think customers will care about).  In fact, later in that same thread, I posted that I took the clip off the T-2 guide, and replaced it with a piece of Kydex, essentially turning it into a Homemade Knife Rest.  (The whole thread is worth a read).

Also in this post in that thread, Stickan (from Tormek), clearly states that...

...
For a sharpening business, we don't recommend the T-2.
A T-8 with the jig system with SVM-00/45/140 can sharpen way more models of knifes. A knife sharpened and honed with the leather wheel gives a sharper knife than most common new knifes.
...

Add to this the fact that Tormek has been going to events like Bladeshow, and still use the "standard" setup... I would think that, if the T-2 setup worked better, they would use that?  Instead, they market the T-2 almost exclusively as an "in-house" knife sharpener... mostly to maintain a sharp edge.

Finally, if time becomes a critical factor in your operation, I'd start looking at alternative equipment... for example SteveB's use of paper wheels and/or belt sanders.  You can see some of it in action in his YouTube videos.

[Ken S]

Let's not forget the unmentioned T4. Within an hour of unboxing my T2, I had the diamond wheel and rubber honing wheel off the T2 and mounted on my T4. Tormek does not advertise these as bring T4 compatable, however, they are completely interchangeable. When we add the DWC-200 360 grit coarse wheel, we have a most formidable T4. I would not be concerned about not having an SB in this size; in my opinion, the diamond wheels supercede the SB.

I like CB's idea of converting the T2 knife jig into a small platform. Unfortunately, the parts cost close to $100 US.

Ken

[Ken S]

I spent some time examining my T2, its knife jig, and the other Tormek models trying to see how the T2 knife jig might be modified to work with the T8. The jig itself readily fits on the standard support bars. The problem is the pointer has a plastic part which must fit into the axis holder. The axis pointer is one of the very few T2 parts which are not available as spare parts. Fitting the pointer into the axis holder allows direct, accurate bevel angle reading. The knife jig could be made to work on a T8 by removing the pointer feature, however, this would involve some very innovative custom machining.

Costwise, it seems more efficient to me to just purchase a T2. Or, one could always spend some time and really master the standard Tormek knife jig. What does seem quite cost efficient to me is following Herman's example and making a small platform using the Tormek scissors jig. The width of the small platform does not extend beyond the width of the grinding wheel, making it easy to sharpen the full length of both bevels without having to shift the jig. This is a very versatile accessory.

Ken