Tormek T-8 Custom for the Wood Turner

[RichColvin]

I recently added a T-8 Custom to my Tormek sharpening tool set.  I believe I now have achieved the ultimate sharpening machine for the wood turner:

T-8:  So, so much to like about this machine.  The overall design is awesome, and I especially like how easy it is to raise and lower the water level so that too much is not there and splashing all around.

Diamond wheels:  It is great to be able to swap between the wheels and not have to adjust anything on the jig or the tool's placement in the jig.  This lets me get back to work on the lather faster.

   
• The course wheel (DC-250) works extremely well for setting a tool's shape quickly, especially for harder steels and carbides.  This saves the potential for losing the tool's temper when shaping the tool on a high grinder.
• The fine wheel  (DF-250) is great for getting a tool sharp, and resharpening it often when hogging off loads of wood.  And as we all know, a sharp tool is a safer tool.
• The extra fine wheel (DE-250) is great for even keener sharpening when getting to the final cuts, especially before dropping the tool onto the honing wheel.

CW-220 Composite Honing Wheel:  Initial testing shows that I can get a very fine finish on tools that need it.  Some examples include the skews, and any tools used for final passes.

SVD-186:  The jig to sharpen spindle and bowl gouges

SVS-50:  The open seat setup is used for parting tools and the spindle roughing gouge.  The closed seat is used for skews.  I recommend you buy the additional parts needed to permanently set it up as a closed seat.  These are part numbers #2200 (housing) and #7070 (mounting screw).  This way, you'll have one setup as an open seat, and one setup as a closed seat.

SVD-110:  This jig is used for sharpening the Lacer style skew chisel and scrapers.

Kind regards,
Rich

[Ken S]

Rich,

The water trough on the T8 is a really nice feature. in addition to being able to be raised or lowered, the round bottom design is very easy to clean. It also uses approximately half the water (and ACC) of the earlier models.

Keep us posted.

Ken