T8 Recommendations?

[cb200t]

Hello everyone, and Happy New Year!

I am planning on purchasing my first Tormek later this month, and am deliberating between the T8 and the T8 50th Anniversary model. My primary reason for purchasing the Tormek is to sharpen my planer knives, but it will also be used extensively for my chisels and plane blades. All of my knives and chisels are HSS, and I do not have any carbide tooling to worry about sharpening.

I have already purchased the SVH-320 jig. As I will be purchasing a new machine, I'd like to have the one wheel I'll be using most of the time already on it.

I understand if I purchase the T8 Anniversary model I'll need to purchase the SE77 square edge jig, but I'm wondering if I'll be better off with the diamond wheel than with the SG-250?

I'm also considering whether a Custom T8 with the SB-250 wheel would be the best option for my needs.

Thank you for any recommendations you can make to help my purchase decision.

Alex

[John Hancock Sr]

These things are so personal. The anniversary machine is a nice to have but the standard machine is better value for money. For your HSS blades you would definitely be better off with the diamond wheels. However I found that you *really* need all three, the DC, DFG and DE to get the best out of them. If you do go down that path then you don't need the SG, and the other accoutrements that come with the standard machine, in which case go for the Anniversary machine. Since I bought the diamond wheels I have not used the SG but I could imagine cases where it would be better than the diamond wheels.
I use mine for woodworking tools and knives mainly. I have now sharpened my planner (thicknesser) blades twice and it takes patience, especially when you hit a nail!!! Hand plane irons and chisels are a doddle taking very little time at all, even when really dull and damaged.
I ended up buying both the wood turning kit and the knife sharpening kit and have used most of the jigs already (and the band aids).
I had envied the Tormek from afar for years and when I finally got one I realised what all of the hype was about. You will not look back ... trust me. Whatever you go for you will be delighted.

[cb200t]

Thank you for your response. I think the T8 Black will best meet my needs and after speaking with the folks at Tormek and the folks at Sharpening Supplies, I feel confident in my decision.

I think I'll purchase the DF-250 as well at the same time as I purchase the machine. I have a slow speed grinder with a 180 grit CBN wheel and the Wolverine Jig, so I may just purchase the Tormek tool adapter to use with that for heavier shaping. Is this a bad idea?

[Ken S]

Welcome to the forum, Alex. I don't think there was a bad choice among the options you presented. The T8s are all the same mechanically. They are all Tormek quality, and I expect very long life from any Tormek. That stated, if you think you want the black model, it is a limited edition. It is not very much more money than the other T8s. As long as it doesn't deprive your children of food, why not? Who knows how available it will be several years from now?

The DF-250 is a good choice for a first grinding wheel. It is the same wheel which is standard with the knife specialist T2. I predict that, like many of us, you will eventually acquire several wheels.

During my visit to Tormek, I had the pleasure of getting to know John and Darren of Sharpening Supplies. This included sharing several meals. I quickly grew to like and trust them. I prefer to remain neutral about Tormek resellers, although I have a warm spot for my friends at Sharpening Supplies.

Enjoy your new Tormek and keep us posted.

Ken

[John Hancock Sr]

I may just purchase the Tormek tool adapter to use with that for heavier shaping. Is this a bad idea?

No, good idea. On badly damaged tools, or larger tools when you are re-defining the bevel then this will save a lot of time.

[cb200t]

I may just purchase the Tormek tool adapter to use with that for heavier shaping. Is this a bad idea?

No, good idea. On badly damaged tools, or larger tools when you are re-defining the bevel then this will save a lot of time.

Great, thank you for the feedback.

I'd like to purchase the coarse diamond stone eventually, but for right now I think I'll just go with the DF-250 and the DE-250. After watching a couple of videos about the SVH-320, it seems the general recommendation is to send heavily damaged planer knives out for resharpening and to just use the Tormek for light knicks and general sharpening.

[cb200t]

Welcome to the forum, Alex. I don't think there was a bad choice among the options you presented. The T8s are all the same mechanically. They are all Tormek quality, and I expect very long life from any Tormek. That stated, if you think you want the black model, it is a limited edition. It is not very much more money than the other T8s. As long as it doesn't deprive your children of food, why not? Who knows how available it will be several years from now?

The DF-250 is a good choice for a first grinding wheel. It is the same wheel which is standard with the knife specialist T2. I predict that, like many of us, you will eventually acquire several wheels.

During my visit to Tormek, I had the pleasure of getting to know John and Darren of Sharpening Supplies. This included sharing several meals. I quickly grew to like and trust them. I prefer to remain neutral about Tormek resellers, although I have a warm spot for my friends at Sharpening Supplies.

Enjoy your new Tormek and keep us posted.

Ken

Thank you for the response, Ken. I have purchased a number of different sharpening items from Sharpening Supplies and find their customer service to be beyond reproach.

There are so many different Tormek configurations, and without ever having used one it is intimidating when making a purchase decision. I think for my use however, the T8 Black will be a good option. I also like the look of the tool! I am also considering the standard T8 and the SB-250, or even the standard tool and the DC-250, but for an additional $300, having two diamond wheels sits better with me. My understanding is that if used properly, and in a non-commercial setting, the diamond wheels should last me many, many years.

Thanks again,

Alex

[cb200t]

I ordered a T8 Black and the DE-250 yesterday!

I am going to see how the DF-250 does for just putting the hollow grind into my chisels and plane blades, but will likely need a coarse option as well. Whether that will be the DC-250 or a CBN wheel, I'm not sure yet.

The base I'm building for the machine is nearly finished as well. The case is done, and I am painting it this evening. I'll build drawers for it soon as well.

[John Hancock Sr]

I ordered a T8 Black and the DE-250 yesterday!

I am going to see how the DF-250 does for just putting the hollow grind into my chisels and plane blades, but will likely need a coarse option as well. Whether that will be the DC-250 or a CBN wheel, I'm not sure yet.

The base I'm building for the machine is nearly finished as well. The case is done, and I am painting it this evening. I'll build drawers for it soon as well.

Would love to see pictures once you are done. I persisted with the "F" and "E" for a while but succumbed and shelled out for the "C". I don't often use the Coarse but it is extremely handy for repairing bad damage. Even so I do sometimes revert to my oscillating belt sander for really severe damage.

I ended up sticking with Tormek since the options here in Australia are limited and I got the diamond wheels about $100 off the odds by shopping around and waiting for eBay specials and free shipping from the well known Australian suppliers.

[cb200t]

I ordered a T8 Black and the DE-250 yesterday!

I am going to see how the DF-250 does for just putting the hollow grind into my chisels and plane blades, but will likely need a coarse option as well. Whether that will be the DC-250 or a CBN wheel, I'm not sure yet.

The base I'm building for the machine is nearly finished as well. The case is done, and I am painting it this evening. I'll build drawers for it soon as well.

Would love to see pictures once you are done. I persisted with the "F" and "E" for a while but succumbed and shelled out for the "C". I don't often use the Coarse but it is extremely handy for repairing bad damage. Even so I do sometimes revert to my oscillating belt sander for really severe damage.

I ended up sticking with Tormek since the options here in Australia are limited and I got the diamond wheels about $100 off the odds by shopping around and waiting for eBay specials and free shipping from the well known Australian suppliers.

I'll definitely post photos of the base once I've finished it. Paint should be done tomorrow, and then I'll need to build the drawers.

The machine arrived today and I immediately set to work sharpening my chisels and plane blades. After trying to put a 25* bevel on my low angle plane blade using very light (read, almost no) pressure, I went ahead and ordered the DC-250. I also made a rotating base from a lazy susan I had, but decided to just order the rotating base as well.

First impressions are good, as one would expect. The machine has far surpassed my expectations, and I can see it meeting all of my sharpening needs. The finish on the chisels isn't quite as good as when I sharpen with my bench hones, but it is plenty sharp (in fact, I did cut myself). I'm not sure if I'm using too little pressure on the diamond stones, but out of an abundance of caution I chose to hardly use any pressure at all. The chisel would begin to chatter slightly, so I would apply just enough pressure down by the sharpening edge to prevent the chatter. That seemed to work well.

I'm not sure how I feel about the composite honing wheel. It leaves little filings like a pencil eraser. I think I would rather have the leather honing wheel and the paste. However, as this is my first Tormek, I'll continue to use this honing wheel as I have been getting results I am happy with.

I put my current lathe sharpening set up for sale. Once it sells, I'm going to purchase the turning tool kit and use the Tormek instead.

One irritation I experienced was flooding. When I was sharpening the hand plane blades, I set the SE-77 stops up to allow the plane blade to overhang the inside edge such that 1/4" of blade material was still on the grinding wheel. This allowed water to drip onto the top of the machine, but it doesn't seem to be returning to the water tray. Rather, it was falling onto my workbench and running onto the floor. I tried propping the opposite side up 1/4", but this made no difference. The water tray was in the fully seated position. Is this normal? What have others done to avoid this?

Initially, I was skeptical that the rotating base was really necessary. After lifting the machine around to sharpen 8 chisels and a plane blade, I am no longer skeptical. In fact, I went so far as to make my own rotating base just to get through the sharpening session and then ordered the base this evening.

I really, really like the Angle Master, but I will be making a protrusion jig for my chisels. I sharpen them all to 30* and sharpen bevel up planes to 25*. I think the protrusion jig will make it faster to set up the chisels and plane blades so I can batch out chisels. Currently I am setting the chisel in the jig, sharpening on the DF-250, switching to the DE-250, removing the chisel from the SE-77, rotating the machine and honing. Rinse and repeat for each chisel. Perhaps this won't be necessary now that all of the chisels are sharp and have the hollow bevel ground in!

After spending time reading the manual thoroughly, I am left with one question right away. It states the plane iron can be lightly cambered by pressing on the corners of the blade. The diamond stones make me hesitant to do this. Has anyone else with the diamond stones applied pressure to the corners without damaging the stones? Should I just plan on doing this on the bench stones, or should I actually use the blade cambering feature of the SE-77?

As discussed in previous posts, I wanted the diamond stones because my shop is not heated all year round and I didn't particularly want to carry the wheels in and out of the house. I mixed up a batch of the ACC-150 and used it. When I finished, I strained it through a coffee filter back into the wide-mouth Mason jar. This will be stored in the refrigerator to inhibit growth of anything.

Thank you for taking the time to read my initial thoughts and experiences! I'll post up more as I continue using the machine. It is everything I had hoped it would be. I'll continue buying jigs as I need them. Right now, I have no way of using the face of the stones, though I don't have any specific need to yet.

Alex

[Dan]

One irritation I experienced was flooding. When I was sharpening the hand plane blades, I set the SE-77 stops up to allow the plane blade to overhang the inside edge such that 1/4" of blade material was still on the grinding wheel. This allowed water to drip onto the top of the machine, but it doesn't seem to be returning to the water tray. Rather, it was falling onto my workbench and running onto the floor. I tried propping the opposite side up 1/4", but this made no difference. The water tray was in the fully seated position. Is this normal? What have others done to avoid this?

Initially, I was skeptical that the rotating base was really necessary. After lifting the machine around to sharpen 8 chisels and a plane blade, I am no longer skeptical. In fact, I went so far as to make my own rotating base just to get through the sharpening session and then ordered the base this evening.

For the water problem, a simple (and cheap!) solution I found was a plastic gardening tray underneath the Tormek. This cost me 6 euros and is extremely effective at keeping any water spillage off the support/bench.
photo here


Tormek do propose a rubber mat for this purpose, of course.
https://tormek.com/en/products/accessories/rm-533-rubber-work-mat

Danny
P.S. I just put my machine stand on wheels and pull it out in use. This means going round the other side to hone, of course but is an alternative to a rotating base 
I did think having the Tormek sitting on a pull out drawer mechanism would be a great idea with drawers underneath for Tormek stuff but in the end this was simplest for me.

[Ken S]

I have a problem reading this kind of topic. I can imagine possible Tormek users reading about "flooding issues" and believing there is a design flaw with the Tormek. While I understand your frustrations, the problem is not with the Tormek. The problem is operator inexperience. I write this in the constructive hope that it will provide some guidance and inspiration to carry on and get beyond the problem.

The solution is a combination of a trip to the local grocery store and a simple  one time exercise. At the grocery store, purchase a turkey baster, a kitchen measuring cup calibrated in millimeters and around 250 millimeters in capacity, and a pediatric measuring graduate. This is a combination graduate (calibrated in one milliliter increments) and a spoon to hold liquid medicine. If your grocery store does not carry these, your pharmacy will.

Good news, if you already have an RB-180, you already have the expensive component.

Turn on your Tormek. Slowly pour in a measured amount of water until the water just starts to flow over the top of the grinding wheel. Note the measurement of this water. If you are using a diamond wheel, add one milliliter of ACC for every 25ml of water. Diamond wheels are non absorbent; no extra water is needed. Record these measurements; they are your guide for future sharpening sessions.

For future reference, "conventional" grinding wheels do absorb water. After the initial water flow, you will have to gradually add measured amounts until the flow resumes and continues. This combined amount is the amount of water needed for these grinding stones.

Careful use of the RB-180 prevents spillage during rotation.

The turkey baster prevents spillage while emptying the water trough. The retrieved water can be saved for future use if it contains ACC. If it is plain water, any remaining grinding debris can be wiped out with a paper towel and discarded, preventing any plumbing clogging.

Try this, and please report your results.

Ken

[John Hancock Sr]

Make sure that the water tray is not too high. As Ken says, just wind the tray up until it is just high enough, not too high.

One of the issues I found is that when I am sharpening longish tools the water runs along the tool and spills out over the machine. My son printed this for me on a 3D printer. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4791736 This helps a lot.

[cb200t]

Make sure that the water tray is not too high. As Ken says, just wind the tray up until it is just high enough, not too high.

One of the issues I found is that when I am sharpening longish tools the water runs along the tool and spills out over the machine. My son printed this for me on a 3D printer. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4791736 This helps a lot.

Thank you for the response! The issue I'm having is not that the water trough is over full as I am careful to only fill the trough enough that when I raise it, it just contacts the circumference of the diamond wheel. I believe it is flooding because when I am sharpening a plane iron, the water spills over the side of the plane iron on machine side and runs off of the machine onto the work surface below. It is not being thrown off the wheel.

I am actually working on getting that drip tray printed, and am hopeful that this will solve my flooding problem. I'll post pictures once it is done and installed.

Alex

[cb200t]

I have a problem reading this kind of topic. I can imagine possible Tormek users reading about "flooding issues" and believing there is a design flaw with the Tormek. While I understand your frustrations, the problem is not with the Tormek. The problem is operator inexperience. I write this in the constructive hope that it will provide some guidance and inspiration to carry on and get beyond the problem.

The solution is a combination of a trip to the local grocery store and a simple  one time exercise. At the grocery store, purchase a turkey baster, a kitchen measuring cup calibrated in millimeters and around 250 millimeters in capacity, and a pediatric measuring graduate. This is a combination graduate (calibrated in one milliliter increments) and a spoon to hold liquid medicine. If your grocery store does not carry these, your pharmacy will.

Good news, if you already have an RB-180, you already have the expensive component.

Turn on your Tormek. Slowly pour in a measured amount of water until the water just starts to flow over the top of the grinding wheel. Note the measurement of this water. If you are using a diamond wheel, add one milliliter of ACC for every 25ml of water. Diamond wheels are non absorbent; no extra water is needed. Record these measurements; they are your guide for future sharpening sessions.

For future reference, "conventional" grinding wheels do absorb water. After the initial water flow, you will have to gradually add measured amounts until the flow resumes and continues. This combined amount is the amount of water needed for these grinding stones.

Careful use of the RB-180 prevents spillage during rotation.

The turkey baster prevents spillage while emptying the water trough. The retrieved water can be saved for future use if it contains ACC. If it is plain water, any remaining grinding debris can be wiped out with a paper towel and discarded, preventing any plumbing clogging.

Try this, and please report your results.

Ken

Ken,

I think there is a misunderstanding. The water spilling is because it is falling off the side of the plane iron onto the top of the machine, and then running down between the machine and the water trough onto the work bench rather than returning to the trough.

Since I received the machine, I have only put enough water in the trough so that when I raise it, it just begins to run over the diamond wheel. The water is not being flung off of the wheel onto the bench. The issue should be solved with the 3D printed drip tray JohnHancock posted (and that I was already arranging to have printed).

If I am misunderstanding what you wrote, I apologize. Thanks!

Alex