"an afterthought" ?

[John Hancock Sr]

"The Tormek was not created as a knife-sharpening equipment. Knives are kind of an afterthought."

While this may or may not be true, it is true that the primary motivation was to create a machine for easily sharpening woodworking tools. The concept of a natural grinding wheel rotating in a water bath is as old as the hills and goes back to antiquity, possibly to the bronze or iron age. There were even powered machines pre Tormek. These were mostly general purpose machines and designed for sharpening in general, not specifically "wood working" tools. The Tormek was not a new concept but, like most good inventions, an evolution on the wet stone sharpening wheel. Whether or not it was intended to sharpen edges on non-woodworking tools it was certainly based on a universal natural stone grinder.

Further to the point there is a sticker on the 1982 model, SA250, illustrating the direction of grind and hone showing a picture of a kinife being sharpened. So from very early on the idea that it could be used to sharpen knives was clear.

[Ken S]

John,

Unfortunately, anyone reading what you quote from me out of context might think it reflected my opinion. I was just stating that I had read this on the forum. I would hope that any on our members reading that statement would be diligent enough to learn the full story.

Ken

[Ken S]

It would be interesting to learn why it was discontinued. 

Maybe, maybe because even without the hassle of removing the wheel to hone, without having to buy a supplemental USB, etc. etc., only few knife-only sharpeners would buy a machine that required much more time to set an edge than a belt sander. Even if it could produce hair-splitting edges. So making it a profitable product even at (or more so because of) a high price point would be a challenge. I don't know if this is true, but the link given by @Dan mentions an initial price of 1500 EUR (1600+ USD) with the DC stone.

I think the "crazy sharp" knife sharpeners market is much tinier than the "push cut tomato" one. So having only one lineup for very sharp edges, even if sharpening knives requires a bit of contorsion, seems a more sensible approach. And for 1600+ bucks one could easily buy a standard T-8 for grinding and custom one for honing. AMHIK :grin:

There is a lot which we do not know. Why was the T4000 discontinued? From the design time of the T4000 and the present, what advances and changes have occurred?

The stainless steel frame of the T4000 certainly looks impressive. At the time of its design, rust was a problem. While this was in part caused by the materialsof the day, the worst cases were also due to carelessness by the users.
With today's machined zinc housings and improved coatings, stainless no longer offers such a great advantage.

Tormek specifically designed the T2 for use by restaurant staff as opposed to professional sharpeners. The T2 is designed to be used and kept in a restaurant. Part of the design is the convenience of not having to deal with water, ACC, or honing paste. Another part is not having to fiddle with    jigs. The T2 is designed to maintain sharpness. Very dull knives slow efficiency and put extra physical stress on the user. A well managed professional kitchen would have its knives regularly sharpened and woul not have nearly the problems f abuse encountered by he professional sharpener.

If professional kitchen users had the chance f side by side demonstrations with the T4000 and the T2, ow would they choose?

I realize this is a group of sharpeners, not restaurant staff. Several factors should be included in the conversation. An important factor is the Tormek philosophy of sharpening. Until the introduction of the T2 and T1, this has been exclusively water cooled. Minimal steel removed is a Tormek hallmark. Jig controlled grinding. And, the preferred honing technique is hand held. A key factor is "no Tormek left behind".

Another real world factor is how to price work done. A dedicated professional sharpener should make a reasonable business profit. This can be complicated by what the customer is willing to pay. A sharpener is not a charity. Some abused, neglected knives re not worth the expense of sharpening. On the other hand, the sharpener's technique and workflow should be efficient and geared toward a realistic amount of sharpness.

Ken

[tgbto]

Ken, all of those are very fair points, but if you take another look at the quote which is the subject of this post and seems to have ruffled a few feathers, it is not :

"The Tormek is bad at sharpening knives"

I wouldn't own two if that was the case. Yet I'm not a professional sharpener, I don't care how much time goes into getting the edge I want on a $200 knife and whether my investment is paid for. The quote is rather

The Tormek was not created as a knife-sharpening equipment. Knives are kind of an afterthought.

That looks like a fact to me, and I'll be happy to be proven wrong if the Tormek was indeed created as a knife sharpening equipment. It seems to me though that it was created with woodworking tools in mind.

Is that so bad a thing to say that it justifies its own thread going into the T1, T2, charity, darkroom and the way knives were sharpened by the romans ?

Does it mean the Tormek is a bad knife sharpener ? Certainly not. To me it only means that its wider usage domain requires that a few compromises be made for knife sharpening, like accepting that increased precision and superior heat management come at the expense of throughput and portability.

[Ken S]

TGB,

You and I are in agreement on the important areas. Let's just say that although the original Tormek was primarily designed to sharpen woodworking tools, it also functions very well for sharpening knives. Innovation is ongoing. I believe that the next year or two will see some major changes in knife sharpenng.

Ken

[John Hancock Sr]

Unfortunately, anyone reading what you quote from me out of context might think it reflected my opinion

Sorry, that was not my intent, hence the quotes. I was making an observation on the design of the Tormek that it in and of its very nature was a general purpose machine evolved from previous powered and unpowered machines.