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Really interesting, and very well produced.

Ken, yes, I worked for the Australian equivalent Telstra. And yes, love getting that fine edge on chisels and plane irons. I recently got a Stanley #5 for a very good price and the iron was as dull as a car tyre, but the Tormek soon set it to rights.

I really enjoyed refreshing the 2011 T7. I had a rusty case and shaft but a good clean, rust remover some matching blue paint, new shaft and wheel and some TLC had it purring in no time. All up it come in about half new price for new old T7 stock.

I loved the history of the company they posted yesterday on their YouTube channel.

Thanks Ken, And to you too, and for that matter to the entire forum membership

This year saw me enter the Tormek camp. Although my day job was electronics associate engineering, later IT I have always had many outside interests including Woodworking. My dad was a woodworker, doing his apprenticeship in the 1910s and my #1 son and I inherited his love of fine woodworking.

The Tormek has always been a distant dream but the wife saw one at an auction for a fraction of new price. That and some spare funds, and a new shed allowed me to set up the Tormek system and to say that I have been delighted at the results is an understatement. I have really enjoyed being part of the community and have appreciated the willingness to share experience and knowledge here.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank every one for a warm welcome and for your generosity.

Also - if you have, or know someone who has a 2D printer you can get an over splash tray that goes onto the front mount, assuming you are not using it.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4791736

In the instructions for the diamond wheels they do say that they can be used dry. They provide two caveats though. They will produce dust and shorten the life of the wheel. In that respect they are no different from CBN. There seems to be a prevailing misconception that CBN is the only alternative if you want to sharpen dry, not true. Some CBN manufacturers do recommend that their wheels should be run dry, and some recommend that they be run in coolant/water, the same caveats apply equally to both abrasives.

In higher speed grinders diamond can burn and degrade rapidly, but the Tormek runs slow enough for this to not be a problem.

why not start with the SG-250 and buy the DF-250 600 diamond stone later for the HSS tools

I am in pretty much the same situation as you. I found the SG-250 would glaze with the HSS planer blades and was taking upwards of an hour or so. I ended up with all three diamond wheels but that is somewhat of a luxury. The DF-250 is perfectly fine for drills, if somewhat slowish on chipped planer blades and large drill bits. The SG-250 is more than adequate on plane irons and chisels.

Can you please advise what wheels and accessories I should get?

The machine comes with se-77 which doe3s your slicks, chisels and plane irons. The Most cost effective way of getting the knife sharpening jigs, the axe jig and other misc jigs is to get the hand tool kit HTK-806. The Hand Tool kit may have jigs rarely used but you have them. The only one I don't use that much is the KJ-140.

As for your draw knife, depending on the style you *may* be able to use the knife jig but mine has a wide back and probably will not fit. If that is the case then the SVD-110 may work. I had sharpened my draw knife last time I used it and it has not been used since I got my Tormek so not sure whether I would hand sharpen still or use the SVD-110

From the HTK-806 kit spekks

The HTK-806 inludes:
- KJ-45 Centering Knife Jig (new model) <- essential
- KJ-140 Long Centering Knife Jig (new model) <- for longish flexible knives
- SVM-00 Small Knife Holder <- Pocket knives, paring jknives
- SVX-150 Scissors Jig
- SVA-170 Axe Jig
- SVS-38 Short Tool Jig

I'm not sure I follow you : if your edge curves upwards (as on most western chef knives) and you lift, you get closer to the USB, don't you ?

Yes - depends on the curvature, hence why I add the line trick. Instinctively one tends to rotate the knife without lifting it (I have seen sharpening videos where the person rotates the knife) which gives the result above.

The important detail is to make sure that whatever part of the knife is touching the stone should be the same distance from the support bar. This is why it is important to "lift" the knife handle, not rotate it. The instinctive response is to rotate so you really have to think about it when you get to the tip.

One trick that Tormek suggest is to get a square and draw a line across the wheel. Position the line so that the edge of the knife is resting on the line then without turning on the machine draw the knife across the wheel as if you are sharpening and make sure that the edge touching the wheel is always touching the line you drew on the wheel. This way you will see how you need to move the knife when actually sharpening.

a little concavity is OK

May I offer an alternate opinion. Whilst that may be true for things such as mortice chisels there may be issues with things such as paring. If you are trying to get tenon shoulders flat for instance any irregularity on the back may result in uneven surfaces.

You reallu only need to flatten them fully once and any freshen up should be pretty quick.

I would not use the Tormek for the backs. I think the trick is to start on a coarse enough stone. I just got a new old Stanley #5 and the edge was pretty beaten up. I started on the back first with a Shapton 350 and had it mirror smooth to the edge up to 5,000 in no time. I only made sure that the first few mm from the edge was polished. Anything more is a waste of time. As you continue to sharpen always start on the back and over time you will get it more and more flat.

I never had cause to use the ruler trick myself but if it is taking too long to get it polished along the back of the edge then that will help. Don't do that with your chisels though. They really do have to be dead flat along the back.

I am surprised by the reluctance to have a second Tormek

By the number of professional setups that do have multiple Tormek machines it seems to me quite common. If you are gaining income by your sharpening, directly or indirectly then multiple machines may very well be a worthwhile investment.

For an armature like me there is not a lot of point.

Having said that I would love a T1 for the kitchen. The little woman her disability support loves cooking and spends a lot of her spare time in the kitchen and we have discussed the T1. It would keep her knives really sharp. Of course we have to wait until it is released in Australia.

Let me guess their answer ... "How long is a piece of string" 

I have seen woodworkers who can get a board dead flat by hand. I have seen skilled sharpeners who can get a plane iron and plane blade to a precise angle and perfectly flat by eye. Similarly I have seen skilled knife sharpeners who can get a precise angle on a knife by eye. These people are on another level. But that is not me

Many a nick between Tormek and workpiece

Used those Tormek bandaids many times!