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Thanks, Ken. I don't mind learning to use the Tormek. In fact I enjoy learning new skills.

Ricko, let me expand on the ease of use comment I made, since you are considering purchasing a Tormek. Keep in mind this is my own experience. For knife sharpening, the knife jig is easy to setup and holds the knife well. It helped with setting the right "bevel anglel and "distance to stone". Here is the tricky part. While the jig controls the distance to stone, it allows for up and down movement. In fact, this is how you get the tip sharpened: by lifting your hand up to follow the edge shape. But given I don't have a steady hand, as I move the knife side to side, my hand moves slightly up and down. So, the knife does not stay totally flat on the stone the whole way. This resulted in uneven edge on the first knife I sharpeneded. I think as I continue to use it, I will get the hang of it. But if you watch the youtube videos now, you will notice how steady the user hand is as they sharpen the knife. That's a skill I don't have yet  None of the additional jigs other folks made for knifes would help me here as I am not dealing with smaller knives, or very convex knifes.

For chisels, it's a lot easier to sharpen as the jig controls almost all aspects. However, the edge I got in my practice chisel was not square. The jig allows for minor adjustments to get a square edge. But these knobs came in slightly loose on mine. I think I tightened them to a non-square value. I have been reading on the forum here on what is the easiest way to get it dead square. There are a few methods. But that's again something I will need to learn how to do. You also lose the squareness of the jig whenever you adjust these knobs to, say, get a convex plane blade sharpened. There are no preset or snap-on settings on the chisel jig to get it back to square quickly (unlike the turning gouge jigs which have presets).

You get the idea. There are some nuances to getting proficient at using this system and its jigs. One final thought I would like to add. The reason I got the Tormek is not necessarily the ease of use but rather the fact it's cleaner, safer, and much quieter than the alternative (dry grinders in my case). Also, it's versatility and repeatability. I would never dare try to sharpen a knife on a dry grinder. Turning tools also are a pain to sharpen free hand. The Tormek solves these problems for me.

I hope this helps you make an informed decision. The Tormek is quite an investment and I would hate for anyone to get buyer's remorse after acquiring one.

Thanks Ken. As I mentioned earlier, I did get a replacement which arrived to me in a good shape. I have been using my new T8 for a few days now

I am very happy with it so far. I got a couple of chisels and knifes sharpened already. Not as easy as it looks in these youtube videos, I gotta say . I can see now that there is a technique to it and a learning curve ahead.

Overall, I would say a happy conclusion has been reached!

I will just add that the package itself arrived in what appears to be a great condition. Actually that's why I included the first photo. You can see the box does not have any dents, scratches, etc.

To Ken's point about cost of shipping, I wonder how that plays out vs the cost associated with returns due to damage in transit. If a seller can save $30 on shipping but ends up with 10% returns, is it an overall win or loss. I am sure big estore sellers have figured this stuff out.

From the comments so far, I am guessing what happened in my case is not that common which is a good sign. I was originally wondering if with this packing design, this would be a more common issue (stone scratching plastic tray & sharpener body).

Thanks Ken for responding.

Tormek is a five out of five company and product.

Agreed. I have not had the pleasure of using their product for long but everyone seems to highly rate them. My comments were merely on the discrepancy I felt between the product quality and packaging.

I still have a bad taste in the mouth with it.

Exactly what I was worried about, even though I really wanted to keep it as I hate waiting for shipments to arrive. Thankfully, the replacement was in a much better condition. I have been using it for a couple of days.

In my opinion, the safest way to purchase something like a grinding wheel is to pick it up directly at the dealer's brick and mortar facility.

Couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, no resellers are within my area as far as I could tell from tormek reseller page and a quick online search 

I would love if Tormek was to pack the stone wheel separately even when buying the whole system. But I am obviously not aware of the logistics that would come with such a change.

Hello folks,

This is my first post on the forum. I recently treated myself to a new Tormek T8 with a few of it's accessories. I have been using a dry bench grinder so far, and was about done with all the dust and shop-made jigs. I wanted something safer, less noisy, and more accurate.

However, when I opened my brand new T8, I was greeted with what you see in the photos below. There were pieces of styrofoam and black marks on the stone wheel. The plastic tray was all scuffed up. And the T8 body had some marks on it as well.

Looking at the packing more closely, I think I have an idea of what happened. The styrofoam tray above the "stone wheel + t8 unit" broke (see photos below). It must have pushed down on the plastic tray. The way Tormek packages its system is such that the plastic tray, the weakest part of the system, is placed on stop of the grinding wheel with only a small somewhat-thin piece of styrofoam separating both parts!

I think the Tormek packaging leaves something to be desired. The stone wheel should be wrapped and packaged either entirely separately or in an enough styrofoam to protect it and the rest of the system sufficiently.

I was considering keeping the machine, if I could confirm these were all cosmetic issues and would not affect the machine performance. But I was not feeling happy at all. Why should I accept a new machine in this condition. I contacted Tormek support which directed me to contact the site I purchased the machine from. I contacted Amazon and they immediately accepted a return, scheduled a pickup time and even gave me a $20 discount for my troubles.

I went ahead and purchased another T8 system. The new unit came out better but still had some slight marks on the plastic tray from touching the stone and the stone still had some black streaks on it. In fact, even the Tormek official "Getting Started" video shows the stone and tray had some marks on them! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d8jcG6bzJ4

I know that Tormek is one of the highest rated sharpening systems out there. But if I were to rate their packaging, it would be 3/5 
I understand the need for smaller more compact packaging. But there must be a better way than the current design, in my opinion.

Anyways, sorry for the long post. I just wanted to share my thoughts on this topic. How did you guys find the Tormek packaging on your system?