Messages

Dear Ken S, thank you for your good advice I appreciate it. I am happy to find someone who knows about the Oboe. Although I play with European style reeds I would be happy to help if your son/daughter needs any help.

Thank you all for making me feel welcome to the forum. Fernando more or less explained our situation. In my case maybe the tax would not be that high but still... The machine costs a median salary as it is and the added cost and hassle is very frustrating. Regulations change very often and sometimes your order gets stuck in the customs. The day I paid 300$ tax for a 150$ printer was the last time I ordered from abroad. Maybe I make it sound too dramatic, after all 99% of all you need you can find legally imported. There are dealers and resellers for most everything, just no Tormek dealer yet, and I wasn't going to wait any longer

So far I love the results. Usually the reed making knives are around 150-200$. Many are quite thick with a fat beveled edge. Those are not easy to sharpen. People just don't know how to do it or get lazy. Stropping with progressively increasing the angle ruins the bevel after a year or two. After that properly sharpening them is very difficult, just a few wrong moves on the whetstone and the knife needs o lot of metal removal  to get the bevel and the edge to working condition. Doing it by hand is possible with rod guide systems but takes forever. With Tormek not anymore

Hello to everyone!

I got my T4 from Dictum.de, it seemed the more convenient way. I sent an email checking whether it would work out and after receiving a confirmation I went ahead and ordered online. Sure enough my package was waiting for me at the hotel when I got there. No problems with delivery and everything was fine, only one small problem they forgot to include the invoice with the package. Well, I needed that invoice to get stamped at the airport so I can have a tax refund and being already weekend there was nobody to send it to me by email. The invoice did not reach me on time before my flight  and now we are working together with Dictum to solve the tax refund problem. I don't want to bore you with this.

I got the T4 with the truing tool, hand tools kit and the Japanese stone and the total weight did scare me - 16.5 Kg.! Luckily I was traveling with a friend. He took the hand tool kit and one of the stones. I tried desperately to fit the Tormek box in my luggage. Had to tear the box at one side and it fit with difficulty bulging my Samsonite. Of course I didn't trust both of the stones ( SG-200 and SJ-200) in the luggage and we took them each in our back packs. I was worried they might not be allowed in the cabin but it went without a problem. So at the end I managed to bring a Tormek T4 with some extras by plane. I don't know how to feel: be proud of myself or feel pity for my country

Some early observations about the Tormek system: (I am sure those topics have been discussed so please forgive this newbie)

1. I do not regret buying the Japanese stone. It is very useful for me, I need clean edge without any teeth. ( knives for scraping reeds for Oboe/Basoon) It could be less useful for someone who needs an edge with a bite.

2. There is definitely a learning curve and that is fine by me, it took me 25 years to learn to play the Oboe So, attemting to sharpen a 10 inch long kitchen knife the second day with the machine was a mistake. It is not easy to keep the knive jig absolutely perpendicular to the guiding rod. Also it is easy to tip the knife and touch only the edge of the stone for a second and that is enough to spoil the edge. I feel there is a lot room for innovation there. Just my feeling.

3. When grinding heavily 220 grit soon becomes 1000 grit. So I find myself using the rough side of tne stone grader more. Otherwise the steel removal speed goes down. I believe there could be a need for a 80 grit stone. Maybe this problem is solved for T8 with the new diamond stones. However an inexpensive 80 grit waterstone wouldn't hurt

4. I need more clearance for the tool rest. I have some bevel edge knives (around 50-60 degrees) and I hit the maximum extension and the minimum lenght of the knive jig barier. I could barely sparpen the knife.

5. I am sure there is a good reason but why is not the stroping wheel the same size as the grinding wheel. It is a pain to use like this. I am seriously thinking of adapting a larger wheel which could be put on top of this wheel and would be easily removable. Maybe just friction holding, tight fitting outher rim and I would put the leather the other way around with the skin side on the outside.

I am sure I forgot some things but it is already a long and boring post These are my early observations. Please forgive my ignorance.

Thank you both Ken S and marie for your quick and sensible replies. I will definitively check for online delivery to my hotel. As a plan B, I have already figured out which train to take to Möller in Kelkheim. It seems it'll take around half an hour to get there. I will manage somehow and report my adventures back to the forum

Hello to All.
Guys, is there a store in the city centre where I can buy a Tormek machine? I will be travelling to Frankfurt am Main this weekend. There is not a Tormek reseller in my country and I think I can fit a T4 in the suitcase going back. I can see there are some resellers in Frankfurt area but the closest one is 15-20 Km from the centre which means taking a train ride. Perhaps some big chain store like Bauhaus etc. sells Tormek, does anyone have any info on this?