Messages

OP bought his Sharpening Station for $699 back in Dec, 2015. Less than 11 years later and on the Tormek website it costs $1069. That's about a 53% increase. Who's salary has gone up by 53% in the past 11 years?

Thank you America for the forever wars no one voted for. Thank you for causing inflation by printing money and going into trillions of dollars of debt; the hidden tax on the middle and lower class no one voted for. Thank you for destroying the global oil and gas markets.

In summary, buy as many Tormek TS-740 Sharpening Stations as you can. They'll probably cost over $2,000 by 2035. It's a good hedge against the stock market, crypto, and gold.

please note first and second amendments at the bottom of this post.

Before I get into this review, I would like to mention two things which effect anyone purchasing a Tormek TS-740 Sharpening Station:

First: The TS-740 is the only Tormek product I know of where it can pay to do comparison shopping with several authorized dealers. The problem is the present consumer craze for "free shipping". At the time of this writing, the official retail price for the TS-740 is $699. This price does not include shipping, and the shipping weight is 93 pounds. Living in Ohio, I found shipping costs ranging from $38 to $74 US. I have found dealer prices as high as $849 with "free shipping". I suggest getting several prices with and without "free shipping". As always, my first choice would be my local Tormek dealer.

Second: The TS-740 is shipped in a double box with some styrofoam padding. Under normal shipping conditions, this is probably adequate. In my case, I happened to order during the height of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday insanity. I noticed one side of the bottom of the box was slightly crunched. When I opened the box in my basement, I noticed that one corner of the top was slightly dented in. Three minutes work with a pry bar, hammer and round metal tool straightened the situation, leaving only slightly damaged paint. For me, this was not enough of a problem to warrant the hassle of returning it. However, if you are more particular, do not accept a damaged shipping box.

Now, for my impressions of the Sharpening Station. Be sure to watch Alan Holtham's video review. I found Alan's review well done. I like the size of the Sharpening Station. It is large enough to get the job done and at the same time does have a very small footprint. It fits very nicely in a corner of my workshop near my bench. My original plan was to place the TS-740 far enough out to allow me to work on all four sides. For the present, I altered that plan by placing the TS-740 nearer the wall and relying on the Rotating Base. Time will tell which arrangement I prefer.

I believe the storage size is a good compromise. I have a lot of Tormek "stuff", including several grinding wheels. Included are several duplicate jigs as well as jigs and set up tools I have made. Not all of my stuff fits in the six drawers of the TS-740. This would not be a problem for most users. In fact, it is not a problem for me. There is plenty of storage for both the things I use regularly and the things I use only occasionally.

The planer jig, which I have never used, did not make the cut. I keep it on a nearby shelf.

At first, I did not like the idea of storing the grinding wheels "outboard". This preference changed when I began using the extra grinding wheels more. The problem is that the grinding wheels stay damp for several days. The hooks work well for allowing the damp wheels to dry.

I have not decided if I will store the wheels on the hooks once dry, or whether I will continue to keep them in their boxes on the same shelf as the planer jig.

My unit came with the Rubber Work Mat instead of the Composite Surface. I don't know which is now standard. (my unit also came with a Tormek hat, so it may have originally been part of a promotion). I already have a Tormek rubber mat, which I like very much, so I have no complaints about receiving the rubber mat instead of the composite surface. The Sharpening Station and Rubber Work Mat are nicely sized together. As I stated earlier, the combination is large enough to get the job done, but has a minimal footprint.

I think incorporating the foam tool holder inserts is a clever design feature. I will begin working with them in place. In my case, I suspect at some point I will probably remove them. This reflects my personal work preferences rather than being a comment about the foam inserts.

I like the combination of having the two top drawers shallower and the four lower drawers deeper. That seems like practical design to me. Following the "foam plan", the second shallow drawer holds the basic (included with the T7) Tormek jigs and accessories. This leaves the very important top drawer for my necessities (bevel and regular markers; metric Allen wrenches; ¾" (19mm) wrench; kenjigs and other set up tools, and a lot of etc.

I have recycled the box which originally held my spare 105 Universal Support Bar into "Tormek parts". This box holds the two spare micro adjust rings I purchased for an idea which did not prove successful. The original nut for the T4 leather honing wheel is here. I replaced it with a T7 wrenchless nut. I made up several spacer pieces of plastic pipe to hold the shaft in place while transporting a Tormek with the grinding wheel removed. They reside here. The smaller shaped leather honing rings are here, also.Either the parts box or the planer jig was the last thing to make the cut. I chose the parts box.

In front of the parts box I keep some very rarely used jigs. I purchased an earlier version of the square edge jig for mortise chisels. I have a spare TT-50 and a spare scissors jig (a someday project to become one of Herman's HK-50 jigs).

The bottom drawer holds the DBS-22 drill bit jig in the back. In the front is my original water trough. The trough presently holds my compounds: spare Tormek honing compound; valve grinding compound; and lithium grease.

In general, I have been quite satisfied with the design and build quality of the Sharpening Station. If I were assigning a star rating to it, I would give a solid four stars, perhaps four and a half stars. Having a slightly dented corner (which I repaired) from inadequate packaging caused me to deduct some points. Also, one of the screw in feet would only screw in halfway before jamming. The screw in feet look solid and well made. The problem appears to be in the female thread. This was only an annoyance for me, as I am five feet ten inches tall and did not need the lowest range of the height adjustment.

I would purchase this unit again, however, I would watch the package condition closely. I unloaded and set it up myself, with the help of an appliance dolly.  Ideally, I would recommend it be a two person job.

I will update this post from time to time as I settle in to using the TS-740 Sharpening Station.

Ken

First amendment: Following a suggestion from Stig, I found that the obstruction of the one foot screw thread was just a minor blockage. (maybe just some paint or plastic) In fact, if I had used a wrench and some force, I might have broken through it. I initially used just my fingers. Instead, I ran a 5/8" NC thread tap through it which quite easily dislodged the blockage. The blockage is still unTormeklike in my opinion, but I have downgraded it to a minor nuisance.

Second amendment: Having to repair the thread turned out to be a positive learning experience. I was surprised how easy working with the Sharpening Station turned out to be. Removing everything from the drawers took only a couple minutes. I locked the empty drawers and tipped the chest on to the front. The original cardboard box protected the paint. For a heavy object, it is not clumsy to work with.

I noticed that the drawers have ball bearings to help absorb the load. Kennedy chests have these, too, but only in the premium chests. The ball bearings are a bit of overkill in the Tormek chest, however, they are indicative of not skipping on quality. My 4.8 star rating has become 4.8. The 5/8" thread is also a nice bit of over kill.

Another nice feature, not fully expounded in Alan Hotham's review is the drawer liners. There is a full pack of six included, not just three. Nice touch, Tormek.