Messages

Herman,

If you are ever in the Philadelphia/ South Jersey area, Edmund's in Barrington is a very short drive and well worth it.

In addition to the Mad Scientist Room, be sure to try out the submarine periscope going from the main floor to above the room. It is good to nourish your scientist's inner child!

Plenty of educational stuff, too.

Ken

Hat,
The planer jig is one of the very few jigs I have purchased used (or already purchased) off of ebay. As it turned out, the blades on my "lunchbox" planer are not designed to be sharpened, so I have never used it. Others may have had the same experience and may want to sell.
(In case you are thinking it, I am keeping mine for reference in answering forum questions and am not interested in selling.)
Good luck.

Ken

Hat, the answer is yes. All the Tormek jigs are backward compatable.

Ken

Herman,

Thanks for reminding me about one of the magic places in my life. I grew up in Camden County, New Jersey, about ten miles from Edmund Scientific Company in Barrington. Edmund's started in 1942 selling surplus optics. Edmund's used to have a barrel of free stuff. Dad made me a periscope from two free surplus tank prisms as a Christmas present. I still have it.

I visited Edmund's several years looking for a set of scales for my photo darkroom. I found a nice Ohaus triple beam balance. While there, I enjoyed "The Mad Scientiist Room" filled with all kinds of used and surplus lab equipment, a tinker's paradise. They also carry an impressive variety of optical gear and science projects.

Definitely a magic place. . . .

Ken

Matthew,

I cannot fault CB's comments; however, I do believe you T3 can handle your light duty home shop needs. I don't think you would go wrong either way. CB is correct about the thirty minute duty cycle, although, I don't think it will be a real world constraint for for. I don't recall any problems being posted on the forum with overheating or inaccuracy. If you are concerned about these, the safe play is a new T4 with an eight year warranty.

Ken

Posts from Rob, Herman, and Elden within a week! Three of our stalwart members
It is a good week!

Ken

Welcome to the forum, Matthew.

You ask good questions. If I was in your shoes and wanted to sharpen chisels and my bench plane blades, I would stay with the T3. The T3 is definitely designed for lighter duty than the redesigned T4 which replaced it in 2014 or the professional duty larger T8. However, home use with woodworking tools is definitely in the "hobby" range of the T3. (Also included in this range are typical kitchen knives.)

The jigs and accessories work with all Tormek models. I would compare your T3 with my 2013 Equinox automobile. It runs well and serves my purpose. It will not depreciate much if I keep it for several more years.

What you need now is knowledge. I suggest you register your T3 on tormek.com. It is long past the warranty period, however, registering it lets you access and download the latest version of the online handbook at no charge. We now have an excellent seriesof online videos on the Tormek youtube channel.

Regarding an inexpensive, coarser wheel, I strongly recommend learning how to maximize your present grinding wheel first. Learn how to true and dress your grinding wheel. Learn how to grade it with the stone grader. Heavy grinding should only be a one time occurance. After that, keep your tools sharp. An optimized grinding wheel, a cup of coffee and patience will carry the day with the initial sharpening.

Keep us posted.

Ken

Tormek makes a very nice small square. You get one "for free" if you purchare the Anniversary Black T8. Unfortunately, this small square is not yet available as a stand alone accessory. HOWEVER, there is a relatively inexpensive "plan B". Although the TTS-100 is primarily designed for setting woodturning tools, it can also work very well with vhisels and plane irons. It makes a very fast, accurate setting tool and a useful small. Wolfgang demonstrates this at 1:07:20 in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/live/7aHmc43RUY4?si=av0B0hGR-tWmKWQy

Wolfgang demonstrates this with a skew chisel; however, many things in sharpening cross function.

Ken

PS The first time I sharpened a turning skew, I did not know the TTS-100/ small square trick. I assumed my skew angle matched the Tormek diagram. This "sharpening" turned into a lengthy reshaping project. A wiser plan would have been to draw the square line and set the skew angle to just a little closer to the recommended angle. After several sharpenings, I would have gradually matched the angle. A markedcollar with the third setting left blank initally would have tipped me off.

I believe our thoughts on any Tormek model except the T8 are often clouded by considerations which may not be relevant to sharpeners of typical kitchen knives.

The home cook, the target market for the T1, probably has more than the recommendd three "must have" knives. A dozen is probably more accurate, especially if the cook is somewhat of a knife aficionado. These knives generally fit into the categories served by the T1. With reasonable care, the 600 grit diamond wheel will keep all of them sharp.

If the home cook wantsto sharpen woodworking tools, he or she may already have a T4 or T8. (In Rob's case, he is a longtime T7 user.) Or, probably more typically, the home cook may have no interest in woodworking.

For the T2, a commercial kitchen probably has many more knives. Again, these would fall into categories within the scope of the T2. Very fewcommercial kitchens have a need to sharpen anything except kitchen cutlery.

Pocket knives were mentioned. I will have to double check that later this week. I rarely sharpen my pocket knives. My gut feeling is that readjusting the knife jig side to side will easily take care of any pocket knife issues.

Tormek has done xtensive field testing with its products. I suspect these issues will disappear aftertwenty or thirty knives are sharpened.

Ken

I think it is fair to say that an experienced sharpener would be getting excellent results sharpening typical kitchen knives with any of the Tormek models.

Ken

In this online class, starting around 23:00, Wolfgang explains Tormek's position on this.

https://www.youtube.com/live/zPfckZXyW6Y?si=9wEE7eUQp2p97FZF

Ken

John,

As you (and I) are the ones who enjoy sharpening knives, would that be such a bad thing?

Ken

John,
A suggestion- my wife is an excellent cook. I am not. She does the cooking; I maintain the knives and do the chopping. This efficient division of labor provides us with tasty meals. It also gives me hands on feedback about our knives.
Ken

Herman,

Thanks for posting. I have always appreciated your mixture of an experienced college physics teacher and practical home shop workshopper.

John,

In the absence of a T1, the T2 makes a good stand in. It costs more; however, it has interchangeable diamond wheels.

I have wondered if the composite honing wheel could be used as a "stone grader" by using it first dry and then moistened.

Ken

Rich,
I remember the link you posted. My favorite was the photo of the Tormek with a digital control panel posted on the forum years ago by Grepper.

John,

As a fellow leftie, I feel your pain. I reground a santoku knife to left handed by making it single bevel ground on the right side.

Ken