the ancestor Tormek

[Ken S]

For you history buffs, in the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes episode, "A Scandal in Bohemia", there is a scene with a traveling knife sharpener using a hand cranked wet grinder reminiscent of those which came before the Tormek.  Fascinating!

Ken

[Rob]

I say Watson, this damnable skew blade is a very singular thing. By thunder Watson, he's graded the stone to 1000 grit, the game's afoot!

[mike40]

There was a stone wheel sharpener in a water trough at my grandparents farm in Minnesota. I lived there for a year during WWII in 1944/45. The wheel was in use a lot, mainly to sharpen the axe we used to chop firewood with. I can't remember if it was hand or treadle powered. It was a big stone, maybe 18" in diam. and white if I remember correctly.

[Rob]

I would love to have seen that

[jeffs55]

Many years ago, more than 40, I was at my aunts house and there was a giant stone wheel on an axle. There was a seat and two foot pedals that were extremely wobbly that were attached via levers and extensions to this wheel. I sat on the device and depressed first one and then the other pedal and it made the wheel turn. In my real early youth the size of the wheel seemed enormous. I was probably a very early teen or younger at this time and now am a fossil at age 57! My dad told me it was a knife sharpener. I mean the pedals had as much side movement as up and down. It was a wobbly thing and without practice would have been hard to "pedal". I wondered why you would run a knife blade over a rock but now I know! There was also a stand alone stone at my grandmothers which I was told was a wetrock (sic) now known to me as a whetrock. In those days I had no idea how to sharpen a blade. I even remember using an ordinary piece of concrete to abrade a knife edge. Wish those had been the "good ole days" but alas they were not. All this took place in southern Georgia in or around Vidalia. same place the world famous Vidalia onions come from now.

[Rob]

I find folks early memories of tools and improvised devices absolutely fascinating.  My dad was a real serious woodworker (though hobby not professional) and yet he built the majority of furniture in our family home...all with hand tools at first.

Then gradually...as some machine tools came into the reach of domestic budgets (black n decker over here for example that I think Dewalt ended up buying) he would start adding this and that to the collection of brace and bits plus animal glue crucibles :-)

Then one day I entered the family garage to find a piece of sports equipment and lo and behold...this funny looking table sat there with a wacking great slot down its middle.  Particle board top and those metal (grey) bolt together legs that were all the rage in the 70's (sort of like meccano for grown ups).

This I quickly discovered was a "table saw".  Dad had salvaged a broken washing machine motor and rigged up a series of belts and pulleys, bought a 10" saw blade and "Bob's your Uncle".

No fence, no guards, no lift or tilt mechanism.  Just a fixed height blade flying round with an unbraked washing machine motor poking out of a piece of chipboard.  He would clamp a piece of hand planed oak as the straight edge fence with a hand drawn measurement for whatever he was ripping.  Where there's a will there's a way :-)

He always sharpened on oil stones though...never saw a grinder or wheel of any kind in his universe.

[mike40]

My own experience has been the opposite from your father Rob. I started with all power tools and I have been levitating towards hand tools the past few years. I have to admit that I  did not want a motorized sharpening system. I've been pretty content hand sharpening, except for my turning tools, but arthritis and old age have been creeping up on me and so I looked into Tormek first because I knew from some older reviews that it was the best around. The further I went into it the more interested I became, then I found this forum with so many user fans that I became convinced. I was planning to buy a Tormek T7 in Sweden, where I could get a lower price, but I decided instead to buy one at my local woodworking tool store. They always treat me right and I will have someone I know to talk to if I run into any problems. So, I bought one today. I got some extra jigs too, the knife jig and small knife jig, and the scissors jig to start with. There are other jigs I want for carving tools and who knows, if I like it enough I might even consider the turning tools kit, but I have to wait until Christmas and birthdays for those as I have just about used up most of my goodwill reserve with the wife now. We did use about the same amount on some new trees today and she says that should go against the woodworking budget too, lol. I will try to post my early trial and tribulations if I can get out of the garden into the shop. So far all of my questions have been answered by searching the forum comments, but I'm sure I will need some guidance sooner or later (probably sooner). I feel more like a bonafide member of the forum now.

[Rob]

Oh...I've come over all tearful Mike :-)

Seriously though....great news...welcome to the club...you wont regret it (we wont let you).

When you get closer to considering the turning tools stuff...ping me because I can probably save you half the cost of the set by pointing out which individual jigs you can buy judiciously. The truth is I haven't needed the entire contents of the set so with hindsight would have bought the critical ones individually and saved a fair bit of money.

I also entirely agree with your choice to buy it locally.  There's nothing like the peace of mind induced knowing there's a guy down the road who can help you out in a tight spot.  Our experience on the forum is two fold in this regard:

Firstly...the thing is bomb proof and highly unlikely to go wrong (Tormek know this and hence can take the risk of a 7 year warranty). Secondly, after sales support and service from both the dealer network and Tormek themselves has been exemplary in the few cases we've witnessed here...truly excellent.  But I'm with you on the buying local idea...I do the same here....have my pet favourites and go back time after time because they know me.

Enjoy those pain free fingers...and keep posting progress :-)  Lastly Mike....expect a learning curve...there is one.....check back here if the niggles turn to frustration

[Herman Trivilino]

You won't regret your purchase once your life becomes embedded with sharp tools.  And I include the tools we use in places like the kitchen, too.

I hope you got the truing tool and stone grader.  And the SE-76?

[Rob]

Your neighbours will benefit too Mike....just wait and see :-)

[mike40]

Thanks all for the positive comments and offer of help with future jig purchases. I did get the standard T7 package with the diamond dressing jig and the square edged jig, etc. and I bought the extra jigs mentioned above. Now I am just hoping for a wet summer so I can try it out! It's raining today, but I still have to make two or three trips to our recycling center with a few trees we cut down yesterday. If I have time to give it a try, I will let you know how it went.

[Rob]

Mike...you're not taking this new obsession.......er hobby nearly seriously enough :-)

[mike40]

It comes with old age Rob, I've learned to curb my enthusiasm. I will post a photo of the maiden voyage later today, so wish me luck! To be honest I'm glad I didn't buy one of these machines when I first started woodworking 17 years ago. I would probably have ruined it. Apart from working on cars in my youth, I had almost no experience with woodworking tools, motorized or hand driven and even less with sharpening. I started with my lathe when I retired and then a bandsaw, and then a combination machine and then a..........................well, you get the idea. When I bought my combo machine it took me 3 months before I had tried out all the 5 functions. That said, I still have all the machines I've bought over the years and they still perform like new even though I have used them a lot. my biggest problem has been arranging all the stuff in my 228 sq. ft. workshop so everything can work optimally and still leave me enough room to move around freely.

[Rob]

 

[Herman Trivilino]

To be honest I'm glad I didn't buy one of these machines when I first started woodworking 17 years ago. I would probably have ruined it.

My professional woodworking experience is pretty limited to what true woodworkers would probably call butchery.  Learned roofing, cornice, framing, and trim, in that order.  Spent less than a decade making a living that way, doing in my mind it seems to make up a significant part of my past.

I've had my Tormek for over a decade and I haven't ruined it yet.