The T1. Should I get one?

[Rob]

Morning all from across the pond. Hi Herman, nice to hear you're still grabbing a square and a saw every now and then. That's more or less my level of use today too. That will remain until I reach the luxury of retirement. The Holy Grail!!

I remember your jig, no wonder you wouldn't consider a T1. I on the other hand am still possessed of the opinion that "he who dies with the most tools, wins" 😎

Also my workshop is a fair stroll from my kitchen and I don't have a wonder jig.

Right, gotta go..  work calls. Have a lovely day chaps and never forget, Robert is your Mothers brother!

[Ken S]

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

[Elden]

Rob,
  Good to hear from you and that you are doing well! Thanks for inquiring. I'm doing well. Have been staying busy with other things such as gardening, etc. Haven't used the Tormek for quite sometime. Have done a fair amount of chainsaw chain sharpening but that has slackened  off since my son got out of the tree service buisness.

Ken,
  Thanks for the message alert! It's a good thing that I had the password recorded as I didn't remember it.

Elden

[Ken S]

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

Ken

[Rob]

Rob,
  Good to hear from you and that you are doing well! Thanks for inquiring. I'm doing well. Have been staying busy with other things such as gardening, etc. Haven't used the Tormek for quite sometime. Have done a fair amount of chainsaw chain sharpening but that has slackened  off since my son got out of the tree service buisness.

Ken,
  Thanks for the message alert! It's a good thing that I had the password recorded as I didn't remember it.

Elden

Hi Mate

Dam good to hear from you too. Crikey, at this rate, Jeff Farris will poke his head round the digital door any minute now 😂.

I too spend a fair time in the garden Elden and built a greenhouse 2 years ago which I absolutely love. I also have a wood burning stove so regularly sharpen my chainsaw blades too. In fact just last October I treated myself to the Stihl MS 550 which is the fuel injected model. My word that thing is an animal, especially with a 20" bar. So much power and a doddle to start. I've long had the Oregon sharpening tool for chains and I will buy an Alaskan mill once my kids are at University. I can't wait to mill my own lumbar. I think underneath it all I'm a frustrated horticulture lumberjack!  The two things I like doing the most are gardening and cutting logs!

[Herman Trivilino]

Herman,

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

Thanks, Ken. I don't know if I ever told you this. I think I recall correctly that as a youngster you were able to haunt the stockrooms of Edmund Scientific. I hope you realize what a special experience that was. Physics instructors have always held Edmund Scientific in the highest regard. Always providing quality equipment at fair prices. Their Astroscan teflecting telescope was an especially good contribution to the collection of equipment that any good teaching laboratory should have. That's a telescope we could lend to students with little fear of damage. I suspect you could drop it out of a moving vehicle on a country road and it wouldn't suffer any significant damage.

My apologies for hijacking this thread.

[Herman Trivilino]

Rob,
  Good to hear from you and that you are doing well! Thanks for inquiring. I'm doing well. Have been staying busy with other things such as gardening, etc. Haven't used the Tormek for quite sometime. Have done a fair amount of chainsaw chain sharpening but that has slackened  off since my son got out of the tree service buisness.

Ken,
  Thanks for the message alert! It's a good thing that I had the password recorded as I didn't remember it.

Elden

Hi Elden. Good to know you are still around. Get that old Tormek out and freshen up the edges on your gardening tools. Even the lowly shovels and hoes benefit from a fresh edge. Roots are always getting in the way!

[Ken S]

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

[Rob]

Brilliant Ken. I'm so glad you kept the item your Father made. That's a lovely memory.

I'm liking the direction of this thread

[Herman Trivilino]

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.

If I was ever aware of that aspect of their history I've long ago forgotten it. It's no wonder that they grew into today's highly-respected scientific supply house. In recent decades a lot of scientific supply houses have fallen into disrepair. Fallout from the beginnings of the digital age. Most of them just ain't what they used to be.

[Ken S]

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