Tormek 2000

[CanoeBoy]

Gots me a question, and I know this place will give me the best answer found on the net 


I purchased an older Tormek 2000 at an auction for $60 bucks.  Runs good, true, and has plenty of life on the wheel still.  I do not have any of the accessories for the grinder, and the tool rest bar thingy is mounted on the top back of the machine.  Looking on amazon these jigs and upgrades are not cheap.

Before I start buying all the jigs and stuff I would want for turning tools I would like to hear some opinions from people that have used or are familiar with the system for turning tools.  I presently have a 1 hp baldor grinder ($60 garage sale gloat), and Worksharp 2000 ($32 Homedepot debacle).  How well do you like the Tormek, advantages, cons, ease of use, ect... 

At some point I would like to get a CBN wheel  for my grinder, so I'm trying to decide where the money would best be spent.  The frugal side of me sez stop buying crap, but the man side of sez buy stuff now while I'm still working.

Thanks,

Mike

[Del Hilburn]

I have a Tormek, a Worksharp, a grinder, and many different types of stones
I love the Tormek for putting the best edge on a blade that can be done
It takes a bit of setup time but it does a great job
I have most of the jigs that they sell and have used most of them
I think the only jig I have not used yet is the planer blade holder

For quick sharpening of chisels, the Worksharp is fast and easy

I use the grinder to reshape tools 

I use the stones to sharpen very small tools like router bits

If I could only have one system, it would be the Tormek system

[fredhargis]

I also have a Tormek, an 8" dry grinder and a Worksharp. For turning tools I find the WS to be of little use. I know some guys have figured out how to use them that way, but I haven't. The Tormek puts an edge on most turning tools that is to be envied. But it's slow, does take some setup, and the right jigs. But buying those jigs isn't a waste of money. I bought another tool rest clamp  (like this, but I didn't get the adjustable plate that's holding it...put mine on some wooden blocks.) and use the Tormek jigs on the dry grinder. o my dry grinder is set up with the Wolverine on one side, and the Tormek rest on the other. You seem to have bought the original model (as is mine) and you can put one of the clamps on it and have the tool rest set up on either side. Good buy on it, BTW. One caution: you might see used Jet brand jigs show up for sale; I'd resist buying those, they are no where the quality of the Tormek jigs. The Jet grinder is better (IMHO) but the Tormek jigs rock! Check e bay and watch S&S for used Tormek jigs, they show up at good prices.

[robo hippy]

I have had a Tormek for years, and only use it for kitchen knives which I sharpen free hand. I wore out the grey wheel in short order, and bought their black wheel which holds up a lot better. With the grey wheel, you also got a 'grade' stick/bar/stone where you could dress the wheel with one side, and change the grit to much finer with the other side. Seemed like every time I tried to grade the wheel, there were always patches that would still be coarse. It works well enough for general sharpening, but not good if you have to do any shaping of your tools. 

There are CBN wheels for them now, and I still have one tiny grinder with a standard grey wheel, but all the rest are CBN. They  cost more money to start, but you get far more back in quality since they seem to be impossible to wear out, they never change size, and they come spin and bubble balanced. 

As for sharpness, I use 80 and 180 grit for any roughing and for a lot of finish cutting. For fine finish cuts in difficult pieces of wood, I use 600 or 1000 grit CBN wheels. They do have a sharper edge which is fine for finish cuts, but doesn't last for heavy roughing.

robo hippy

[Wdcrvr]

I have a Tormek 2000 purchased in 2005 and still running well with original wheel and leather stropping accessory.  I also have a slow speed grinder ... upgraded the wheels to two 180 grit CBN wheels a couple of years ago -- sweet.  Got my 1-1/2 inch wide, square edge wheels from D-Way tools ... the 1-1/2 inch width wheels offer plenty of width for sharpening.  Lastly I have a sequence of Shapton glass water sharpening stones that I use for chisel and plane iron sharpening.

My thoughts on your "used" Tormek 2000 is to get some info from the Tormek users' forum regarding checking out its condition (bearings, shaft corrosion, etc) before even considering purchasing Tormek sharpening jigs.    (http://www.tormek.com/forum/index.php)   The folks there offer helpful advice.  Note that there have been issues with shaft corrosion on the Tormek 2000s ... you should take your shaft out and give it a good look.  Replacement SS shaft is available along with replacement shaft bushings.  You can figure out what else you need to get a functional Tormek 2000 by exploring the Tormek users' site.    

I do wood lathe turning, wood carving, as well as hand planing and general wood chisel work ... so my sharpening / honing needs are for those hobbies. 

All of my lathe turning sharpening is done on my slow speed dry bench grinder ... I have Robo Hippy's "Robo Rest" angle jig on one side and I have the Tormek Bench Mount on the other side (Fred H gave you a link for that in his post).  I have the Tormek jig for spindle and bowl gouges and I use that with the Tormek Bench Mount on my slow speed grinder -- slick and fast and very repeatable.  I use the Robo Rest on the other side of the grinder for my scrapers and parting tools -- slick and fast and very repeatable.  The tool edge that I get with the slow speed grinder and the afore mentioned jigs is quite good for my wood turning.  The Tormek 2000 is much to slow for turning tools especially when I just want to freshen up the tool edge before a final cut (set up, add water, etc) so I don't use it for my lathe HSS turning tools. 

I use my Tormek accessory leather strop wheels quite a bit to strop my carving tools ... I do this by hand and do not use any jigs on the Tormek.  I seem to be able to hold the woodcarving tools sufficiently well to avoid dubbing the tool edges.  So my Tormek leather wheels and the very slow Tormek RPM are a good solution for my carving needs. 

I also use my Tormek standard 250 mm stone wheel and the Tormek jigs to make initial bevels on my carbon steel chisels and plane blades ... however, I keep the stone graded to 250 grit and do not regrade up to 1000.  I prefer to go to my glass sharpening stones with water from 500 to 1000 to 4000 and end at 8000 grit for these carbon steel chisels and blades. 

So each sharpening system has a role for my wood hobby needs.  But the dry grinder is the only sharpening system that I use for my HSS lathe tools.  In lieu of investing in a Tormek Bench mount and special Tormek jig for lathe spindles and bowl gouges, you could also go with something like the Wolverine grinding jig ... run the cost numbers and decide what is most cost effective.   


Regards,

Tom

[CanoeBoy]

Thanks for all the replies.  Great info.  I never gave a thought to the condition of my Tormek, but it appears to run pretty good.  A little, and I mean a little, side to side wobble on the wheel, but nothing I would have really thrown red flags up to.  Robo's website has some great information on CBN wheels is a very good read. 

If I went the way of 2 wheels I'm not sure of the grit to get.  I'm in my infancy stage of turning, and I really don't know how much reshaping I would be doing.  Right now I'm just trying to mimic the factory grind, and trying not to screw up a shape I can work will.

As far as CBN wheels go is it beneficial to get one with the radius on the side.  Is brand "A" equal to brand "B" for a novice turner.  On Woodturners Wonders site 2 wheels can be had for 250 bucks compared to the average of 190 for one.  

Thanks,

Mike