Friday, January 26, 2007

Tormek...

Hi Folks
Do any of you have a Tormek? I must admit I think they are very overpriced, but by Golly, they sure do work. And easily. I've always wanted to buy the planer knife jig but the cost (£108!!!) is rather steep, especially as I sold my second kidney to afford the grinder........;)
So, whilst at a Mate's workshop I noticed his Tormek and asked the question. Yes, says he, I do. Needless to say, I rode home with the jig in my car. What a decent chap he is :)
I set the Tormek up last night and had a go with my "spare" set of blades. I have two sets, the thoery being one set is sharp, in the machine, the other is blunt and sent off to the sharpeners. Off course, the second set just sit on the shelf. And the set in the machine make pretty patterns on any timber I machine.......;)
Five minutes later one set of shiny sharp blades and one very impressed Philly. What a great jig!!! I was so impressed I took the set out of the jointer and fitted the sharp ones. And then sharpened the second set. Easy!!
Now, I'm not saying you should run out and buy a planer knife jig for your Tormek. But if you (or a buddy) have a Tormek why not pool your resources and buy a jig between two or three of you. It makes the purchase price much softer and the jig is darn handy. And it works!!!
Just think, razor sharp planer knives, all the time...........
Have a good weekend,
Phily

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Phil--all the Tormek jigs I have or have used work as described.

The planer blade jig saved me a lot of outsource money and even made me a beer or two when a few woodworkers in the area would pop in to have their knives sharpened.

I don't know about there, here it is 1-2 dollars and inch of length to have a service do it. Let's see, three sets of knives on two machines being sharpened every month...adds up.

Splitting the cost is a good idea.

Take care, Mike

Philly said...

Glad you agree, Mike. It was such a simple jig to use - guess that makes it worth the money. I couldn't find a straight-forward way to do it. The sight of me attempting to do it with waterstones would of had you crying...;)
Cheers
Phil

rookster said...

Though the thought of the sight of you attempting it with waterstones had me laughing... Thanks again for starting this conversation: I never would have considered a Tormek. Now it is on the "wait and see" list...

Philly said...

Rob
It is a great system as the jigs take care of the angles. You can accurately sharpen to the same angle time after time, and never worry about bluing your blades because the water keeps it cool.
Expensive but it works!
Best regards
Philly