Do I need a Tormek?

[Holbren]

I just picked up a bunch of tools from a guy getting out of the hobby. Of that was a Delta Midi Lathe which is my first and I will keep.

I also have a Tormek with the woodturners accessory pack. Both retail for $750 and I am wondering if I really need the Tormek or just sell it and buy some accessories for the lathe and put the rest in the bank. I don't use any hand planes to speak of and an occassional chisel.

With the time I have available, which isn't much, I would just assume have someone sharpen my tools if needed.

What do you serious turners think? Is a Tormek a must have? How do you sharpen your turning tools?

Thanks

[leehljp]

Naww! You don't need it. You can donate it to . . . May I suggest my favorite charity?

A good sharpening system is only viable if you are using the tools that need sharpening regularly. Try out the lathe. If you get hooked, you WILL need the sharp tools. I sharpen my chisels every 4 or 5 pens that I make. I can tell an immediate difference too. Depending on the kind of wood you use, the edges can dull quickly. From my own reading and observations, most turners sharpen their tools much more often than is normal for most other tools.

There are several ways to sharpen and keep tools sharp, but from what I read and hear, the Tormak is one of the best and easiest overall to use.

These are my opinions, but I will still admit that I am basically a wood turning newbie.

[RayintheUK]

I am wondering if I really need the Tormek .... I don't use any hand planes to speak of and an occassional chisel.

With the time I have available, which isn't much, I would just assume have someone sharpen my tools if needed.

Is a Tormek a must have? How do you sharpen your turning tools?

I've had a Tormek for quite a while now. You'll hear all sorts of opinions from others about cheaper machines and methods, but I've never heard of anyone who's had a Tormek and traded it down. Mine sits right alongside my lathe and I can sharpen an edge on a bowl gouge, skew or parting tool and be back turning within a minute. I wouldn't be without it, especially for my turning tools - and if you've got the jigs too, you're all set.

Frequent sharpening keeps turning sweet - you can feel when the edge is going and if you can do something about it there and then, you will. That means sharper gouges all the time - not just sharpened periodically, or because you've got to seek assistance. Turning tools are like knives - far more dangerous to use when dull.

Forget about having "someone sharpen your tools if needed," that won't fly at all.

Firstly, they'll go dull right in the middle of something you're really involved with and the edge will need touching up NOW. Secondly, you'll want to have them sharpened the way YOU want, not how someone else thinks you want, or believes that's how you should have them.

Sound weird? OK, but wait until you get into turning, then it'll make sense.

When it does make sense, I'd hate for you to wish then that you had a better sharpening system, because you decided to sell the Tormek now.

Ray.

[Holbren]

Thanks Ray, that is good feedback. I guess I was looking at it like a saw blade where you can see it starts to get dull and have time to finish the job and send it off if you have to. Never considered roughing out a blank and the tool just not working anymore or getting yanked out of my hand.

[Pappy]

Everyone that has a Tormk swears by it. Everyone that doesn't, and turns or uses planes and chisels, dreams. Keep it!

[Kurt in NW GA]

I know several turners who don't use their tormek for turning. I think what makes or breaks it, is whether you have a good system for resetting your sharpening jigs for all of your tools. If you repeat your settings very closely, you only need one or two passes at the 1000 grit setting to refresh the edge. If you are off with your jig, you'll have to remove more material and it'll take much longer than it needs to to get a new edge.

Spend some time up-front making jigs for tool protrusion and for setting the distance between the stone and the tool rest. See the section on IR (Instant Replication) in the manual. It may not be in some of the older manuals, but you can download the entire manual from tormek's home page (as well as watch videos for each jig)!

Good luck and don't cut yourself!!!

[Tom Hintz]

I fall heavily into the Keep It ranks. I have the Tormek and after having it in the shop would not give it up.
I spent a ton of money (more than the Tormek itself) trying to get around making that investment but found nothing that compares. I also use it for sharpening just about everything in my shop. My hand planes, for one, have never worked better.

Keep it, love it, don't stop to wait on someone else to sharpen stuff!

[RayintheUK]

I know several turners who don't use their tormek for turning. I think what makes or breaks it, is whether you have a good system for resetting your sharpening jigs for all of your tools.

Now that I've had my Tormek for a while, I've found that I leave my bowl gouge jig on the front arm all the time. When an edge needs touching up, I slide the gouge into the jig, then offer the edge up to the wheel. With a good light to one side, you can accurately line up the bevel, then clamp it into the jig, instead of clamping first then adjusting the arm. A couple of sweeps across the wheel and the job's done.

Not quite how it's done in the manual, but very fast and very effective. As with most sharpening, little and often is definitely the way for turning tools.

Ray.

[Holbren]

Thanks all for the input. Sounds like it's worth keeping around and I can now see how useful it will be when sharpening is needed in the middle of a job.