Tormek T1 Sharpening

Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I have a T4 that I inherited from my late FIL like 4 years ago.

It has all the same dust he had left, plus 4 additional years of dust once it found its way into my possession.
 
It's good for the back side (urasuki) of Japanese single bevel knives, or if you want to make some concave grind. Otherwise, it requires high precision maneuver to get you a flat or convex grind. For edge bevels, it's not any faster than whetstones (or your belt sander) as it takes some time to drink enough water, flatten, and set up the angle accessory.
 
If I sharpened TONS of chisels or planes I could see one being worth while. But I think they are expensive and slow.

Trying to fix major damage on a knife with one will take a lifetime.

For knives specifically I think a turntable style rotating whetstone is the way to go.
 
I have the T-8. Chip repair is pretty quick, I just increase the angle a lot. Takes a few minutes, not a lifetime ;) . Then go back to 17 for the edge. I prefer sharpening knives on whetstones but for woodworking tools and if I get like 20 larger soft steel knives, the Tormek is a good option to have. Sometimes clients prefer the idea of a water cooled rotating stone.
 
It's good for the back side (urasuki) of Japanese single bevel knives, or if you want to make some concave grind. Otherwise, it requires high precision maneuver to get you a flat or convex grind. For edge bevels, it's not any faster than whetstones (or your belt sander) as it takes some time to drink enough water, flatten, and set up the angle accessory.

Very true about setup times. But that is true for any system. The jig setup is key to the consistency and repeatability.

If one has the skill, nothing is more simple than freehand blade on stone.

But what one spends in setup time is saved in sharpening time.

People, myself included, tend to overcomplicate system sharpening. I mean it is not uncommon to hear people using 6+ different grits on a system to sharpen ONE KNIFE!

Has anyone ever heard of a freehand sharpening job that uses 6+ stones on one knife?!

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” - Abraham Lincoln

Yea, he never said that but it is still a valid perspective.
 
Both rotary tools with angle guides? 🤷‍♂️

At an abstract level, yes. T4/8 uses circulating water and you can pick your wheel material. There’s also a learning curve with maintaining angle/consistency from what I understand. T1 allows you to fix you angle, doesn’t use water and only has a diamond wheel.
 
Back
Top