Tormek Sharpeners

[Fibonacci]

Anyone know of a vendor that sells the T3 for less than the typical $380?

I am ready to spend money on a real sharpener and it seems odd that no one seems to discount it. My Rockler coupons are not good for it.

 

[plantman]

Take a look at the Grizzly 8" Grinder/Sharpener. Looks almost the same as the Tormek T3, but a lot cheaper. $119.95 on sale for $89.95. Has the same wheels and tool rest as the Tormek. They also have a Work Sharp 2000 and 3000 for $109.95 and $199.95. I have seen these at our local home building centers, and they look well built. Web site. Grizzly.com Jim S

 

[Fibonacci]

I was looking at the Grizzly for the last 6 months or so, but they are getting increasingly bad reviews as far as wheel stability. It is a lot cheaper, but I am concerned about the quality on them.

I have a friend with a worksharp and it in good for flat irons, but I have never been able to get a good gouge edge on it. It also doesn't seem to get my flat irons as sharp as the wet grinders.

I am open to the possibility of a knock off wet grinder, but I think I want to go with one of the variants of them.

 

[kruzzer]

You can't beat a Tormek... you'll only buy it once.

 

[earl smith]

I bought a Jet for the same money as the T-3 on line and it has all the goodies as the T-7. All the Tormek attachments work fine on the Jet. I love it.
Earl S

 

[Fibonacci]

Have you had any issues with the Jet? The reviews seem to be very mixed on them.

The two big issues seem to be that the guide rails are not parallel to the wheel and the guide rail is slightly smaller than the one on the Tormek, so the jigs wobble a bit.

 

[PedroDelgado]

Take a look at this video and decide if you still want one from Grizzly. I bought their 18"x47" lathe a while back and had to return it because the VFD kept exploding on me. This was the lathe before they made the current changes; it looks like they changed motors. I am not sure about the current VFD.

Grizzly T10097 8" Grinder / Sharpener wobble - YouTube

 

[Fibonacci]

The grizzly 8" wet grinders seem to be universally disliked. The 10" version get much better, but still mixed reviews.

My inclination is Jet or Tormek due to being generally better brands. Given the $20 price difference, the Tormek makes the best sense between the two. The problem is that I can get the 10" Grizzly and the Tormek turning tool jigs for less than just the Jet or Tormek sharpener.

The risk with the Grizzly is that you don't get a good one on the first try. They seem VERY hit or miss.

First world problems indeed.

 

[yort81]

I have the Tormek T7 .... the pain of buying it only happens once.... but WOW!!! You will never regret it... I just purchased the the tormek dbs 22 drill bit sharpener kit ...... It made my Dill Doctor 500x seem like a kids toy... (I gave the DD to my neighbor a couple of weeks ago)

Get the Tormek ~ you will never regret it!

 

[Wildman]

Might try doing a search in tools thread on Craig's list or other media for used T-3 or T-7.

 

[n7blw]

Jet with Tormek jigs

Many folks buy a Jet 10 inch machine and use the very good Tormek jigs on them. I'd prolly do just that if I hadn't bought a Tormek about 1993 for ~$400. It's not the machine to use for changing the profile of turning tools, but it's hard to beat for sharpening just about any woodworking tools edge. I refuse to destroy my gouges on a dry grinder.

 

[jfoh]

I have two Tormeks 2000. Both bought off EBay. One had two stones with it and the other had a ton of attachments. I have just about every attachment made and three different stone grits to sharpen with.

Both cost less than one new one and were in very good condition. First trick is to be patient and wait until one falls into your price range. Second trick is to watch multiple searches. I bought the second one for a hundred bucks because it was misspelled when listed. It is Tormek not Tormex or Tormec. Third trick is to use a bidding service like ESnipe so you can just name your price and forget about raising your bid over and over until you pay too much or miss the end of auction. If your bid is too low you just wait until another one comes along.

 

[DENO]

Had my 10 years then replaced stone with CBN (stone ok just dont like mess of wet) WOW what an upgrade