WANTED: Tormek T-7

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Finatic

Finatic

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Oct 9, 2010
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Southington, CT 06489
I am hoping to find a good used Tormek T-7 sharpening system in the New England area. If you have one you want to sell please PM me. Thank You
Russ
 
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Thanks Ed, I know it's close in appearance but I think there are some significant differences. I may be wrong, but I am still trying to compare specs. Most likely the differences are in the motor and the wheel and probably the axle and bearings. Worth the difference? I don't know. Research is a learning curve of it's own. Again, thanks for your input and for the link to your earlier post. I found it very interesting and helpful.
R
 
Both are the same specs. There is a faceplate difference. Same wheel dimensions to. Grizzly has their own jigs but the tormek jigs will fit.

This is a very good example of premium price for the name and not a reflection of the item.
 
I know you asked for a Tormek ... I have a makita that is collecting dust if your are interested.
 

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Grizzly has the anniversary edition for $40 cheaper ($159). I'm not in my shop daily, so I couldn't justify paying $640 for sharpening (or the price of a used machine that I don't know how it's been treated). Anyhow, just thought I'd throw out there that Grizzly has the same machine mentioned above for $159.
 
I use the T10010 10" grizzly, I bought the tormek gouge gig for around $100. For skews I use the included gig that came with the grizzly. currently I do not have the flat table gig but I do use my 2x72" knife grinder for that.

These 2 images are bowl gouges that I have a 1/2" from craft supply and a 3/8" benjamin's bent.
 

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Ed, you got me thinking now about a grizzly and a premium wheel. I have an 8" wet grinder now, but the stone is soft. Northern copy of the tormek. This may work out at some point for a lot less money. Thanks for the advice.
R
 
I used the standard softer wheel but if you are using HSS you should get the black silicon wheel which is better for HSS steel. Both will work but you will wear down the original one faster.
 
One of the big differences between the tormek t-7 and the grizzly 10" is the quality of the stone. Not wanting to say anything bad about the grizzly stone, I'll just say that the tormek stones are really good.

The other thing you should check on the grizzly is the duty cycle. If you plan any serious sharpening sessions, this could be important to you. The T-7 can run for many hours straight with no issues. The tormek t-3 only has a 30 minute duty cycle. Running it longer than that risks ending up with a warped machine housing. The grizzly is a tormeck knock-off. Is the grizzly 10" built like the T-7 or the T-3 (or a T-0 :biggrin:)? Will it make any difference to you? If you spend a couple minutes sharpening a day it probably won't. If you have your turning club over and have 10 guys using the thing it might.

The standard Tormek stone (SG-250) will work fine on M2 HSS and carbon steel, but it does not stand up to the newer powder metal / cryo steels. It runs about $180.

The tormek black silicon wheel (SB-250) works great on every kind of steel I've used it on. Stuff that would quickly wear a groove in the standard wheel doesn't leave a mark on the black wheel. The black wheel also will supposedly touch up carbide tooling, but I've not tried that. It runs about $200. It's been money well spent for me.

Buying a T-7 and then buying the black wheel will give you the best sharpening solution (in my opinion anyway). But it's a pricey solution. If the grizzly machine meets your needs, then one of those with the tormek black wheel could be a much more economical, but comparable solution.

Ed
 
weighing need/use/economics/sage advice/etc, I have decided to go with the grizzly and the tormek black wheel. It seems to be the most economical way to get a decent sharpening system. Thanks for the advice and getting my mind to think in the right direction. It is so easy to forget what our real needs are and the advent of immediate gratification draws you in, ultimately making a purchase that is over the top. I can get the set up I need for a lot less $$$ than a base T-7 and thus spend a lot more money for exotic wood and kits of every description.
R
 
I just bought the stone diamond shaper (reshapes the stone back to flat) and the grader (changes the grit from coarse to fine). There is the master wood working jig set that's around $300 but included many things that you may not need. A good shaper, grader, approp jigs for whatever chisels you use is about all you need.
 
edstreet said:
I just bought the stone diamond shaper (reshapes the stone back to flat) and the grader (changes the grit from coarse to fine). There is the master wood working jig set that's around $300 but included many things that you may not need. A good shaper, grader, approp jigs for whatever chisels you use is about all you need.
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I agree on something to keep the stone in shape. I like the Tormek TT-50 truiing tool.

I stopped using the stone grader (sp-650) after upgrading to the Black Silicon stone. I think the black stone is harder than the grader because it quickly wore a big dent in my grader. I haven't noticed any degradation in the way my turning tools cut since I've stopped using the grader.

You will hear some people say "it takes too long to sharpen with the Tormek". The tormek type machines are sharpeners, not grinders. Sharpening takes less than 60 seconds. Removing metal (aka grinding / shaping) takes way longer. The key to using a tormek style machine to sharpen is to sharpen your existing tool shape and not change (intentionally or not) the shape of the tool each time you take it to the sharpening station. Buying or making something like the tormek turning tool setter (TTS-100) can really help. If you settle on tool shapes that don't require changing settings on the gouge jig, you will also be much faster (and happier) sharpening.

Ed
 
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