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Sharpening Set Up
In June 2017, I attended a carving workshop with professional wood carver Mike Painter.
I realised that I wasn’t getting my tools sharp enough, and was interested to learn about what equipment / machinery he used to sharpen his tools.
Mike was using a basic bench grinder fitted with a rubberised grinding wheel and a stitched buffing mop, which was coated with honing paste. I have since learned that the set-up is sold as a package by Ashley Isles -http://ashleyiles.co.uk/tool_sharpening.html
The grinder was modified to rotate away from the user, and I understand that the rubberised wheel is impregnated with Aluminium Oxide. (Top Picture).
My basic logic was that if this is good enough for a professional then, why wouldn’t it be good enough for me?
I already had a small bench grinder, and so I purchased the mop, the paste and the impregnated rubber wheel and copied Mike’s set up. (Second Picture).
From the outset of my involvement in the hobby I had seen adverts for both the Robert Sorbey Pro-edge and the Tormek sharpening systems.
Having used the modified bench grinder for several months, I still felt that I wasn’t getting the angles right and so I did some research on line, and asked other people what they used. Most said they had a Tormek and one wood turner advised that “once you get a Tormek, you will never need another sharpening system”. Over time, I persuaded myself that if I was to develop the quality of my work I really needed to get a Tormek. It did seem like a lot of money just to sharpen my tools, and I had established that there are several cheaper options available from the mainstream manufacturers, (Record, Scheppach, Triton, Draper etc) but I had leaned over the years, that if I was going to invest in tools of any sort, I should buy the best that I could afford.
I was planning a trip to the Harrogate woodworking show, and so I decided to treat myself to an early Christmas present! Having done my research about the on-line cost of the Tormek, I set off to Harrogate, looking to compare the various products and hoping to benefit from a “show discount” on the items I wanted.
In the end, I decided upon the Tormek system, and found that the best prices were actually those available on line.
So I am now the owner of a new Tormek T4 and a range of associated jigs.
Update - August 2020. My experience of using the Tormek is a bit mixed. The wet stone grinding wheel is a great idea and works well. The leather honing wheel is ok, and the additional shaped honing wheels (for the inside of gouges) which are an optional extra, are excellent. However the various jigs are a waste of money. They may be ok for very deep gouges or flutters, but the truth is that I have had them now for almost two years and I haven't used them in earnest. I tend to use the wet stone wheel on the Tormek for grinding the basic shape, by eye. I then use the buffing wheel on the bench grinder for honing the outside bevel and the shaped leather wheels on the Tormek for the inside bevel.