This is a complicated review! The Tormek is a great piece of machinery! It's super quick and does a good job, a real good job. I've gotten legendary sharpness from this machine! So let me start off saying this, I've been sleeping knives for 30 years. I have every system on the market and the Tormek rates among the best. However, you have to ask yourself what kind of sharpening are you doing. If you enjoy hand sharpening this isn't for you. This particular unit isn't for a dedicated business, it's definitely for home use. I would say it's better suited for larger knives white kitchen knives, combat knives that kind of thing. It will definitely put a razor edge very quickly on any knife you own and you can reprofile, sharpen and mirror any edge for most people can even set up their water stones. There definitely is a learning curve to this, it's expensive, and if you are seeking a mirrored edge The WaterStone is expensive to. With that said to make this review simple and not drawn out keep in mind that for a fraction of the price and less of a learning curve there are systems that would do the exact same thing just not as fast. In all honesty my Tormek collects dust. It's easier to run your kitchen knives on a paper wheel then go through the motions of a Tormek. Don't get me wrong I love this machine it would be better if you were using it for a business and it's better suited for an initial re-profile or for working tools such as woodworking. Another reason you may or might not want this is if you enjoy hand sharpening your knives. If you do this isn't the machine for you. Something like an edge pro well allow you to do the same exact thing with little risk of damaging your high-end knives. It may take longer but you would get the exact same results and more pride accomplishment. This Bushcraft unit in my opinion should strictly be used for outdoor equipment and tools such as axes, camp knives, machetes, anything else you'd use in the bush that would require sharp edge. Its limitation is the fact it requires power and cannot be easily carried. This is not something you can put in a backpack. This is a tabletop machine and not field serviceable. Read more
Truly amazing. I've been sharpening knives since I was a kid. My father is a classicaly trained Danish carpenter and he taught me old school sharpening techniques that are both effective and relaxing. Tormek has killed that. I've always been able to get a dull knife extremely sharp but often could take upwards of an hour or more. To get a practice run on the Tormek, I used a crappy ginsu type knife and within 15 minutes had it passing through paper like never before. Then all my mothers higher quality knives now have perfect bevels. Truly worth every penny. Read more
I like this a lot, but it takes a pretty big learning curve. There's a lot of 'feel' to it. The attachments are really expensive and after having done a lot of other searching, I think that one might get as good or better results from quality flat stones. I like the idea of a hollow grind, but this is not the only advantage I can think of. I think that the time it takes to get your blade really sharp is probably much less on this and I've tried sharpening with quality flat stones. With both ways, once you get your initial angle and edge to where you want it, it's easier to dial in for resharpening. I bought a second wheel to keep from having to re-surface every time I wanted to switch from 600 grit to 1,000. I recently bought an attachment for chisels, but it did not fit my thicker Japanese blade. At about a hundred dollars or more for each jig, this gets to be really expensive. Read more
It’s a solid piece of gear! Setup was pretty easy. Watched a few videos for techniques. Then went to town sharpening every tool or knife in sight! Kitchen knives are now razor blades. Highly effective at its purpose. Very spendy, but considering the cost to commercially sharpen knives, the system will pay for itself in little time! Very pleased thus far. Read more
Been using the T4 for about 6 months. Nice compact unit. Will accept all jigs that the T8 uses. Read more
A good friend of mine, who is a woodworker, bought a T7 (with every adapter available) years ago. I was extremely impressed with it's versatility, and the speed and accuracy with which it put an edge on nearly everything. I kept telling myself I would invest in one. I am a pretty good hand sharpener, but over the years I have lost my desire to spend time with stones and steel. I bought a really nice collection of German steel knives, and neglected their edge. So I decided to grab the T4. There is a learning curve, that's for sure. I have sharpened everything I can find with an edge. After a few attempts I got my work pocket knife sharp enough to easily shave with. I have all my nice kitchen knifes frighteningly sharp. I grabbed the scissors jig, and sharpened every scissor i could find. Contrary to multiple reviews, the scissors jig was easy to use for me. This seems like a lot to sharpen knives, but after investing in several hand sharpeners, Chefs Choice Trizor XV, and stones I feel like a fool. This does far more, so much better than any other system, automatic or manual, that I have tried. Next attempt, I am going to try to sharpen one of my Katana! Read more
Stepped up to this model for the time savings. This produces really good, sharp edges on your steel, but takes a bit to get used to using it. I would definitely recommend starting on some cheap junk knives to get the feel for it before you go sharpening your Damascus chef’s knife. It takes about 4-6 minutes (once set up and stone is wet) to produce hair popping edges on decent and high quality steel Read more
This takes time to learn and you're always learning better ways to sharpen. This is by far the best sharpener I've ever used. My only regret is that I didn't buy the bigger version. Make sure you buy the Japanese waterstone Read more
