Tormek Grinding Systems

Hello, I was wondering if anyone on this forum has used any of the Tormek grinding systems to sharpen/restore/hone their straight razor. I have been a custom furniture maker my whole life and the shop I started out in had a Tormek system for everyone to use to sharpen/hone their chisels and planer knives and I recall the edge left by the grinder was excellent. I can not recall what stones were installed on the machine but I am quite sure they were not the finest available and by the looks of it they now make several fine stones including a Japanese water stone. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Seeing as how a razor is honed with spine & edge both on the stone I can't imagine anyone using a Tormek. Angles would be wrong & metal removal too quick. Useful for grinding back stabilisers but not for honing.

Nope. I wouldn't try it.

The angle of the edge has to be set by keeping both the edge and the spine on the stone. With the tormek being a round stone, it would be a pain to set up the support thingies to maintain a good angle. And even then it removes metal way too fast for something as fine as a razor. It would be kind of like trimming your hair with a lawnmower.

Perhaps it could be useful for structural work like grinding a hollow? That's where I can see it used.

Not for honing, that's for sure, but I think Bruno is correct about it being useful for hollow grinding.

I have a good friend in Sweden who sends me razors to hone and restore, and a significant amount of them have had some rather fine grinding done to the hollows - a totally different look to belt grinding, very even and with a sort of satin look. I wondered about how it was achieved for ages until I saw the natural waterstone wheels that these machines can take. The razors that made me suspect a machine like this was being used were all older quarter hollows. I use a set of wheels on my grinder from 4" diameter down to 2" for work on half to full hollows, so I can appreciate how the two versions of Tormek with 8" and 10" wheels would be useful for these old razors. The round japanese waterstone wheels I have seen for them go up to around 4k grit but are quite pricey.

I imagine it takes a great deal of finesse to pull it off though - the wheels go fast enough to exaggerate the slightest tremor and a small slip takes a big bite out of the spine - according to the examples that I have seen. Water-cooling has to be a plus, though!

Regards,
Neil

Yeah that seems to be the general consensus so far. As I remember though the model we had in the shop went fairly slow as the grinding wheel went through a trough of water. I also was considering applying the various pastes used for honing to multiple leather wheels that they have available.

I've used the sides of a Tormek to do some bevel setting on a wedge, but the Tormeks are clearly not built for that purpose and it's not practical at all.
I've also used the "normal" side of a Tormek to do grinding (on a convex wedge). That worked out alright.

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Originally Posted by Bruno

And even then it removes metal way too fast for something as fine as a razor.

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Compared to what ? I don't find Tormek's fast at all.

I have one,are very slow,I think 500 RPM with a 10 in. dia. stone.
I see no application for straights,is actually a useless tool for the hobbyest.
I use mine maybe once every couple yrs for chisels and planer blades.

The closest edge to being shavable using power tools is a factory edge when you buy a brand new razor from the factory. Even then they are using vertical shaft mounted stones and the stones are finer than what you can get from the hardware store (expensive as well). Still a factory edge isn't near as fine as you can get by hand.

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Originally Posted by decraew

Compared to what ? I don't find Tormek's fast at all.

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Compared to how a razor is usually honed.

Only real advantage to a Tormek over some other tools is if you buy all the accessories you can keep constant blade angle for regrinding knives, plane blades and axe heads. No real use for a razor unless you are making a new one from a piece of steel. That and the fact Tormeks work wet, its most important feature, so you don't have to worry about overheating the blade and losing temper. If I was going to spend that much money, I would spring for a used variable speed Burr King or something similar. Lot more things you can do with a machine like that than a Tormek. Variable speed lets you work without overheating and without all the mess of having grungy water splashing all over the place like with a Tormek.

But for razors, power machines of any type are a no no - even as just a buffer at slow speed. To much chance of damaging an expensive razor. Of course, some of the skilled guys here have used them, mostly on less expensive razors for restoration, but if your new to razors, don't even consider power equipment.