Highland Woodworking Blog

Our Tormek wet grinding system continues to draw accolades from independent rating services. Most recently Wood Magazine rated the Tormek T-7 its “Best Buy” in woodworking wet sharpening systems. In this case the honor carries special distinction, for despite its premium price tag, the Tormek sharpener was still the Editors’ first choice for greatest value in relation to its dollar cost. In the words of the Wood Magazine Editors:

“Price often indicates quality, and we certainly found that to be true in wet sharpeners. Tormek’s heavy-duty T-7 proved impossible to stall, no matter how hard we pressed on the tool during sharpening; none of the lower-priced units even came close. Its tool-holding system (tool rest and holders) fit together like hand in glove and gave us dead-on bevels and square ends with little fuss. And the stone wore much slower than less-expensive models we tried. If you sharpen hand tools or knives at least once a week, the versatile T-7 is the sharpener for your shop.“

In judging the Tormek’s outstanding performance, the key word has always been repeatability. With the Tormek, the woodworking tool is guided while secured in a dedicated jig, allowing you to accurately remove only a tiny fraction of the steel during each sharpening. This not only saves valuable time, but also allows your woodworking edge tool to last many years longer since it grows only minutely shorter with each successive sharpening.
The Tormek enables you to tune your woodworking tool exactly to your needs. Complicated shapes such as fingernail turning gouges, spoon carving gouges and oval skew chisels with radiused edges are often cause for consternation among woodworkers. With the Tormek, these tools are easily ground for optimum edge geometry, after which the blade can be honed to a precisely sharpened edge. After the shape has first been created, that edge can then be resharpened in a matter of seconds whenever necessary.
The Tormek’s water-cooled slow-speed grindstone works in harmony with the physical laws that preserve the integrity of the woodworking tool’s steel. The edge is prevented from overheating and thus avoids losing any of its inherent hardness.
The Tormek’s water-lubricated grindstone works in tandem with the leather honing wheel in the same exacting manner as a woodworker would approach traditional benchstone sharpening, except in this case the Tormek’s motorized function speeds the sharpening process considerably. After the tool has first been initially shaped and generally sharpened, the woodworker then impregnates the leather wheel with fine honing compound which allows him to further polish the edge to razor sharpness.
Operating the Tormek wet grinder at low speed allows one exquisite control over the entire sharpening process, and further avoids the creation of sparks, which allows the machine to be safely used even in areas at high risk of fire. The wasted steel particles are deposited into the Tormek’s water trough along with particles abraded from its grinding wheel, thus preventing the formation of an unpleasant cloud of grinding dust as the machine goes about its work.
Highland Woodworking has been selling the Tormek Sharpener to satisfied woodworkers for almost two decades. We have yet to find a faster, more efficient or more reliable system to serve the needs of our customers.