# Tormek T-2 pro kitchen knife sharpener - first impressions



## Gastrophysics (Aug 22, 2017)

This is a beautiful machine. Works almost out of the box, only a coupe of things need to be attached. The sharpening wheel is diamond (dont know the grit) and the honing wheel is some kind of rubber. The gadget is fool proof, I could use it confidetly directly after unpacking. It took me maybe half an hour to fix all our ~30 knives and make them razor sharp again. It is easy to set the sharpening angle, I used 20 deg for the european knives, 15 for the ordinary Globals and 12 deg for the slicing/fileing Globals. If I got this right (and remember setting for future sharpening sessions) I can keep the knives sharp while removing a minimal amount of steel.









It is maybe king of silly to get a 600 USD machine for an amateurs foodie kitchen but I have never really mastered the waterstones - all edges become olive shaped after a while. I guess that an expert can create better edges with waterstones but if food and cooking is the priority, the T-2 is a fantastic option - except for the price that is..

If this thing is as sturdy as it appears to be, it should be great for most professional kitchens.


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## Affinity Culinary (Nov 21, 2018)

Hello Gastrophysics!

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the Tormek T2!

We are the exclusive importer of this product into the United States, so I wanted to chime in with an answer: The Diamond Wheel that comes standard is 600 grit. A coarser wheel (320 grit) is available for a more aggressive grind that'll make quicker work of cutting angle changes and repairing damaged blades.

We like to think that even if you have mastered hand sharpening, the T2 will help get the task done more quickly without subjecting knives to unnecessary wear. Please reach out if you have any thoughts, questions, or feedback!

- Affinity Culinary
[email protected] | (800) 624-2027


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## rick alan (Nov 15, 2012)

My thin-edged, fine-grained steel Japanese knives are whimpering in their horror at the mention of a 600 grit diamond wheel for sharpening. My own eyes hurt and my soul cries out in pain.


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## chrislehrer (Oct 9, 2008)

600 is fine for repairs, though. I did check: 600US is about 600JIS -- it's sort of where the scales meet.

I don't use less than 800JIS unless I'm making repairs, myself.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Why not just a regular T-4 Tormek? Mine works great on my knives, the water cooled slow moving stone is easy on the steel. 

I paid CDN$500.00 for m T-4 last year,


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## rick alan (Nov 15, 2012)

This can be had for $120 and would probably be just fine for the home cook. The aluminum oxide wheel is probably less aggressive than a 600 diamond, and you can get silicon carbide wheels cheap for serious roughing of the terribly thick-edged German knives. Add a couple/ few more stropping wheels for grades of diamond paste from .5 microns (shaving sharp) and up.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Gri...24rqXQ5KekiBtTPJ3cy3JPm47dQy5OeYaArrmEALw_wcB


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

As Grizzly products are hard to come by in Canada, I’ve never tried out this model. It appears to be a copy of the Tormek, particularly in regards to the jigs and attachments. 

One thing with the Tormek is the stone wheel itself, it comes with a “grader”, a small stone identical to a combination stone. By rubbing the coarse side of this stone on a the wheel, you”convert” the wheel to aprox 220 grit,by rubbing the “fine” side, you convert to aprox 1000 grit. An optional 4000 grit wheel is available but is pricey.

My experience with diamond pastes was brief: While fairly cheap, they are messy, and very easy to cross contaminate with other grits.


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## rick alan (Nov 15, 2012)

The Tormek is obviously an industrial grade machine, but with moderate use the Grizly should last and perform about as well.

Yes alu-oxide wheels can be affected with such a dressing stone, and anyone can always buy one. The wheel actually acts much finer than 220 grit naturally I believe, and the rough side of the dressing stone will probably see the most use. Just using the wheel will smooth it out naturally.

You do have to be careful about cross contamination, but it's not so hard. That is why you have dedicated stropping wheels, you wash your hands before handling a finer grit, and you keep each wheel in it's own "marked" plastic bag or container. So with these considerations stropping wheels are cheap and offer far more versatility, so no need for Tormeks non-standard and pricey 4K grit wheel. I'll add that Tormek's diamond wheels probably to not hold up that well, if used for serious roughing anyways. Silicon carbide wheels are a much better choice here.

Never tried it myself but I think you should be able to move from the smooth 220 wheel to a 3 micron (8K grit actual, about 6K grit effective) without problem.


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## Bobby2shots (Apr 22, 2019)

Gastrophysics said:


> This is a beautiful machine. Works almost out of the box, only a coupe of things need to be attached. The sharpening wheel is diamond (dont know the grit) and the honing wheel is some kind of rubber. The gadget is fool proof, I could use it confidetly directly after unpacking. It took me maybe half an hour to fix all our ~30 knives and make them razor sharp again. It is easy to set the sharpening angle, I used 20 deg for the european knives, 15 for the ordinary Globals and 12 deg for the slicing/fileing Globals. If I got this right (and remember setting for future sharpening sessions) I can keep the knives sharp while removing a minimal amount of steel.
> View attachment 65296
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> ...


Great buy, and great long-term investment if you use it anywhere near to its' full potential.(jigs) I bought my Tormek Super-Grind 2000 roughly 25 years ago, and it's still like new. If I'm not mistaken, the machine was originally designed for a 25,000 hour service life. The bullet-proof DC motor is very silent, with superb torque,,, you simply can't bog this thing down.

I originally bought mine for my woodworking shop, primarily for sharpening my beloved Lie-Nielson chisels, hand-plane blades,etc, and I've also sharpened scissors as well as kitchen pocket knives, garden shears, etc. The fact that it produces a hollow grind, is really not an issue with its' large-radius 10" wheel, and for some flat-grind applications, you can use the side of the wheel.Water-cooled and slow grind,,,, what's not to like?

Enjoy.

FWIW, I also use my 220/1k,4k,and 8k waterstones, and 400/1200 Atoma plates depending on the particular application, and i have a Chef'sChoice 1520 which is also a surprisingly good machine. Depends on the required goal.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Hi Bobby2shots,

Yeah, but the Tormek model in this thread is not a 10”, nor is it water cooled. Basically, what it is, is a Tormek t-4 with a dry 600 grit diamond wheel, aimed at the culinary world.

CBN wheels are becoming very popular, and cheap too. They(cbn wheels) have earned the respect of a lot of hand tool users and turners. Yet Tormek seems to have embraced the diamond wheels. I wonder if Tormek knows that many hand tool users have removed their Waterstone wheels from their machines and replaced them with cbn wheels?


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