Tormek T-4 Bushcraft Knife Sharpener Assessment

There’s a cause why, even amongst heavy hitters, the Tormek T-4 was a favourite in our evaluate of one of the best knife sharpeners. There are as some ways to sharpen an edge as there are methods to pores and skin a cat, however few supply the mix of versatility, precision, and — oddly sufficient — ASMR as a Tormek. 

The Tormek T-4 Bushcraft, particularly, provides probably the greatest compromises between velocity, quiet, cleanliness, and constancy available on the market. Tormek additionally provides no scarcity of jigs for each scenario — with the bushcraft version particularly together with one for sharpening axes — making it significantly pleasant for individuals who may lack a gradual hand, however do have a little bit of counter area.

The flip aspect of a system that has an ideal setup for practically each blade: Issues come ample and included. Setup time and equipment value further. However when put to the take a look at this summer time in opposition to a fleet of ageing wildland firefighting instruments (and a not-small variety of different blades), the T-4 was decidedly the software for the job.

In brief: For the overwhelming majority of blades, the Tormek T-4 provides precision sharpening that’s sooner, quieter, cheaper, and extra constant than the overwhelming majority of handbook and electrical sharpeners alike. Nonetheless, with a number of newer sharpening methods providing simply as a lot versatility for lots of much less, the T-4’s worth in the end comes right down to how apt it’s for the blades you may have.

To see how the T-4 grinds with one of the best of them, take a look at GearJunkie’s Finest Knife Sharpeners Purchaser’s Information.

Tormek T-4 Bushcraft Sharpener: Assessment

What Makes the T-4 Completely different?

Tormek is thought for its water-cooled, electrical, rotary whetstone methods. What does that imply? Distinction conventional bench grinders: They spin dry, coarse abrasives at excessive velocity. This comes with loads of downsides. They spit out steel mud and sparks, run loud, and don’t precisely lend themselves to a pointy edge. 

Tormek’s stock-in-trade, as a substitute, is the sluggish journey. As an alternative of excessive RPMs and coarse abrasives, Tormek’s leverage sluggish velocity and tougher, finer abrasives — sometimes whetstones or diamond-plated metal wheels. 

As an alternative of kicking out sparks and swarf (metal particulates) being kicked out into the air, particulates get lapped up by the movie of water protecting the stone, after which deposited within the trough that the underside third of the wheel sits in. Connect a magnet on both aspect of the trough, and that swarf turns into extremely simple to gather and dump. 

And whereas there’s a time, place, and functionality for freehand sharpening, the promoting level of a Tormek is the jigs. With a jig for securing and sharpening practically each kind of blade below the solar, you possibly can dial in no matter angle you wish to inside fractions of a level and get to work — not less than, theoretically.

Crux, Considerations, and Calculations

The Tormek T-4, with its 8-inch diameter wheel, is the center floor between Tormek’s fast and simple kitchen sharpeners just like the T-1 and the purely professional-grade 10-inch behemoth, the T-8. That doesn’t imply it comes and not using a steep studying curve. 

The setup is multistep however easy for many blades — supplied you may have the workspace. Merely plug it in, load up no matter wheels you’re utilizing, fill the trough, put your blade or software in the fitting jig, set your angle, and get to grinding. 

Whereas matching the prevailing angle is easy sufficient, choosing a unique one is the place issues get advanced. Sharpening on a wheel, as a substitute of a flat floor, does include some peculiarities. The largest one is determining what angle you’re grinding at.

Tormek does have instruments that you should utilize to set the angle. Nonetheless, it may be inconsistent, and I discovered it simpler to take a measurement of how far the sting stands out of the jig and plug it into an angle calculator.

Some folks may fear that sharpening with a wheel provides you a weaker, concave edge. In follow, for almost all of blades, that’s a nonissue. On an 8-inch wheel, the diploma of concavity in your common 2-3mm edge is round a hundredth of a millimeter. Merely put, it’s so small you’ll nearly by no means discover.

Nostril to the Grindstone

Once I moved into the barracks of my new wildland firefighting station and was in a position to give the 30-odd abused knives in our kitchen one of the best edges they’d ever sported, the true effectivity of the T-4 was plain.

The satisfaction of nigh-on ASMR produced by the T-4, nonetheless, is tougher to quantify — however damned satisfying. Ditto for not having to soak, clear, and relevel a number of whetstones or chew via a number of belts on my Work Sharp.

Hauling it to a number of the bars, lounges, and kitchens I used to work at to sharpen their knives on web site was rather less so. Granted, on the dimension of a shoebox and the load of a watermelon, the T-4, whereas no nice burden, is way from essentially the most moveable system in my shed.

It’s, nonetheless, quieter, cleaner, and faster than my alternate options. My Work Sharp Elite Knife Sharpening Answer: too loud and messy. Metallic mud may simply contaminate meals prep surfaces.

My Depraved Edge Gen 4: Practically as giant, however missing velocity, particularly for lengthy blades that may require readjustment within the vice. My Edge Professional Apex: Smaller, extra handy, however a contact sluggish for touching up a dozen knives earlier than the kitchen opened.

With the overwhelming majority of blades, the fundamental inventory stone is a workhorse. Utilizing the included grading stone, you possibly can modify it from 220 to 1,000 grit. With out swapping something, I may take an edge from chipped to razor-sharp in minutes: Simply affix the blade within the jig, set an angle, grade the stone, and begin drawing the size of the blade alongside the stone.

Mo Issues, Mo Equipment

One wheel and $550 shortly became an over $1,600 ensemble, together with two diamond wheels, two whetstone wheels, two further equipment for the rail, and … let me clarify. I don’t have an issue; I swear.

Tormek’s inventory SG-200 Grindstone is a workhorse and nonetheless laps standard handbook angle-guided sharpeners. Nonetheless, it’s noticeably slower with the extraordinarily laborious steels discovered in lots of high-end pocketknives, equivalent to S90V and M390. 

For these in search of finer, mirror-polished edges, you’ll need the $250-330 SJ-200 Japanese Waterstone. The title may not be catchy, however the edges it grinds completely are. 

Then there are diamond stones: They aren’t perpetually, however they do grind quick for fairly a very long time, with out the wheel altering dimension. Even for somebody sharpening a excessive quantity of kitchen or common pocketknives, the Positive or Further Positive wheels alone are sufficient. Nonetheless, for individuals who additionally sharpen lots of laborious metal, or restore badly broken edges (lawnmower blades, abused axes, and so forth.), the Coarse wheel turns into a necessity. 

Throw in an MB-102 Multi Base, and also you’ll additionally be capable of grind on the aspect of the diamond wheel. For edges with a excessive grind, equivalent to chisels, single-bevel, and asymmetrically floor Japanese cutlery, this can be a boon. It gives a wider contact space and ensures a superbly flat edge. Add the Software Relaxation, and freehanding instruments like double-bit axes or convex edges usually turns into simpler too. 

Will the common edge obsessive must drop a grand and a half to show an environment friendly sharper into an entire 40-pound-plus workstation? By no means. Would I must? Two phrases: Enterprise. Expense.

The Hit Listing — Blades That Struggled

The T-4 can sharpen dozens of knives of a greater diversity of shapes, sizes, and edge angles extra shortly than most handbook sharpeners. It’ll grind a sharper edge extra taciturnly and mess-free than practically every other powered sharpener that doesn’t have “Tormek” within the title. That stated, each sharpening system has a subset of blades it doesn’t play as nicely with. 

• Japanese cutlery: The T-4 places implausible edges on Japanese cutlery, however it forces a selection. Most Japanese cutlery is both single bevel (floor on one aspect) or asymmetrically floor (at totally different angles on totally different sides). With these acute, high-on-one-side grinds, matching the angle produced a weaker, noticeably concave edge. There’s a straightforward workaround: Put a barely steeper “microbevel” on the very apex of the sting. I did this with my favourite gyuto, and it’s by no means lower higher. 
• Curvy, flat, and convex: That is one the T-4 has in frequent with most handbook clamping sharpeners. It may possibly deal with lengthy, curvy blades, however it’s not preferrred. On lengthy, upswept blades, I usually needed to reposition the clamp to hit the complete curve. Khukuris, a private favourite blade model of mine, was a nightmare — combining the expertise of grinding a convex edge on a software that wishes to provide concave ones alongside an extended, recurved blade. 
• Hairdressing tools: I virtually reside outside — with unruly melanated hair. So, buying and selling cuts for sharpening is par for the course. Even so, the T-4 wouldn’t be my first decide for hairdressing tools. True, you possibly can maintain the pinnacle of clippers in opposition to the aspect of Tormek’s Further Positive Diamond Wheel to the touch them up, however it’s awkward and unideal. Ditto for shears. 

Reducing Conclusions: Tormek T-4 Bushcraft Sharpener

In a market completely loaded with costly sharpening methods, the inquiries to ask all the time boil right down to, “Who is that this for?” and “How good is the worth?”

Easy: Would you like or want a exact, versatile workhorse for sharpening tools — however sharpening tools isn’t a lot your “essential factor” that that you must commit a number of grand and a whole bench to a consummately skilled beast just like the T-8 … this sharpener might be for you. 

There are lots of sharpening methods within the T-4’s $500-600 value bracket. Few handbook ones may sharpen as many knives as quick and effectively because the T-4. Few powered ones may accomplish that as quietly, with out spewing mud and sparks.

For the cook dinner sharpening a bunch of knives in a business kitchen earlier than opening, the particular person sharpening blades on the farmers market, and the landscaper who desires to the touch up their mower blades and shears themselves, the T-4 is implausible out of the field. 

Woodworkers, Japanese cutlery aficionados, restorationists, and those that sharpen in bulk — particularly high-hardness steels or badly broken edges — would profit from grabbing a diamond wheel or two. The perfectionist will completely need the 4,000-grit waterstone. 

The equipment add up shortly. Even so, the T-4 does rather a lot to justify its value with a mix of beastly efficiency, respectable portability, glorious cleanliness, implausible construct and edge high quality, and — maybe that is simply me — a sound that’s music to my ears.