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 overview of the perfect knife sharpeners. There are as some ways to sharpen an edge as there are methods to pores and skin a cat, however few provide the mixture of versatility, precision, and — oddly sufficient — ASMR as a Tormek. 

The Tormek T-4 Bushcraft, particularly, presents the most effective compromises between velocity, quiet, cleanliness, and constancy available on the market. Tormek additionally presents no scarcity of jigs for each scenario — with the bushcraft version particularly together with one for sharpening axes — making it notably pleasant for individuals who would possibly lack a gradual hand, however do have a little bit of counter house.

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

Briefly: For the overwhelming majority of blades, the Tormek T-4 presents precision sharpening that’s sooner, quieter, cheaper, and extra constant than the overwhelming majority of handbook and electrical sharpeners alike. Nonetheless, with just a few newer sharpening programs providing simply as a lot versatility for a whole lot much less, the T-4’s worth in the end comes all the way down to how apt it’s for the blades you’ve gotten.

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

Tormek T-4 Bushcraft Sharpener: Assessment

What Makes the T-4 Completely different?

Tormek is understood for its water-cooled, electrical, rotary whetstone programs. 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 metallic 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 a substitute of excessive RPMs and coarse abrasives, Tormek’s leverage sluggish velocity and tougher, finer abrasives — usually whetstones or diamond-plated metal wheels. 

As a substitute 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 facet of the trough, and that swarf turns into extremely straightforward 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 almost each sort of blade beneath the solar, you possibly can dial in no matter angle you wish to inside fractions of a level and get to work — a minimum of, theoretically.

Crux, Issues, 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 with out a steep studying curve. 

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

Whereas matching the prevailing angle is straightforward sufficient, deciding on a special one is the place issues get complicated. Sharpening on a wheel, as a substitute of a flat floor, does include some peculiarities. The most important one is determining what angle you’re grinding at.

Tormek does have instruments that you should use 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 individuals would possibly fear that sharpening with a wheel offers you a weaker, concave edge. In apply, 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

After I moved into the barracks of my new wildland firefighting station and was capable of give the 30-odd abused knives in our kitchen the perfect 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 by means of a number of belts on my Work Sharp.

Hauling it to a few 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 burden of a watermelon, the T-4, whereas no nice burden, is way from probably the most moveable system in my shed.

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

My Depraved Edge Gen 4: Almost 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 regulate it from 220 to 1,000 grit. With out swapping something, I might 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 rapidly become 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 in style handbook angle-guided sharpeners. Nonetheless, it’s noticeably slower with the extraordinarily onerous steels discovered in lots of high-end pocketknives, akin to S90V and M390. 

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

Then there are diamond stones: They aren’t ceaselessly, 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 Tremendous or Additional Tremendous wheels alone are sufficient. Nonetheless, for individuals who additionally sharpen plenty of onerous metal, or restore badly broken edges (lawnmower blades, abused axes, and many others.), the Coarse wheel turns into a necessity. 

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

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

The Hit Listing — Blades That Struggled

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

• Japanese cutlery: The T-4 places incredible edges on Japanese cutlery, but it surely forces a alternative. Most Japanese cutlery is both single bevel (floor on one facet) or asymmetrically floor (at completely different angles on completely 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 widespread with most handbook clamping sharpeners. It may deal with lengthy, curvy blades, but it surely’s not splendid. On lengthy, upswept blades, I typically 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 device that wishes to supply concave ones alongside an extended, recurved blade. 
• Hairdressing tools: I virtually stay outdoor — 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 choose for hairdressing tools. True, you possibly can maintain the top of clippers in opposition to the facet of Tormek’s Additional Tremendous Diamond Wheel to the touch them up, but it surely’s awkward and unideal. Ditto for shears. 

Slicing Conclusions: Tormek T-4 Bushcraft Sharpener

In a market completely loaded with costly sharpening programs, the inquiries to ask all the time boil all the way 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 “principal factor” that you must dedicate a number of grand and a complete bench to a consummately skilled beast just like the T-8 … this sharpener might be for you. 

There are various sharpening programs within the T-4’s $500-600 worth bracket. Few handbook ones might sharpen as many knives as quick and effectively because the T-4. Few powered ones might 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 needs to the touch up their mower blades and shears themselves, the T-4 is incredible 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 rapidly. Even so, the T-4 does so much to justify its worth with a mixture of beastly efficiency, first rate portability, glorious cleanliness, incredible construct and edge high quality, and — maybe that is simply me — a sound that’s music to my ears.