TORMEK VS WEN STONE comparison SD 480p

Tormeks SG 250 stone now costs $220. While WEN's cost $35.
Is Tormeks actually better or is it just more expensive?

[@jjsoundguy]

PG, Maybe you do this but... to roll the edge of the stone wheel I use the side of the grader stone. I mean the side where the two grits are glued together. You have perfect grader surface to dull the stone wheel edge. Pressing the precious flat of the grader on the edge of the stone will always leave the grader's large flat surface gouged. Who cares about the side of the grader, so press it against the sharp edge of the stone. My grader sides are all gouged up but this is the best use of that forgotten side. Thanks for the videos. John

[@Ezzell_]

Nice to see you back.......dont stop.

[@fakeitormakeit83]

Mr PG i greatly appreciate your videos and the knowledge and experience you share! I wish i wouldve found you sooner! I just recieved my WEN and i will be making a video on my chanel about it and will definitely be leaving links to your chanel cause you definitely deserve the views !

[@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER]

I like! Send me a link. I’m not finding your channel

[@fakeitormakeit83]

@@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER kzbin.info/door/RRyc9dyZLevvxW8Avubl6Q I hope to do the wen video for nexg week ill keep you posted!

[@mwrcrft]

Thanks for the update.

[@nickkuttian4143]

Thank you for your knowledge, I am starting my own business and being able to get an idea of how what and why i need to do what I need to do is invaluable to me

[@davebaron6739]

Nice vid👍 As a professional chef I'd say to avoid hard stemmy rosemary and also fresh lemongrass can be problematic.... better for German steel knife or equivalent.

[@karlgutenburg9176]

thanks for the knowledge P G. wish you had more video's posted up, to share all that excess knowledge you got.

[@thomask837]

I had this problem with a Tormek T4 stone. It was brand new and was more of an egg than a circle. Boy was i annoyed

[@CabinetFramingUK]

Hey PG, just a thought, I remember a metal worker teaching me when cutting steel to not hold an angle grinder just in one position and cutting a line in the steel as this would cause "uneven wear in the disc". Instead he advised constantly moving the disc up and down along the length of the line to be cut until it went through. Maybe because you contact the stone at the exact same point for every knife, it's causing uneven wear somehow? I know it's not simple to just move positions because obviously you need to maintain an angle, but on the WEN, maybe changing the direction of the spin every other knife and turning the machine around will help? That way you maintain your angle but the stone isn't getting hit in the same spot and direction all the time

[@timothylarson3583]

I didn’t have the out of round issues you had with the tormek stone. I don’t use mine as often as you do, so that may have something to it, or perhaps that I’m using a t-8, and not a Wen. I suspect internal balance may have something to do with it. I just got a CBN wheel, and a compound so I can use it more or less dry. I have a lot of experience with CBN and HSS tools. Very curious to see how this setup works after a couple of months.

[@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER]

I think the uneven wear presents itself due to the heavy pressure I use and the number of knives with out redressing /trueing. What cbn do you have? Are the edges rounded or square?

[@MrTELarson]

@@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER I pretty much use the same pressure I use when I'm using water stones. I find that heavy pressure doesn't make much difference in the time it takes to put on a keen edge. With 8" slow speed grinders (1750 rpm), you can ruin stuff by using too much pressure. The Tormek is more forgiving since the speed is much slower. I'd much rather use a coarse wheel and keep the pressure light, let the machine and tools do the work. Having both machines available really speeds up the process.

[@grantlauinger8663]

I enjoy your video's. A brick and mortar sharpening company near me uses all T-8s and T-4s for sharpening knives. When they wear down the stone on the T8 they switch it to the T4 to get more life out of it. I think they are doing pretty high volume. They claim it saves them a lot of money. Have you ever tried the SB-250 stone? Though Tormek doesn't claim it, I've heard many say it cuts faster on the lower grit. I think it wears just as fast.

[@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER]

The T-8 stones "SG250" is a 2" wide stone that is about 1 3/4" where the drive shaft holds it. The T-4 has a 1 1/2" wide wheel. I have not looked closely but I'd be very surprised if the water tray can hold a 2" stone. perhaps they made custom water trays to fit it? I'm sure Tormek designers would design in features that keep using old t-8 wheels on T-4's.

[@grantlauinger8663]

The SB-250 I mentioned is the Blackstone, not the original stone used, but for HS and exotic alloy steels. I've heard people say they use it exclusively, because it cuts faster. Just wondered if you had tried it. The sharpener who uses the 250 stones on the T3/4 says there are still enough threads to use the wider wheel on the T3 or T4 without modification. They lift the tray with sanding blocks to get the stone in the water. He says they go through 25 stones a year. With the T3/4 they can take a 250 stone almost down to the label. He's the link if you are interested. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eKXdgp-sbbVghs0

[@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER]

@@grantlauinger8663 Thanks for sending the channel link. I'm impressed with his shop. Out here in Los Angeles no sharpeners have store fronts $$$. Well I think 2 actually. But their business is selling, sharpening second. BLACK STONE! lets talk. yes I loved using them until they started to go out of round very fast. It was ridiculous , They weren't bad and all the sudden I had 3 in a row wear uneven incredibly fast. I even marked the low side of the stone and then used it again and always found the low side was always the same. I sent a video to Tormek in Sweden and after 2 weeks I got a reply that stated it must be my fault cuz they only make perfect stuff. It can't be their process. The US distributer laffed when I told them what they said and replied "that's what they always say" The black stones shed grit very very fast. Knives sharpen very fast. The dark color lets you see the burr easier. But I stopped using them.

[@grantlauinger8663]

Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. Too bad about the Blackstones, funny story though. There are quite a few store fronts in the Chicagoland area (relatively). I want to start a side business sharpening, however there are 3 or four store front businesses within 15 minutes from me. So we'll see how viable of an option that really is. Good thing is they are all older than me.

[@GlennLaguna]

@@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER your last sentence here in your first response to Grant above. Did you mean to say…”I’m sure, Tormek designer’s would design in features that would keep from using old t-8 wheels on t-4’s”. I think they would, that seems would be their M.O..

[@ryanhorton2340]

Can you show the mod for that you made to incorporate the tormek tool rest to the wen. I own a wen and really would like to do the same to mine. Thanks Ryan

[@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER]

Unless you have a dead Tormek here is how I would do it. Buy the tool rest mount that has both holes in one part. Its the forward facing mount. Attach it to the wen with a beefy piece of angle iron. I used a scrap of 2" X 2" X 1/8" aluminum. Cut and grind off what wen gave you and then you work out the position drill two holes to let the toolset pass thru the wen case. plenty of room inside the wen box. P.S. if I didn't have the standard Tormek toolset I would get the extended one Tormek sells.

[@MrHackfu]

Welcome back!

[@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER]

thx. Its been busy this year. Many of my favorite KZbinrs have disappeared as well.

[@DougAgee]

Yeah, Glad you are still adding content.

[@Dcale]

How did you mount the tormek diamond tool on the wen? I thought they wouldn’t cut the whole way across

[@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER]

They fit. Just add a spacer to fill the indent at the nut

[@rontaylor698]

I’m wondering how you got the Tormek grader to work with the wen ?

[@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER]

Position it and tighten the thumb screw very tight. I never had it move.

[@rontaylor698]

Could you just use the grinding stone more often on the web to keep it from smoothing out?

[@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER]

The grit I prefer is quite course. Courser than what the grading stone gives.

[@jesperwall839]

Usually the stone gets out of wack when you leave it standing still wet.

[@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER]

I use mine several times a week and are dry between.

[@philm.5153]

Where did you purchase the wen stone? I haven't been able to find them.

[@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER]

It came with my wen grinder. You can buy from wen.com or Amazon

[@noquedaniuno]

I'm in the fence about buying a WEN machine, but i have something in my mind for longer that i want to admit... Can i use 2 stones in the same machine? I dont mind doing my stropping by hand(im used to) and I'm thinking than having one stone for each grid would be easier and more efficient to use. Is it possible?

[@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER]

You would need to make a custom fitting for the second wheel. Someone makes such a fitting for tormek. I find the wheels are to close for some knives. Wens are so cheap consider just getting two. $140 on Amazon

[@workshop_oselok_kyiv]

I already wrote to you that you can buy sbn for cheaper, they will cost you + -200 with delivery. I have my own workshop (before the war) and I also try to minimize the cost of sharpening. Now I work on two sbn 160 and 400, and for polishing I use, still a native tormek stone, but I rubbed it with a 1000 grid diamond plate. Actually, the base stone has already been sharpened + - 700 knives, and it is now 230.1 mm. but I repeat, I managed to work only 2 months before the war, and only this month some old clients returned. buy yourself a full set of sbn and forget about these problems.

[@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER]

I tried a cbn once and it was too fine a grit. 220? I’d like to try a 160. As you noticed they smooth out fast when new as the loud nuggets get knocked off. So going extra course would be better for me. The edges can be a problem if square as well. I’ve seen wheels fail when edges get to much wear. What brand are you using?

[@workshop_oselok_kyiv]

@@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER if you have an email, I can send you the contacts of the factory. yes, right angles on the edges are not suitable for all types of knives, but there are the same circles with round edges and they cost the same. Now I am collecting money for 80 grid. because 160 does not process fast enough and you have to first raise the angle by 3-5 * and only then go to the target sharpening angle. in addition, as I noticed, it’s better to wash wd-40 after work, otherwise metal particles clog into its grate and it corrodes there, you also can’t press hard on the circle during work and process non-hardened steels. and ideally, it seems to me, you need to have 4 numbers with round edges and 4 numbers with straight edges. the total cost will be + -1700, but this is taking into account express delivery, and if by sea it will be much cheaper.

[@joseguevara8291]

what upgrades have you done to your wen?

[@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER]

I moved the tool rest mounts and added water flow diverters. This was due to setting up on various locations that aren’t flat. The water that flows off knives sometimes runs the wrong way. I did the same with my tormek.

[@-hossamelghol2]

احنا عايزين نشتري ماكينه من دي انا من مصر

[@FREEHAND.WETGRINDER]

I don’t sell them. I bought mine from Amazon. Good luck