Alan Holtham Review: Tormek T-4

English woodturner and journalist Alan Holtham takes a closer look at the Tormek T-4 water cooled sharpening machine.

Tormek T-4: Getting Started with Alan Holtham

Patent: To see all patents visit tormek.com/patents.
Dimensions: Width 9 7⁄16" (240 mm), Depth 8 1⁄16" (205 mm), Height 10¼" (260 mm).
Weight: Shipping weight 21.6 lbs (9,8 kg), Machine only 17.6 lbs (8,0 kg).
Grindstone: Tormek Original Grindstone, Aluminium oxide, ∅ 200×40 mm (8"×1 5/8") 120 rpm, torque 8.4 Nm
Leather Honing Wheel: ∅ 145×26 mm (5¾"×1")
Main Shaft: Stainless steel main shaft and stone hardware. EzyLock in composite.
Housing: Zinc cast top, Impact resistant ABS plastic
Motor: Industrial single phase, 120 W (input) 115 V, 60 Hz. Duty 30 min/hour, Maintenance free. Silent running, 54 dB. 10,000 hour life
Parts breakdown: Tormek T-4 (EN)
Warranty: 8-year warranty, 5 years + 3 years, upon registration at tormek.com.

*When used for commercial, industrial or educational purpose the T-4 warranty is 2 years.

Made In Sweden

WM-200 AngleMaster

HB-10 Tormek Handbook

SP-650 Stone Grader

PA-70 Honing Compound

Material Safety Data Sheet - Oil for Honing Wheel EN

Tormek T-4: Getting Started with Alan Holtham
Learn how to get started with your Tormek T-4 sharpening system. Alan Holtham, English woodturner and journalist, guide you through the set ups and features along with a few useful tips.

Tormek T-4 Original

The Tormek T-4 is a high quality and compact sharpening machine, ideal for home and hobby work as well as professional use. You get access to the extensive Tormek jig system and can sharpen all the common edge tools with highest precision.

Water cooled sharpening

Tormek T-4 is an enhancement of the T-3 model taking the precision and stability to a completely new level. Vital functions like the motor and the main shaft are mounted in the zinc cast top, which also includes integrated sleeves for the Universal Support. This advanced design ensures an unbeatable precision for the Universal Support, which control all jigs and accessories.

Grinding wheel for both coarse and fine sharpening

Like the larger Tormek models, the T-4 is equipped with the Tormek Original Grindstone. It is optimized to combine efficient steel removal, smooth surface finish and a long life. With the included Stone Grader, you can alter the stone surface from 220 grit to about a 1000 grit surface, giving you two different sharpening qualities in one stone.

Sharpen chisels, knives, scissors, carving tools and more

The T-4 is well suited for sharpening chisels, knives, scissors, and smaller tools like carving tools. It also works with turning tools and drill bits. For sharpening planer blade knives (with SVH-320) and moulding knives (with SVP-80) we recommend one of the larger Tormek machine models. Note that a few shapes of gouges cannot be honed with the SVD-186 R Gouge Jig on the leather honing wheel due to the compact size of the Tormek T-4. These tools can be honed freehand instead.

The motor is rated for 30-minutes continuous use at a time. That is usually more than enough for the house need, but if you sharpen more we advise you to take a look at Tormek T-8 which can run continuously.

Included with the Tormek T-4:

The SP-650 Stone Grader to change the grit of your stone.
The WM-200 AngleMaster to measure the edge angle.
The PA-70 Honing Compound to use with the Leather Honing Wheel.
The EM-15 Edge Marker to color the bevel when setting the edge angle.
The HB-10 Tormek Handbook on sharpening.

Configure the Tormek T-4 with your choice of grinding jigs according to the tools that you are to sharpen (sold separately).

Tormek T-4 details

With the sleeves for the Universal Support now being cast in the zinc top, together with the new Tormek stadium shaped design of the holes (patent pending) – the precision has been improved by 300 % compared to T-3.

The handle makes the machine easy to move and position. So you are not tempted to make the mistake and try to lift the machine with the Universal Support.