The Grilling Grand-Dad has kindly offered to write a guest post on the Tormek T-1 Knife Sharpener. He has been sharpening The Grilling Dad’s knives for 10+ years, and is the best person to put the Tormek T-1 Knife Sharpener through its paces. Let’s see what he thinks!
I like to cook.
I like to wood carve.
I like to hunt.
I like to fish.
All of these things require sharp knives. Over the years I have purchased and/or used many different knife sharpeners trying to find the “Holy Grail” of knife sharpeners. A sharpener that is easy to use, and that puts a sharp edge on my knives, whether it’s for kitchen use or in the field is invaluable.
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Knife Bevels
Knives themselves cause a bit of a problem due to the fact that manufacturers put different bevels on the blades. Woodcarving knives have a 10° bevel for each side of the blade. Cutco kitchen knives or Henkel kitchen knives have a 15° bevel. Kitchen Aid kitchen knives have a 20° bevel. Hunting knives range from 22° to 25°. Holding those angles while you sharpen is not the easiest things to do. The bevel angle is easy to set on the Tormek and makes sharpening a no brainer.
Wheels
Speaking of no brainer, this device arrives fully assembled. Once it’s out, there are two moving parts on this sharpening tool:
a) a diamond wheel
b) a honing wheel
All things being equal, once you get your knife sharpened, the honing wheel is what you would use the most. The honing wheel reshapes the edge of the knife to remove any folded over pieces and returns the edge to its proper shape. The diamond wheel will create the sharpened point on the end of the knife.
Pinch Clip
As the device comes there is a plastic pinch clip which holds the knife at the proper angle. This pinch clip limits the height of the knife that you can sharpen to 2.5″, while the length is not restricted. However, the plastic pinch clip can be removed, allowing even cleavers or other large knives to be sharpened. There is no such restriction on the honing wheel.
Magnet
A nice feature of the Tormek T-1 is the magnet near the diamond wheel. This captures the metal shavings from the sharpening process and makes for easy clean up.
Summary
This is the best knife sharpener I have used, so far in life, and I’m 72 years old! Is it the Holy Grail…? I don’t know, but if not, then it is close! Is it worth the money – $300+? I say, “yes”. However, that is a lot of money, but the Tormek T-1 does a great job and let’s the average person correctly sharpen their knives. I might even let Adam try it!
