"Lyn J. Mangiameli" wrote in message

I've seen twice now, this comment about Tormeks causing rust and a mess.
Neither you, nor Andrew who started this silliness appear to have ever
owned a Tormek. I have, and I've never had any problem with rust, nor
mess. Frankly, I find a dry grinder spewing abrasive particles and metal
dust in the air to generate far more mess than a Tormek.

T'was not my intent to malign the Tormek or any of the other wet stone
systems. I was simply repeating info I had received from an individual with
far greater experience than my own.

There are many approaches to sharpening, and many opinions, most of
which are held by persons who have had little experience with more than
one or two systems.

I have both high speed and low speed dry grinder systems. I will soon be
doing a comparative review of the Woodcut Tru-grind jig and the new
Kelton Sharpening jigs. I also have the Ellsworth jig. I have a Tormek
with all of its jigs. I have two verticle belt sanders (one of which is
mounted to the original Lee Valley Power Sharpening System). I have both
the new and old versions of the Lee Valley Power Sharpening System. I
also have the full range of nonpowered sharpening devices, including
waterstones, diamond stones, oilstones and ceramic stones. About the
only sharpening technique I have not explored (but hope to do so soon)
is the use of diamond slurries.

You have more invested in your sharpening systems/aids than many of us have
in everything we own related to turning. I have no argument with that, but
one point I made to Andrew is that the Tormek basic system is very costly
(roughly $390), and after adding the various jigs and aids one can rack up a
substantial bill, all for the purpose of accomplishing something that some
skilled individuals achieve freehand and inexpensively. To my way of
thinking, the Tormek is one of those luxury items that some choose to
purchase, but many simply cannot afford. There are less expensive means of
grinding and honing tools into usable form.

Of the bunch, I find the superior unit for maintaining turning gouges to
be the Tormek (for flat blade bevels I prefer the new version of the Lee
Valley Power Sharpening System,

Both are costly systems. The question of what I used was posed by an
individual who had just purchased a lathe from Harbor Freight at less than
$200 and HSS tools for $35. Considering his initial investment, it would
seem ill conceived to suggest a Tormek or Lee Valley system. I would love
to have either one, or both. Andrew convinced me that neither, while
desirable, is necessary.

Max