Tormek vs Delta

[Fritz]

I have a 25 year old delta 23-700 wet grinder which I have used for sharpening lathe tools over the years. I notice that there is some fittings that can be purchased for this machine that allow it to accept Tormek jigs. WIth the "new" exchange rate here in the US the Tormek is becoming prohibitively expensive, and I was wondering if my Delta will procure similar results. One issue I note in the Tormek literature is that one "re-grades" the wheel to a finer grit with a grader that they supply. I expect I cannot do this with my Delta, but then the whole idea seems rather unlikely-I cannot imagine how this works.

Can anyone who has operated both machines enlighten me here? Should I just stick with my delta?

Thanks, Fritz

[Leon]

From what I understand the Tormek uses a special stone that can be made coarse and fine with the opposite sides of the grading stone.

[Maxwell Lol]

The re-dressing stick is just two different abrasive stones. One leaves the surface very smooth. The other one leaves it rougher.

There is also a diamond dresser tool. When you move it from one side of the wheel to the other, you can control the speed. If you do it slow, it leaves a fine "spiral" groove on the stone. This allows a more aggressive grinding, expecially when you move the tool back and forth.

I figure both techniques are similar. The rougher the surface, the more aggressive the reshaping.

You can also switch between the wheel moving towards the edge, or away from the edge. Going towards the edge is more aggressive (you can apply more force at the tip).

So there are several options to allow faster/slower cutting.

[Neil Larson]

No, the delta can't but the Jet can, and it uses the same jigs or you can use the Jet jigs.