Tormek Turning Tool Setter (TTS-100)

For gouges and skews
This patented Turning Tool Setter perfects the Tormek Sharpening System for woodturning tools. It enables you to exactly create and replicate the edge on your bowl and spindle gouges as well as on your flat or oval skews with either a straight or a curved edge. The Setter works in conjunction with the Gouge Jig SVD-185 and the Multi Jig SVS-50.

The strength of the TTS-100 Setter is that it works irrespectively of the stone diameter. You always get exactly the same edge angle even as the stone decreases in diameter. The Turning Tool Setter works equally well when setting the edge angle on the leather honing wheel.

Three factors determine the shape
Three factors determine the shape of a gouge or a skew; by controlling them and repeating them at each sharpening you will get an exact replication of the shape every time.

Stick to the shape you have selected and do not switch from one shape to another. Then you will get the full benefit of the Tormek TTS-100 Setter, since you can instantly replicate exactly the same shape every time. Should you need a different shape, then buy another tool and grind it to your alternative shape. This way of working will give you more time for turning and fewer interruptions for shaping and sharpening.

Profile labels Note the settings on a Profile Label, which comes with the TTS-100 setter and put it on the ferrule of the tool. Now you have control of the three factors and you can exactly replicate them every time.

Shaping and Sharpening
A distinction should be made between the shaping and sharpening of a tool. When shaping you remove steel to achieve the shape and edge angle you want. When sharpening you just touch up the edge of an existing shape to renew the sharpness. The strength of the Tormek method is in the sharpening, which is carried out with an exact replication of both the shape and the edge angle. Since so little steel is removed — you just touch up the edge — the Tormek method is very fast.

Shaping the tool, which is normally a once only job, can take from 10 to 20 minutes depending on the size of the tool and how much steel you need to remove. The shaping can comprise a change of the skew angle on a chisel or the length of the wings on a gouge as well as a change of the edge angle.