[Tom B]

I'm a sucker for gadgets so I had to try one. It arrived yesterday and
I set it up this AM before work and gave it a few runs. Comments:

1. It's small, doesn't need much room to use or store.

2. Set up is a piece of cake, except for getting the backing off the
abrasive disks. As usual, getting a piece to turn up so it could be
grabbed was fiddly.

3. Keeping the abrasive (especially the 3600 mesh) from getting air
bubbles as you put it on the glass is tricky, but, with care, can be
done.

4. Once set up I ran an old Stanley 604 blade. This blade came on a
yard sale grabber and had been used as every tool in the box from
appearances. Back battered, edge rouned and chipped - ugly. The basic
bevel seemed to be around 30 degrees. I knocked that back to 25 on the
120 grit, which took a while. Smoothed it on up through 3600 grit. It
looks good and cuts nicely. The deburring abrasive on the tool really
doesn't do it. I knocked the burr off as I went with the top face of
the platter when it had a higher grit on top. Total time to get a
working edge on a battered iron, about 30 minutes.

5. Edge was nice and square on the iron, something I have difficulty
getting on a waterstone. My poor technique I suspect.

6. Ran 4 old C'man chisels (1/4 to 1"). All have been previously
sharpened on Shapton waterstones. About 4 minutes apiece to 3600 and
the edges were about what I get manually, without the mess.

Upsides -

It's a neat little machine. Quiet, clean, no water mess and seems to
do a pretty good job on the flat stuff. I'm not a turner so I can't
comment on gouges etc.

Looking at it, it'll be easy to fashion a jig or 2 to do knives.
Planer blades and jointer blades will take more work at jigging.

Down sides -

Max 2" blade in the supplied rest, so my 4 1/2, 6 and 8 planes aren't
possible except on the tool rest, which won't be real accurate. Need a
jig here.

Abrasives aren't cheap (Norton on the grits and some outfit I've never
heard of on the mesh). I suspect I can do better with a search or 2
when needed.

The de-burring strip doesn't do much, do it manually.

Micro bevels are only done on 5 degree increments on the provided
rest. I suspect a strip of masking tape on the back of the tool up by
the edge could be used to provide a 1 or 2 degree micro bevel.

Just my observations.

I'm not ready to put my LN, Hock and Knight irons or my Veritas detail
chisels on it yet - more experiments and experience required.

Regards.

Tom

PS: The Laguna 16HD is on the truck! Yeh!

[[email protected]]

On May 2, 3:22 pm, Tom B wrote:
I'm a sucker for gadgets so I had to try one. It arrived yesterday and
I set it up this AM before work and gave it a few runs. Comments:

1. It's small, doesn't need much room to use or store.

2. Set up is a piece of cake, except for getting the backing off the
abrasive disks. As usual, getting a piece to turn up so it could be
grabbed was fiddly.

3. Keeping the abrasive (especially the 3600 mesh) from getting air
bubbles as you put it on the glass is tricky, but, with care, can be
done.

4. Once set up I ran an old Stanley 604 blade. This blade came on a
yard sale grabber and had been used as every tool in the box from
appearances. Back battered, edge rouned and chipped - ugly. The basic
bevel seemed to be around 30 degrees. I knocked that back to 25 on the
120 grit, which took a while. Smoothed it on up through 3600 grit. It
looks good and cuts nicely. The deburring abrasive on the tool really
doesn't do it. I knocked the burr off as I went with the top face of
the platter when it had a higher grit on top. Total time to get a
working edge on a battered iron, about 30 minutes.

5. Edge was nice and square on the iron, something I have difficulty
getting on a waterstone. My poor technique I suspect.

6. Ran 4 old C'man chisels (1/4 to 1"). All have been previously
sharpened on Shapton waterstones. About 4 minutes apiece to 3600 and
the edges were about what I get manually, without the mess.

Upsides -

It's a neat little machine. Quiet, clean, no water mess and seems to
do a pretty good job on the flat stuff. I'm not a turner so I can't
comment on gouges etc.

Looking at it, it'll be easy to fashion a jig or 2 to do knives.
Planer blades and jointer blades will take more work at jigging.

Down sides -

Max 2" blade in the supplied rest, so my 4 1/2, 6 and 8 planes aren't
possible except on the tool rest, which won't be real accurate. Need a
jig here.

Abrasives aren't cheap (Norton on the grits and some outfit I've never
heard of on the mesh). I suspect I can do better with a search or 2
when needed.

Tools for Working Wood has/had regular rectangle sized PSA backed 3M
sandpaper and micro film available. Works fine on the spinning
platter sharpening systems like this one and the Lee Valley. And you
get some odd shapes as cutoffs to use for various things. Obviously
you have to trim the paper to fit the platter after sticking it on.
More abrasive grits and some even finer than available from Lee Valley
for its sharpener in round 8" size. Lee Valley also sells PSA 3M
sandpaper in rectangles but not as many or as fine a grit as Tools for
Working Wood.


The de-burring strip doesn't do much, do it manually.

Micro bevels are only done on 5 degree increments on the provided
rest. I suspect a strip of masking tape on the back of the tool up by
the edge could be used to provide a 1 or 2 degree micro bevel.

Just my observations.

I'm not ready to put my LN, Hock and Knight irons or my Veritas detail
chisels on it yet - more experiments and experience required.

Your high priced irons will likely be a lot sharper after you put them
on the spinning platter device. The amont of time/feet you spend
honing on the super fine platters goes far beyond any honing you can
do manually on an 8000 grit stone.


Regards.

Tom

PS: The Laguna 16HD is on the truck! Yeh!