I'm curious about this system.. Any turners using it?

Two main questions:

Is it any improvement for sharpening turning tools over a low speed grinder and
a jig?

Does it generate more or less debris than conventional sharpening?
My shop is in the house, so my grinders are all outside on the carport..
The main reason for this is to keep metal shavings and sparks out of the house
and away from wood shaving, etc..

As the weather heats up and I'm looking at another summer of high heat and
humidity, I'm thinking it would be really nice to touch up tool edges inside, to
avoid the constant trips from air conditioned shop to hot/humid carport and
back..

Any experience with this thing??


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

mac davis wrote in
:

I'm curious about this system.. Any turners using it?

Two main questions:

Is it any improvement for sharpening turning tools over a low speed
grinder and a jig?

Does it generate more or less debris than conventional sharpening?
My shop is in the house, so my grinders are all outside on the
carport.. The main reason for this is to keep metal shavings and
sparks out of the house and away from wood shaving, etc..

As the weather heats up and I'm looking at another summer of high heat
and humidity, I'm thinking it would be really nice to touch up tool
edges inside, to avoid the constant trips from air conditioned shop to
hot/humid carport and back..

Any experience with this thing??


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing


Yes Mac, I bought it a while ago and it doesn't get the use it should. It
probably works best for bench chisels or plane irons - straight edge and
common bevel angle. For skews you have to freehand it. Same with gouges,
there are no jig options like the Wolverine. Therefore, you must use the
slotted wheels (like the Joul Tool), darken the bevel with a marker and
then freehand sharpen while you can see the bevel. It's OK but just a
pain changing platters for the different grits.

After I got the Worksharp I found a used Tormek. The Tormek being a water
cooled stone totally solves your spark problem. The Tormek (or the
several copies)doesn't remove metal anywhere near as fast as a dry
grinder so you can use the regular slow speed grinder to get approximate
shape you wish and finish grind and hone on the Tormek. The Tormek has
the best jigs out there. It is not problem free but the best option out
there in my opinion. For skews I still finish up on a flat waterstone and
for gouges, many times I get lazy and just hit them on the Wolverine
especially for roughing work.

Overall I'd skip the Worksharp and just go with the Wolverine and Tormek.
I'll let others here compare the Tormek with it's various clones. Hope
this helps you, it certainly is no help to Worksharp which is a quality
tool, but not really for turners.

Jerry

A Lurker writes:

After I got the Worksharp I found a used Tormek. The Tormek being a water
cooled stone totally solves your spark problem. The Tormek (or the
several copies)doesn't remove metal anywhere near as fast as a dry
grinder so you can use the regular slow speed grinder to get approximate
shape you wish and finish grind and hone on the Tormek. The Tormek has
the best jigs out there. It is not problem free but the best option out
there in my opinion. For skews I still finish up on a flat waterstone and
for gouges, many times I get lazy and just hit them on the Wolverine
especially for roughing work.

I am currently re-doing my Woodcraft slow-speed grinder (now
deceased), by adding both the Wolverine jig holders, and the Tormek
jig holders on both sides. (My first generation, WOlverine only, was a
little wobbly.)

This way I can use both jigs on the grinder. This should make
re-profiling faster on the Tormek, as I don't have to change tool
holders to go from grinder to Tormek.

I've also been using the black Tormek stone since so many of my tools
are HSS. This speeds up things as well. Re-grinding profiles on HSS is
a bitch using a Tormek only. Which is why this is my current project.

btw - I like the sharpening setup in the current FWW. I'm going to
build one of those as well.

Mac,
I have the Tormec grinder and although pretty pricey it gets the job done,
without any sparks.There is also the vast amount of jigs which are nice as
well.
"Maxwell Lol" wrote in message
...
A Lurker writes:

After I got the Worksharp I found a used Tormek. The Tormek being a water
cooled stone totally solves your spark problem. The Tormek (or the
several copies)doesn't remove metal anywhere near as fast as a dry
grinder so you can use the regular slow speed grinder to get approximate
shape you wish and finish grind and hone on the Tormek. The Tormek has
the best jigs out there. It is not problem free but the best option out
there in my opinion. For skews I still finish up on a flat waterstone and
for gouges, many times I get lazy and just hit them on the Wolverine
especially for roughing work.

I am currently re-doing my Woodcraft slow-speed grinder (now
deceased), by adding both the Wolverine jig holders, and the Tormek
jig holders on both sides. (My first generation, WOlverine only, was a
little wobbly.)

This way I can use both jigs on the grinder. This should make
re-profiling faster on the Tormek, as I don't have to change tool
holders to go from grinder to Tormek.

I've also been using the black Tormek stone since so many of my tools
are HSS. This speeds up things as well. Re-grinding profiles on HSS is
a bitch using a Tormek only. Which is why this is my current project.

btw - I like the sharpening setup in the current FWW. I'm going to
build one of those as well.

Yes Mac, I bought it a while ago and it doesn't get the use it should. It
probably works best for bench chisels or plane irons - straight edge and
common bevel angle. For skews you have to freehand it. Same with gouges,
there are no jig options like the Wolverine. Therefore, you must use the
slotted wheels (like the Joul Tool), darken the bevel with a marker and
then freehand sharpen while you can see the bevel. It's OK but just a
pain changing platters for the different grits.

After I got the Worksharp I found a used Tormek. The Tormek being a water
cooled stone totally solves your spark problem. The Tormek (or the
several copies)doesn't remove metal anywhere near as fast as a dry
grinder so you can use the regular slow speed grinder to get approximate
shape you wish and finish grind and hone on the Tormek. The Tormek has
the best jigs out there. It is not problem free but the best option out
there in my opinion. For skews I still finish up on a flat waterstone and
for gouges, many times I get lazy and just hit them on the Wolverine
especially for roughing work.

Overall I'd skip the Worksharp and just go with the Wolverine and Tormek.
I'll let others here compare the Tormek with it's various clones. Hope
this helps you, it certainly is no help to Worksharp which is a quality
tool, but not really for turners.

Jerry


Jerry,

I've also been considering the Worksharp for my turning tools, but I
also do woodcarving. Do you think the Worksharp is any better/worse
for sharpening carving tools over the Tormek (or clones)?

Thanks,
`Casper

Casper wrote in
:

Yes Mac, I bought it a while ago and it doesn't get the use it should.
It probably works best for bench chisels or plane irons - straight
edge and common bevel angle. For skews you have to freehand it. Same
with gouges, there are no jig options like the Wolverine. Therefore,
you must use the slotted wheels (like the Joul Tool), darken the bevel
with a marker and then freehand sharpen while you can see the bevel.
It's OK but just a pain changing platters for the different grits.

After I got the Worksharp I found a used Tormek. The Tormek being a
water cooled stone totally solves your spark problem. The Tormek (or
the several copies)doesn't remove metal anywhere near as fast as a dry
grinder so you can use the regular slow speed grinder to get
approximate shape you wish and finish grind and hone on the Tormek.
The Tormek has the best jigs out there. It is not problem free but the
best option out there in my opinion. For skews I still finish up on a
flat waterstone and for gouges, many times I get lazy and just hit
them on the Wolverine especially for roughing work.

Overall I'd skip the Worksharp and just go with the Wolverine and
Tormek. I'll let others here compare the Tormek with it's various
clones. Hope this helps you, it certainly is no help to Worksharp
which is a quality tool, but not really for turners.

Jerry


Jerry,

I've also been considering the Worksharp for my turning tools, but I
also do woodcarving. Do you think the Worksharp is any better/worse
for sharpening carving tools over the Tormek (or clones)?

Thanks,
`Casper


Casper

I almost put that in my original post. I think the Worksharp with the
slottted wheels may be better for all the odd shapes of carving tools.
For the most part they are smaller than turning tools and easier to get a
consistant bevel. I'm only starting a little carving and plan on trying
the Worksharp there. Also for what it's worth the Worksharp is a flat
plate while grinding wheels and the Tormek are er..wheels, leading to a
hollow grind rather than a flat grind. Unlike grinding wheels you can use
the side of the Tormek wheel for flattening and shaping.

The best said about the Worksharp is its price point which is less than
half of an equiped Tormek clone. For turning the Worksharp takes too much
concentration freehanding, while the Tormek or Wolverine are throw it in
a jig, sharpen, and back to turning without thinking about sharpening. If
you are sitting carving the concentration on Worksharp sharpening may be
similar to concentration on carving.

Hope that helps.

Jerry

"mac davis" wrote in message
...
I'm curious about this system.. Any turners using it?

Two main questions:

Is it any improvement for sharpening turning tools over a low speed
grinder and
a jig?

Does it generate more or less debris than conventional sharpening?
My shop is in the house, so my grinders are all outside on the carport..
The main reason for this is to keep metal shavings and sparks out of the
house
and away from wood shaving, etc..

As the weather heats up and I'm looking at another summer of high heat and
humidity, I'm thinking it would be really nice to touch up tool edges
inside, to
avoid the constant trips from air conditioned shop to hot/humid carport
and
back..

Any experience with this thing??



Many good responses given already.

As I am in the same boat I thought I would share my thought process. I have
had a look at both Worksharp and Tormek close up. I have spent much time
looking up reviews and studying the technical lit but have no working
experience with either:

1) One of the selling points of Worksharp is "air-cooling". This is plain
nonsense on theoretical grounds (water carries heat away 40 times faster
than air). At least one review I found states clearly that overheating is
*not* avoided with Worksharp although it is going to be less than a common
bench grinder due to lower RPM.

2) Because of the nature of the disc there is going to be an appreciable
difference in the surface speed of the section towards the periphery as
opposed closer to the center. At least one review mentions this as being of
practical importance if grinding wide blades - the edge gets a
"differential" grind. I suspect this is less of an issue with turning tools.

3) Another Worksharp selling point is that there is no watery slurry mess. I
gather that there is significant *powdery* mess, possibly worse than with a
bench grinder as the disc throws the filings horizontally unlike a bench
grinder which does so downwards.

4) I don't know about you but the main reason I am looking for a different
sharpening system is grinding of fingernail/Irish gouges. Everything else
can be done on a grinder with a rest. I cannot see how the Worksharp makes
gouges any easier.

5) There is no question in my mind that if I had $700+ lying about spare I
would get the Tormek. All the pros I know use the Tormek. One caveat is that
it is quite slow at reshaping tools so a bench grinder with a suitable wheel
is still needed as well as an identical jig for e.g. gouges.

6) As things stand I shall probably buy the Wolverine jig (a copy I made was
less than successful) and use it with my bench grinders. Of interest is that
Oneway recommend *high* surface speeds for sharpening turning tools (8"
grinder at 3450 rpm).

All that said, if you do decide to buy the Worksharp keep us posted on its
performance.

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

"Michael Koblic" wrote in message
...

"mac davis" wrote in message
...
I'm curious about this system.. Any turners using it?

Two main questions:

Is it any improvement for sharpening turning tools over a low speed
grinder and
a jig?

Does it generate more or less debris than conventional sharpening?
My shop is in the house, so my grinders are all outside on the carport..
The main reason for this is to keep metal shavings and sparks out of the
house
and away from wood shaving, etc..

As the weather heats up and I'm looking at another summer of high heat
and
humidity, I'm thinking it would be really nice to touch up tool edges
inside, to
avoid the constant trips from air conditioned shop to hot/humid carport
and
back..

Any experience with this thing??



Many good responses given already.

As I am in the same boat I thought I would share my thought process. I
have had a look at both Worksharp and Tormek close up. I have spent much
time looking up reviews and studying the technical lit but have no working
experience with either:

1) One of the selling points of Worksharp is "air-cooling". This is plain
nonsense on theoretical grounds (water carries heat away 40 times faster
than air). At least one review I found states clearly that overheating is
*not* avoided with Worksharp although it is going to be less than a common
bench grinder due to lower RPM.

2) Because of the nature of the disc there is going to be an appreciable
difference in the surface speed of the section towards the periphery as
opposed closer to the center. At least one review mentions this as being
of practical importance if grinding wide blades - the edge gets a
"differential" grind. I suspect this is less of an issue with turning
tools.

3) Another Worksharp selling point is that there is no watery slurry mess.
I gather that there is significant *powdery* mess, possibly worse than
with a bench grinder as the disc throws the filings horizontally unlike a
bench grinder which does so downwards.

4) I don't know about you but the main reason I am looking for a different
sharpening system is grinding of fingernail/Irish gouges. Everything else
can be done on a grinder with a rest. I cannot see how the Worksharp makes
gouges any easier.

5) There is no question in my mind that if I had $700+ lying about spare I
would get the Tormek. All the pros I know use the Tormek. One caveat is
that it is quite slow at reshaping tools so a bench grinder with a
suitable wheel is still needed as well as an identical jig for e.g.
gouges.

If you declare income from woodworking, the Tormek becomes an Expense.
Something to think about.

FWIW, I have a tormek, I use it when I want a really sharp edge, otherwise I
mostly hand grind using a 1750 rpm grinder - once in a while I'll use Jerry
Glaser's sharpening jig

the tormek is slow but gets an excellent edge, there is no mess

Hello Mac,

I have the WorkSharp, the Tormek, and a dry grinder fitted with
diamond wheels and Wolverine Jigs and Tormek Jigs.

The WorkSharp is an excellent little sharpening rig for Carpenter's
Chisels, plane irons, etc. It will sharpen most turning tools, but
without jigs, only freehand. I use it mostly when going to shows, etc.
where I need to have a grinder to touch up tools and not taking up a
lot of space..

I've had my Tormek since 2000 and like it very well. It does the best
sharpening I've ever had on any machine and I highly recommend it.

About a year ago, I purchased some diamond wheels for my Woodcraft
slow speed grinder and currently have an 80 grit wheel on the left
hand side and a 360 grit wheel on the right hand side. Both sides are
set up to use the Wolverine jigs and also to use the Tormek jigs. The
grind on the 360 grit diamond wheel is pretty close to that from the
Tormek. It is a little faster than the Tormek, unless the Tormek is
all set up and ready to run. Incidentally, the dry grinder with
diamond wheels and the two jig systems is more expensive than the
Tormek.

Fred Holder
http://www.morewoodturning.net

On Jun 12, 11:21 pm, mac davis wrote:
I'm curious about this system.. Any turners using it?

Two main questions:

Is it any improvement for sharpening turning tools over a low speed grinder and
a jig?

Does it generate more or less debris than conventional sharpening?
My shop is in the house, so my grinders are all outside on the carport..
The main reason for this is to keep metal shavings and sparks out of the house
and away from wood shaving, etc..

As the weather heats up and I'm looking at another summer of high heat and
humidity, I'm thinking it would be really nice to touch up tool edges inside, to
avoid the constant trips from air conditioned shop to hot/humid carport and
back..

Any experience with this thing??

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing