I know it's been reviewed here before, but that was by someone who knows
how to sharpen (charlieb i think it was). I don't. I've tried and tried,
but the sad truth of it is I'm completely and irreconcilably a
sharpening idiot. My grinding wheel is where good tools go to die - it
has claimed the lives of a couple of hundred dollars worth of expensive
steel this year alone.

So when I was working in Jacksonville, FL yesterday I took the
opportunity to visit the Woodcraft there.

I looked the Worksharp over, and it seemed so simple that I had visions
of dozens of super sharp chisels in my head. So I bought their last one,
and brought it home last night.

This morning, after a quick skim through the manual, I applied the PSA
abrasive disks to the glass wheels and found my worst chisel - a
craftsman 1/4" chisel that was horribly misshapen from my previous efforts.

First to flatten the back. Starting with the 120 grit side, it took only
a minute to get a nice even back surface. Then I pushed down a bit
crooked and abraded away one of the back corners of the sharp end.
Two minutes of careful work later I had the back flat again. Smoothing
up the back on the 400 grit, then the 1000 took no time at all. Mirror
smooth in just a couple of minutes.

Moving to the sharpening port I set it to a 25 degree angle. From my
previous attempts, the existing chisel bevel had angles varying from 5
to 90 degrees I think, so there was a good bit of material to remove.
Still, in less than a minute using the 120 grit side I had a nice even
25 degree bevel.

A few seconds on each of the progressively finer grits produced a nice
sharp edge. Per the instructions, if you grind for a second or two then
pull the chisel back along the abrasive on the port it removes any burr
that may have developed. I found this an important bit of advice and
followed it closely once I understood how important it was to getting
good results.

I shaved a bit of my arm hair, then chopped and pared on some oak,
maple, and pine. It worked pretty well, but I have used sharper tools.

So I went back to the Worksharp, set the sharpening port to 30 degrees
and created a 5 degree micro bevel with the 3600 grit side.
Then I put on the leather hone wheel (optional accessory) and applied
the aluminum oxide grit to the leather. I honed the chisel for two or
three seconds, then went back to the wood.

It cut like buttah. I've never used a sharper chisel.
I've spent the remainder of the morning sharpening a couple of dozen
chisel and plane blades. All are sharper than they've ever been, and are
the first tools ever to come out of my sharpening efforts that are
better off for it.

I found that the wider chisels were even easier to sharpen since they
have more surface to hold them to the sharpening port.

This was worth every penny of the $200 price tag for me. Those of you
without my "sharpening idiot" affliction can likely get similar results
via scary sharp or stones, but for me, putting glass and sandpaper
together with a motor and sharpening port is like magic.

This afternoon I'll try the slotted disk on some curved carving and
turning tools. For the first time ever, I'm confident that I'll come out
with sharp tools.

This is actually a WS3000. Don't know why I typed 2000. Perhaps I'm a
millennium behind the times...

On Apr 13, 12:18*pm, DS wrote:
I know it's been reviewed here before, but that was by someone who knows
how to sharpen (charlieb i think it was). I don't. I've tried and tried,
but the sad truth of it is I'm completely and irreconcilably a
sharpening idiot. My grinding wheel is where good tools go to die - it
has claimed the lives of a couple of hundred dollars worth of expensive
steel this year alone.

So when I was working in Jacksonville, FL yesterday I took the
opportunity to visit the Woodcraft there.

I looked the Worksharp over, and it seemed so simple that I had visions
of dozens of super sharp chisels in my head. So I bought their last one,
and brought it home last night.

This morning, after a quick skim through the manual, I applied the PSA
abrasive disks to the glass wheels and found my worst chisel - a
craftsman 1/4" chisel that was horribly misshapen from my previous efforts..

First to flatten the back. Starting with the 120 grit side, it took only
a minute to get a nice even back surface. Then I pushed down a bit
crooked and abraded away one of the back corners of the sharp end.
Two minutes of careful work later I had the back flat again. Smoothing
up the back on the 400 grit, then the 1000 took no time at all. Mirror
smooth in just a couple of minutes.

Moving to the sharpening port I set it to a 25 degree angle. From my
previous attempts, the existing chisel bevel had angles varying from 5
to 90 degrees I think, so there was a good bit of material to remove.
Still, in less than a minute using the 120 grit side I had a nice even
25 degree bevel.

A few seconds on each of the progressively finer grits produced a nice
sharp edge. Per the instructions, if you grind for a second or two then
pull the chisel back along the abrasive on the port it removes any burr
that may have developed. I found this an important bit of advice and
followed it closely once I understood how important it was to getting
good results.

I shaved a bit of my arm hair, then chopped and pared on some oak,
maple, and pine. It worked pretty well, but I have used sharper tools.

So I went back to the Worksharp, set the sharpening port to 30 degrees
and created a 5 degree micro bevel with the 3600 grit side.
Then I put on the leather hone wheel (optional accessory) and applied
the aluminum oxide grit to the leather. I honed the chisel for two or
three seconds, then went back to the wood.

It cut like buttah. I've never used a sharper chisel.
I've spent the remainder of the morning sharpening a couple of dozen
chisel and plane blades. All are sharper than they've ever been, and are
the first tools ever to come out of my sharpening efforts that are
better off for it.

I found that the wider chisels were even easier to sharpen since they
have more surface to hold them to the sharpening port.

This was worth every penny of the $200 price tag for me. Those of you
without my "sharpening idiot" affliction can likely get similar results
via scary sharp or stones, but for me, putting glass and sandpaper
together with a motor and sharpening port is like magic.

This afternoon I'll try the slotted disk on some curved carving and
turning tools. For the first time ever, I'm confident that I'll come out
with sharp tools.

I agree, this is one of the best methods to sharpen your tools...A
great machine, the one draw back is it doesnt do knives.

Randy
http://nokeswoodworks.com

Same here.
I've also tried just about every sharpening jigs on the market, and for some
reason, I still couldn't sharpen anything worth a darn. If I ever sell my
sharpening jigs, I could probably build an addition to my house with the
proceeds.

For some reason when it comes to sharpening things, my brain just defaults
to stupid mode, I lose all coordination in my hands/fingers, and I'm lucky
if the sharpened chisel can cut warm butter, or open an unsealed envelope.

But this last Christmas, Santa was good to me (for some unknown reason) and
left me a Worksharp 3000.

I got the Worksharp set up in a short amount of time, read the manual (yes
I'm aware that that is cheating, but...), and started with an old chisel
that I didn't care if I really FUBAR'd it.

It took a min or two to adjust the angle of the ramp, then I proceeded to
sharpen.

I LIKE Santa.....

Even with the crappiest chisel of my collection, it only took all of 10-15
min to start with the coarsest grade and flatten the back, work up through
the grades, then did it again with the edge.

Did I mention I like Santa?

Once I started, there was no stopping till I had gone through the bulk of my
stash of chisels (about 20-25) and had them all razor sharp.

Finally, the perfect sharpening station for complete coordination deficient
bumbling idiots like myself.!

I like Santa.



"DS" wrote in message
news:WfrMj.118632$yE1.25526@attbi_s21...
I know it's been reviewed here before, but that was by someone who knows
how to sharpen (charlieb i think it was). I don't. I've tried and tried,
but the sad truth of it is I'm completely and irreconcilably a sharpening
idiot. My grinding wheel is where good tools go to die - it has claimed the
lives of a couple of hundred dollars worth of expensive steel this year
alone.

So when I was working in Jacksonville, FL yesterday I took the opportunity
to visit the Woodcraft there.

I looked the Worksharp over, and it seemed so simple that I had visions of
dozens of super sharp chisels in my head. So I bought their last one, and
brought it home last night.

This morning, after a quick skim through the manual, I applied the PSA
abrasive disks to the glass wheels and found my worst chisel - a craftsman
1/4" chisel that was horribly misshapen from my previous efforts.

First to flatten the back. Starting with the 120 grit side, it took only a
minute to get a nice even back surface. Then I pushed down a bit crooked
and abraded away one of the back corners of the sharp end.
Two minutes of careful work later I had the back flat again. Smoothing up
the back on the 400 grit, then the 1000 took no time at all. Mirror smooth
in just a couple of minutes.

Moving to the sharpening port I set it to a 25 degree angle. From my
previous attempts, the existing chisel bevel had angles varying from 5 to
90 degrees I think, so there was a good bit of material to remove.
Still, in less than a minute using the 120 grit side I had a nice even 25
degree bevel.

A few seconds on each of the progressively finer grits produced a nice
sharp edge. Per the instructions, if you grind for a second or two then
pull the chisel back along the abrasive on the port it removes any burr
that may have developed. I found this an important bit of advice and
followed it closely once I understood how important it was to getting good
results.

I shaved a bit of my arm hair, then chopped and pared on some oak, maple,
and pine. It worked pretty well, but I have used sharper tools.

So I went back to the Worksharp, set the sharpening port to 30 degrees and
created a 5 degree micro bevel with the 3600 grit side.
Then I put on the leather hone wheel (optional accessory) and applied the
aluminum oxide grit to the leather. I honed the chisel for two or three
seconds, then went back to the wood.

It cut like buttah. I've never used a sharper chisel.
I've spent the remainder of the morning sharpening a couple of dozen
chisel and plane blades. All are sharper than they've ever been, and are
the first tools ever to come out of my sharpening efforts that are better
off for it.

I found that the wider chisels were even easier to sharpen since they have
more surface to hold them to the sharpening port.

This was worth every penny of the $200 price tag for me. Those of you
without my "sharpening idiot" affliction can likely get similar results
via scary sharp or stones, but for me, putting glass and sandpaper
together with a motor and sharpening port is like magic.

This afternoon I'll try the slotted disk on some curved carving and
turning tools. For the first time ever, I'm confident that I'll come out
with sharp tools.

DS wrote:
I know it's been reviewed here before, but that was by someone who knows
how to sharpen (charlieb i think it was). I don't. I've tried and tried,
but the sad truth of it is I'm completely and irreconcilably a
sharpening idiot. My grinding wheel is where good tools go to die - it
has claimed the lives of a couple of hundred dollars worth of expensive
steel this year alone.

So when I was working in Jacksonville, FL yesterday I took the
opportunity to visit the Woodcraft there.

I looked the Worksharp over, and it seemed so simple that I had visions
of dozens of super sharp chisels in my head. So I bought their last one,
and brought it home last night.

This morning, after a quick skim through the manual, I applied the PSA
abrasive disks to the glass wheels and found my worst chisel - a
craftsman 1/4" chisel that was horribly misshapen from my previous efforts.

First to flatten the back. Starting with the 120 grit side, it took only
a minute to get a nice even back surface. Then I pushed down a bit
crooked and abraded away one of the back corners of the sharp end.
Two minutes of careful work later I had the back flat again. Smoothing
up the back on the 400 grit, then the 1000 took no time at all. Mirror
smooth in just a couple of minutes.

Moving to the sharpening port I set it to a 25 degree angle. From my
previous attempts, the existing chisel bevel had angles varying from 5
to 90 degrees I think, so there was a good bit of material to remove.
Still, in less than a minute using the 120 grit side I had a nice even
25 degree bevel.

A few seconds on each of the progressively finer grits produced a nice
sharp edge. Per the instructions, if you grind for a second or two then
pull the chisel back along the abrasive on the port it removes any burr
that may have developed. I found this an important bit of advice and
followed it closely once I understood how important it was to getting
good results.

I shaved a bit of my arm hair, then chopped and pared on some oak,
maple, and pine. It worked pretty well, but I have used sharper tools.

So I went back to the Worksharp, set the sharpening port to 30 degrees
and created a 5 degree micro bevel with the 3600 grit side.
Then I put on the leather hone wheel (optional accessory) and applied
the aluminum oxide grit to the leather. I honed the chisel for two or
three seconds, then went back to the wood.

It cut like buttah. I've never used a sharper chisel.
I've spent the remainder of the morning sharpening a couple of dozen
chisel and plane blades. All are sharper than they've ever been, and are
the first tools ever to come out of my sharpening efforts that are
better off for it.

I found that the wider chisels were even easier to sharpen since they
have more surface to hold them to the sharpening port.

This was worth every penny of the $200 price tag for me. Those of you
without my "sharpening idiot" affliction can likely get similar results
via scary sharp or stones, but for me, putting glass and sandpaper
together with a motor and sharpening port is like magic.

This afternoon I'll try the slotted disk on some curved carving and
turning tools. For the first time ever, I'm confident that I'll come out
with sharp tools.

I'm really glad you posted this. I'm one of those guys who can get a
decent edge with water stones, and I was about to respond to you
initially and try to convince you that it's not that hard. Instead,
you've convinced me to take another look at an alternative method.

Judging from your costing above, I figure you've got about $300
invested. I have about the same in my jigs, stones and paraphernalia.
But I can't get anywhere near the results you can in the time you
described. If I take a POS chisel or plane iron, and use my methods, I'm
into an hour or more to get it sharp.

I'll be looking at this toy a bit more closely from now on. Thanks.

--


Tanus

This is not really a sig

http://www.home.mycybernet.net/~waugh/shop/

"Tanus" wrote

Judging from your costing above, I figure you've got about $300
invested. I have about the same in my jigs, stones and paraphernalia.
But I can't get anywhere near the results you can in the time you
described. If I take a POS chisel or plane iron, and use my methods, I'm
into an hour or more to get it sharp.

I'll be looking at this toy a bit more closely from now on. Thanks.

$300 would be on the very high side IME with this system.

The 3000 is $200 at most places and, if your stuff is already sharp/in good
shape, that's really all you need. Granted, if you have some pretty rough
chisels/plane irons that need a lot of work, then you might want to spring
for another glass plate ($20) so that you can start out with a coarser grit,
but it's not really necessary.

Once your tools are sharp, you'll find that only really need the last two
grits, at most, for a quick touchup.

This is a great system for the price ... I'm sold on mine and I've tried
most of the sharpening "methods" down through the years.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 3/27/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

Swingman wrote:
"Tanus" wrote

Judging from your costing above, I figure you've got about $300
invested. I have about the same in my jigs, stones and paraphernalia.
But I can't get anywhere near the results you can in the time you
described. If I take a POS chisel or plane iron, and use my methods, I'm
into an hour or more to get it sharp.

I'll be looking at this toy a bit more closely from now on. Thanks.

$300 would be on the very high side IME with this system.

The 3000 is $200 at most places and, if your stuff is already sharp/in good
shape, that's really all you need. Granted, if you have some pretty rough
chisels/plane irons that need a lot of work, then you might want to spring
for another glass plate ($20) so that you can start out with a coarser grit,
but it's not really necessary.

Once your tools are sharp, you'll find that only really need the last two
grits, at most, for a quick touchup.

This is a great system for the price ... I'm sold on mine and I've tried
most of the sharpening "methods" down through the years.

For $200 it came with two glass disks, on one I've put 120 and 400 grits
(you can use both sides) with 1000 and 3200 on the second one. I don't
think I'll need another glass disk.
It comes with only one slotted plate, and you use only one side of this.
So i think it's probably normal to purchase a second slotted plate at
$19.99 for different grits.
I purchased the leather honing wheel at $29.99. (less 15% on sale yesterday)

Tanus wrote:
I'm really glad you posted this. I'm one of those guys who can get a
decent edge with water stones, and I was about to respond to you
initially and try to convince you that it's not that hard. Instead,
you've convinced me to take another look at an alternative method.

Judging from your costing above, I figure you've got about $300
invested. I have about the same in my jigs, stones and paraphernalia.
But I can't get anywhere near the results you can in the time you
described. If I take a POS chisel or plane iron, and use my methods, I'm
into an hour or more to get it sharp.

I'll be looking at this toy a bit more closely from now on. Thanks.

For a sharpening idiot like me, the ability get good results so quickly
is amazing.

"DS" wrote

So i think it's probably normal to purchase a second slotted plate at
$19.99 for different grits.

All I sharpen is chisels and plane irons and, after a few months use of the
WS3000 thus far, haven't found it even necessary to use the two slotted
plates (mine had a "bonus" slotted plate included) that came in the box.

However, I did spring for another glass plate so I could start off with a
coarser grit on some of the old plane irons I've had laying around
unsharpened for years.

The coarser grits also makes it easier to re-establish the proper angle on
those previously, sharpened by hand, edges.

I purchased the leather honing wheel at $29.99. (less 15% on sale
yesterday)

Haven't done that yet, but may pull that trigger with one of the frequent
20% discounts from the local Rockler ... although the patch of hair missing
off my wrist from a chisel sharpened without is just now growing back.
--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 3/8/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)