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Has anyone bought one of these? I first seen it on the DIY network. Looks kinda easy to use from what they show. Thinking of getting one after the holidays. Just want to know if anyone has used one.
http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=20310

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Hey Mike, I have not used one but I work at the local Woodcraft and I will
say that they look well made. Heavy, nice clean casting etc. Hope that
helps. PS not tying to sell it to ya! Just trying to help out!

Thanks Tommy. Like is said I'll probably wait till after christmas. It will make a nice gift for myself.

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Mike...there are a lot of nice tools for sharpening chisels, plane irons, etc. and many of our brethern have touted their use.

My suggestion would be...get proficient with hsnd shsrpening first. I use the scary sharp method and can touch them up now far faster and cheaper than any of these wheels. Once you get good at it you won't even need a guide.

I've considered such equipment but it would just take up valuable space and eventually collect dust for me. Just my opinion, FWIW.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

I have a Work Sharp 3000 and love it.  Yes, it is a motorized Scary Sharp system at its core, but for carving tools, the "see through" slotted discs that let you see the cutting edge as you sharpen it is a great feature that a non motorized alternative doesn't give you.  If you're only sharpening chisels and plane irons, it's probably overkill.

Dave

Todd sounds like a really good, sincerely needed tutorial. Do it, no joke...and as far as that goes, do a couple of pictorials on basic files, the different types, uses, care and feeding. Or on tuning up a hand plane, etc. Or the very basics of setting up a bandsaw, or truing up a jointer, etc. I guarantee people would absolutely love it.

We have fairly nice tutorials on build methods, and many on jig making, but we have few on tools or, as you say, basic skills like sharpening, etc. It's a niche we haven't filled.

Bill

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I have a WorkSharp 3000 too.  It works very well.  I find that I use the extra fine paper and the leather stropping wheel the most, and that's what I leave on it.  It is very quick.  Also, I find that I can put a secondary bevel with a little back off in the chisel slot and up-tilt for the second bevel.  It gives a very quick and very sharp secondary bevel.

Where it excells, is getting an old chisel into good shape.  I had some that had been used to remove nails, paint, staples and other stuff.  They were scary sharp in a matter of minutes.  One trick is to use very brief contact with the paper.  That way you don't grind away a lot of steel.

I agree, however, that hand sharpening is a must to learn.  I bought this thing on a whim, and found out I like it.  The only thing I have had a problem with is a little inconsistency in the squaring function on the chisel/plane blade guide underneath.  I have not used the see-through system yet.

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Waddy

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I just bought one of the ridiculously expensive units myself - while I made sure and learn basic sharpening first, this unit allows me to keep working at what Im doing rather than haul out the stones and potentially lose foscus on what Im doing..
I mean its really really fast - like seconds,,,
For me thats worth it
By no means will I end up doing all my sharpening work on it however - even though it does skew chisels, carving tools, and what have you,,,
I still like hand sharpening too,,,
Now I have the option of doing it either way.. that cant be all bad..
This Work Sharp unit looks liike a much better deal that the Veritas system I bought,,,and pretty much the same thing,,,
Cheers
Charlie

I really struggled with sharpening chisels and plane blades using wheeled holders, stones, and scary sharp with plate glass and paper.

One day when I was not in a hurry I sat down and gave it a go again.  And it was like a light bulb going off in my head - all of a sudden it all made perfect sense and was very easy to do.

After popping all the hairs off the back of my hand I was elated......  I also found this activity to be rather enjoyable and look forward to it now.

Before I ever considered a power sharpening system I would much rather have a spindle sander and a few other things that would expand my capabilities instead of spending that kind on money on something that I now do fine manually and enjoy doing. 

For me anything that does not get used often and takes up bench space is a problem in my small shop.

Actually I can sharpen by hand and have been doing so for years. I'm not looking for the silver bullet as one writer stated.I have severe carpal tunnel in both hands and i'm just looking for something to make it less painfull. I have a bunch of old planes and chisels and gouges and carving tools that need to have the angles reground. I have done a few of the plane blades by hand and it took for ever and wasn't a pleasant task. I might be new to guitar making but that doesn't mean i'm new to wood working. I just asked a simple question.

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FTMike
I know you already heard my opinion, and although I hadnt mentioned it in the threads, I have been having flare ups in my thumb knuckle joints lately, and Im no stranger to numb fingertips from repetitive motions,,,
like practicing guitar for long periods.
This uniot would strongly aid you in accomplishing the sharpening tasks that trouble you... easily, and with minimal pressure on the wrist and hands,,,
The model you linked to, looks extremely comparable to the unit I just bought and I paid about double for it,,,
If you have the bread and dont mind paying - go for it and save your wrists for what you truly enjoy doing...
Theres no problem with that!
I dont think anyone would disagree with that
Or mabye one of the guys who love sharpening so much will do all your tools for you>?
Cheers
Charlie

I think the makita waterstone wheel is much better. It costs more but will last longer and is a professional tool. I think the work sharp looks plastic and cheap.

It may be better, I can't say, having never used one, but it is all plastic too, except for the guides, the motor and the wheel. Just like the WorkSharp 3000.  I looked at the Makita, and picked the WorkSharp 3000.  But I had experience using the Delta Sharpening tool with a low speed grinder and an 8" flat water wheel.  I have one, and it is OK, but it is a mess to deal with.  Water everywhere, and you can't even sharpen a short bladed chisel on it.  It also takes forever to get to the sharp stage. It is also made mostly of metal instead of plastic.  It doesn't make it better, just heavier, and bigger.

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Waddy

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i am realy an advocote of hand tools and do allmost everything by hand
including sharpaning.
as Todd said it doenent take anymore than 60 seconds to hone your edge
once you have done the donkey work.
but one thing you do need a grinder for is regrinding your primary beval.
as even with course water stone it will take forever to hone out a deep
chip or 1.5mm of secondary beval.
once the primary beval is ground you can then take it to the
waterstone,glass plate or whatever to hone your secondary beval.
the thing that most people miss out when honing there blades is the back
of the blade.
you must make sure that it is polished to mirror finish at least 1mm back
from the cutting edge.
if you do this then all you have to do to hone your edge is give it a quike
tickle back and forth on finest grit stone evry time you use it.
the tormek is the best peice of kit for enitial honeing of the primary
beval.

mike i would suggest getting a tormek and using this technique as it
takes very little effort with the help of a kell number 2 for honing the
secondary beval
the main work is honing the back of the chisel or blade but there is no
machine that will help with that anyway (this includes pre ground blades
such as veritas).

of course my method may not work for you at all but you can never have
too uch info in my opinion.

please be sure to let us know your results,

joel.

I second the request for a tutorial. (hint hint Todd)




k

Just for fun, I took an old chisel that had been used for prying nails, was ground ar the wrong angle, and had been rusted and cleaned a little.  I should have taken a before picture, but the whole thing looked like the shank up by the handle.



I did spend about 10 minutes on it, but it is now scary sharp.

 

This is the back - the camera focused on the light reflection.

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Waddy

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Waddy i ordered one this week and it came yesterday. I wont have time to play with it till next weekend. I'm looking forward to it. I let you's know what I think of it then. Mike

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I did get an extra glass plate and the leather stropping plate too.  It helps get to the high polish on the back and on the bevel.

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Waddy

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Well i went to set up my work sharp 3000 and low and behold its missing parts. Its missing the top knob that holds the disk on and the side tool rest. Making it useless. I emailed woodcraft and haven't heard anything. This pisses me off.

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Waddy that is pretty impressive!

Tell me please, anyone, all I need to sharpen is chisels, plane blades (2" wide down to 12mm wide and only 2" long for my beloved finger planes) - will this machine sharpen all of this?  Will the guides work for the small finger plane blades?

Also, not to high-jack but can a binding router bit cutter (Stew-Mac) be sharpened?

I am beginning to smell a Christmas present for myself here....

Many thanks.

It will sharpen most flat blades up to 2"w using the chisel / plane blade support under the bottom of the plate.  You do have to set it to level with the plate, so it will cut a square edge.  I did discover if you set the fence loosely, you can get a little wiggle in the blade and soften the corners a bit.  If the finger plane blades are long enough to keep your fingers out of the way, it will do them too, from the bottom.  If not, you can surely do them from the top.

Sharpening a router bit is an inside job, usually, I think, so you don't change the size of the bit and the angle of the edge.  I really don't know, but I'm guessing no on the router bit, but I could be wrong.

I happen to like the thing, but it is not, necessarily, the ultimate answer to sharpening.  It does take some fiddling, as most "automatic" tools do.  Set-up, adjustments, changing plates, setting angles, etc. 

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Waddy

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Thanks Waddy - one more question please - does it sling water or compound all over?

No you use it absolutely dry. One reason I like it.  If you get the stropping plate with the leather cover on it, you use green compound on that, but it is like a crayon, and you rub it on the spinning leather to impregnate it with the compound.  It does not sling.  You might want to use a dust collector, knowing your penchant for cleanliness, because it does create metal dust.  After all, you are basically sanding metal.  The plates run at about 540 rpm, so they aren't flying around at 1725.  The papers seem to last pretty well.

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Waddy

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Woodcraft has them, and they would probably demo it for you.

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Waddy

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woodcraft emailed me last night and said they will rush order the missing parts to me.

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