I thought this powered sharpener was already discussed here (maybe only announced,not reviewed) but it eludes me.
I have a chance to get one at a good price and need to know if any one has used it enough to have an opinion. I have a few questions.
1-while I expect the slotted paper to be proprietary, can regular papers be used with spray adhesive or peel off standard 6″ discs used?
2-is the speed too high for the leather disc with compound?
3-if you use it for a long sharpening session does it get too hot(the motor drive)?
4-is there any way to use a jig(like the LV Mkll) to hold skewed chisels or plane irons like #140 or skewed fillister irons?
I will be maintaining bench, mortise and specialty chisels, plane irons, carving and lathe tools that make sense and what seems like hundreds of #45,#55 cutters that I now only hone as I need them. That need is increasing and I would like to clean up at least a full set of each and a few multiples of those frequently used. It could be a nice way to spend a breezy afternoon on the porch with a little sweet tea once I move to TN.
If it’s a keeper, I will get an extra glass plate, the plate and leather and a bunch of slotted discs. Thanks for the help, Paddy
Replies
I have used mine for a while and am very happy with it. It will sharpen square and true quickly without burning. When I only need a touch-up I can use one of the finer grits to only give a final hone. Although not as versatile as the Tormek (which is up for sale now) it has been easier to use and truer. I have tried to use the MK but as yet there is no consistent way to hold it in place next to the wheel and I am afraid to put it on the wheel since the speed is too high to properly control it. I am considering whether to try the Veritas grinding jig as a possibility. I assume that it is possible to use any paper which one can cut to size and I will be trying some of the 0.5 micron PA paper from ToolsforWorkingWood on an extra wheel for those blades I want really sharp. Motor does not get hot. Get extra wheel. Does a great job of flattening the backs.
Problems:
1. Cannot sharpen blades wider than 2" except free-hand.
2. Leather wheel can only be used in the open position, and therefore is only use to hone the back or free-handed tools.
d, thanks, are their top guide(s) decent enough for over 2" joiner irons?
I have not been able to steady the blade well enough to be comforatble to use it that way. It is probably a personal lack of skill or confidence. Others may be able to do so. I have been designing a jig in my head to do that .
d, I too resemble that statement, it is no big deal for me to fall back on the water stones, the papers on granite or glass and compound on strop for special work. Truly, I do not, can not, get consistent results with free hand or open angled rests. Maybe I am too picky but I will not work with a $hitty edge that has a wedge shaped second bevel because you can't hone it back at that angle, you rehone another bad one!!!Better to do it correctly the first time, live long and prosper till ya have to grind again.
I guess the skewed edges are still to be done with the MK, thank goodness they came out with the angle setter-what a joy- while there are other ways, it makes it quicker..
In thinking about your jig(I don't have the machine yet) is there a way to make a little table to sit next to the disc with an arc in front for the 6"plate to use a MK at the same level? That would be nifty but it may also be their first after market attachment at $79.99. ha Thanks much, Paddy
I too am close to purchasing the Tool Sharp. How does it perform when sharpening Lathe Chisels?
Sorry-- did not mean to high-jack the thread.
Thanks--
Dom
Sorry, but I don't do turning. Can't help there.
I used a 4" piece of that blue channel Kreg sells , clamped it to the plane blade and it worked fine on top, you cannot hold it free hand.
For those interested in the Work Sharp system, It will be introduced in the Sept. Eagle America catalog. And the http://www.eagleamerice.com site.
But when you figure in the add ons needed, your at the price of the basic Jet slow speed wet grinder.
The question is, do you want flat or hollow grind. The Jet comes with a strop and compound included.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
I am having trouble picturing your setup. Any chance of posting a picture?
Thanks.
g, this is the discussion. Paddy
Paddy,
You're not imagining things, the WorkSharp was discussed earlier. I recalled seeing it and tried searching for it, but initially got no results (even got no results from a search for "wood"). But persistence pays; take a look at messages 36354.1 and 36623.1.
Dan
Thanks Dan, you must be a 1st class ferret to find those. The consensus seems to be that it does 2" and under edges very precisely and fast, is built well and leather hones well. That will do for me and I might even get those combination plane cutters cleaned up without spending a lifetime on a water stone. Paddy
I had the lucky the test and demo the worksharp 3000 for the guild, then we raffaled it off. I did not win, now I am hooked and have to buy my own I would have about 4-5 glass disks just for speed you can reuse the disks but they ware in the center, I wish they had some 600 and 800 grits. I thought i could sharpen most chiels and planes till I put them in the work sharp they were out of sq. uneven Its a pleasure to use a sharp tool even on endgrain
Rockler sent me a 15% discount when I went to buy they said not for this item.
g,thanks for the info, I will get one for my 2" and under edges and the leather hone. Your dropped discount is typical of that outfit in my experience, I just shop elswere unless it's a drop dead sale on a known brand name product. Paddy
Paddy,
You got a bunch of great answers on the Worksharp from some excellent woodworkers. Now I am going to give you my offbeat take on the Worksharp.
Sometimes, in order to figure out what to do in this world, you have to excape from the standard high-level discussions, and resort back to first principles -- like physics.
If someone tells you they have a machine that will run forever, you can prove to them that they are a fake.
If someone tells you they have a sharpening jig, and it is based on a spinning sandpaper disk which contacts your chisel or plane blade and sharpens it, you don't have to think very long about the problem involved.
Have you ever taken a sheet of sandpaper and then done scary sharp? Run your chisel up and down the sheet of sandpaper in exactly the same track. Don't move from side to side.
What will happen? The sandpaper will wear out in a few minutes in that strip.
The same thing will happen to a spinning disk of sandpaper. You will wear out the strip where the sharpening occurs very quickly.
This could be alleviated somewhat by having the chisel move back and forth or by having the sandpaper on an elliptical offset, so that it uses more of the sandpaper.
This is much like taking a waterstone and running your 1/4" chisel up and down in the same path until it is honed (and at that time you will have worn a dado into the waterstone. When one uses waterstones or sandpaper or many other stones, one moves the blade around.
The problem with the Worksharp is quite obvious.
AS IS THE SOLUTION. Instead of putting a sanpaper disk in the Worksharp, they should contact DMT and have them make a set of three or four diamond stones to put in the Worksharp.
NOW YOU HAVE A GOOD SYSTEM THAT WON"T WEAR QUICKLY.
OH, that has already been done (almost).
If you go to Woodcraft. They sell the Precision Sharpening System 1 which comes with a few DMT diamond stones. It is not motorized. The stones are moved over the blade, back and forth, and the blade is sharpened.
So my suggestion is that The Precision Sharpening System be motorized, or the Worksharp be fitted with Diamond stones.
Always remember, Paddy, Diamonds are Forever.
Also remember, new sharpening jigs will show up on the market every six months for the rest of eternity.
Doesn't anyone remember Tage Frid?
Doesn't anyone remember those wonderful pictures of him laying his chisel on a belt sander?
What has the world come to?
Pretty soon they will be selling pre-made Jello, and you won't even have to make it yourself! The whole world started going to hell in a hand basket when we stopped having to pluck our own chickens. Machines are doing too much work for us now. We will all die as couch potatoes! Is there an "e" on potato?
Have fun.
Mel
PS by the way. Remember Ron Popeil when he was selling the Ronco Veg A Matic. Remember Ron saying "It slices. It dices. It will slice your tomatos so thin they will only have one side!"
Did you ever buy one of Ron's Veg A Matics? Would you buy a honing jig from him?
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
Mel, dont ever change, you kill me, However serious the discussion wnen you have made your imput,there is always something to give us a smile. Long life to you. Regds.Boysie Slan Leat.I'm never always right but i'm always never wrong. Boysie
Mel, yea I know, just like the new engineering discoveries each season in golf clubs that will shave 7 strokes -or more-maybe- off your score. I was just lookin to see if if it was made well and worked for my needs. I will let ya know if I am disappointed.
Btw. Ron and Art Fern (Johnny Carson's midnight movie salesman) probably learned from my school chum's dad big John McConnon who sold those knife sharpeners/glass cutters on the CBS Late,Late Show. He sharpened kitchen, pocket hunting knives-cleavers, scissors, hedge shears,axes,machete and even a reel type lawn mower on the air LIVE. Then he cut up a 2' window pane in s curves 1" apart to then start splitting them in half the long way and all of that in 60 seconds of black and white air time never not pitching the sale, I don't know where he breathed. He was "a pitch man" one of the best and also did all the slice,dice and juice toys at the big store demos.
All the best, Paddy
Hey Paddy,
When ya headin' south? I gotta couple styrofoam shotglasses here--don't forget.
Ray
Ray, tuck them in a safe place, it could be a month or two. Paddy
Pat,
No problem, the wife's been using them for sewing thimbles...
Ray
Mel,
Yeah, OR you could just put one of those white (or pink) wheels on a mandrel, powered by a salvaged washing machine motor, and do the same thing. SIGH
Ray
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