for Christmas and spent the last few days sharpening everything in sight!!!
I have tried a lot of jigs to sharpen my chisels and hand planes and although I got good results I was not always sure I got the best edge that I could.
But not with this machine!!! set up was a breeze and results were excellent. I had planned to store the machine and pull out from time to time to tune up my blades.... but now I will set it up where I can access it when I need to touch up a blade.
Did you get the "special package deal" that included the jig to use with the adjustable height bar which comes with the unit? Says it lets you sharpen things up to 3" wide.
The WS3000 is a slick little unit which, as you've discovered, is almost idiot proof for flat backed, single bevel square edges from 1/4" up to 2+ inches.
Couple of suggestions for you.
Make sure you burnish the outside edge of the sanding disks down really well, and if anything hangs over the edge, burnish it over the edge. I was sharpening a single bevel knife edge that required that the edge "face into" the direction of rotation. Had a teeny-tiny overhang on the paper - which the cutting edge caught. This little puppy has more torque than I thought and the resulting "catch" scared the bejeesus out of me. Loosing control of a sharp edge is not on my Bucket List/
Put a couple of "fender washers" (large diameter, small hole diameter) under the disk to get it up above that lip around the disk.
READ THE MANUAL For narrower chisels they suggest using the LEFT side of the angle jig and for wider edge use the RIGHT side.
I've got "india" and "arkansas" stones, japanese water stones, DMT diamond plates, a grinder with sharpening jigs (Wolverine), a Tormek and a JoolTool. For bench chisels and plane irons NONE can compete with the WS3000 in terms of speed, easy and safety of use.
As you noted, if it's quick and easy to sharpen a chisel or plane iron - you will when you even think the edge is going or is lost. With the WS and the 400 grit touch up takes seconds.
When I get the shop cleaned up I'm going to make something to hold it on my lathe bench - turning tools loose their edges real fast and continuing to turn with a dulling edge means more effort and more clean up work.
Now what are you going to do to keep all the paper disks and wheels organized? Here's one idea (Watch the line wrap)
No, I did not get the new jig, but I did get the leather honing disk as a part of the package not as an add-on by the store. Just saw the jig for wider blades but as of today not much use for this. I did step through the manual to set up and then do my first honing. After that it was pretty easy to do the rest.
I had one old chisel that had a very bad and mis-shapen edge so used the 120 grit wheel to hone a new edge. Had to be careful here as this wheel is very aggressive and had some filings come off the that were glowing red hot. Thankfully easy to see and made me slow down the process. But after the 120 to 400 to 1000 grits I had a new chisel! :-)
I will need to put my mind to the disk/wheel storage problem though. Not yet sure how I will do this. The link you provided has given me some ideas.
"charlieb" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@accesscom.com...
You know... I haven't shopped so much for non-woodworking tools as I have in the past 3 months of doing this Neander thing. It started innocently with a Krausz dovetail video. The previously perfectly serviceable chisels were no longer nearly sharp enough. OK, fine. The bench grinder doesn't work so well with the high carbon tool steel, so it got replaced with a slow speed grinder. But does it stop there? I didn't know it then, but it was just the beginning. I tired of dorking with the granite surface plate, and snapped up some "cheap" waterstones (even the cheap ones ain't, if you know what I mean). So "Sharp" became my middle name. Nothing else got done, but cutting edges gleamed like nobody's business, each a veritable arm hair shaving mirror. And for a few brief days early in December, I was completely out of things that can be sharpened. Everything that could be sharpened already was, and then some. Even the steak knives and kitchen knives got the treatment. So, feeling thus empowered, and with the growing emptiness crying to be filled, I whispered to Santa one evening that I wanted some carving gouges. Curvaceous and gleaming beautifically in the shop lights, their only purpose in my life, apparently, is to get dull and then resharpened. So far, that's working out pretty well. I've managed to dig deep, random shaped pockets in my 8/4 oak, walnut, and cherry stock. Someday I'll get around to actually making something other than chips, but I was rather pleased for a short while with scaring out tightly curled cross grain chips ahead of the gouge. But the emptiness is back, and it's growing. There has to be a better way to sharpen these things...
Is the WS3000 the end all and be all? Will it finally end this madness? I don't think I'm the first one down this path. Those who came before me gave birth to the Tormeks, Worksharps, and Chipping Aways. Where and when does this end?
Let's see, set of four mid grade water stones and a tool holder (about $200) a low speed grinder plus upgraded grinding wheels plus a wheel dressing tool plus a jig or two (around $300) Tormek with a few accessories (around $400) JoolTool - loaded ($400) Lap-Sharp base unit ($600) plus th Tool Guide & Holding jig ($80) WS2000 - 25 degree bevel jig ($129) WS3000 - 20, 25, 30 and 35 degrees bevel jig ($200) Trip to the emergency room to stitch up a sliced hand resulting from forcing a dull cutting tool - $1000 minimum
One of those circular sharpening systems had a problem where the end nearer the center of the disk wore differently than the edge at the other end. The problem: the edge wasn't 90 degrees.
I read somewhere that the concern was uneven material removal from differences in rotation speed, due to the differing radial distance along the tool edge. The question was whether the effect was noticeable or objectionable. It would seem to be in the right direction for a usefully cambered plane iron. That is, if the plane iron center was closest to the disc center, the corners will see slightly higher surface speed, and thus be ground a little faster. (I doubt it can be measured given a flat enough and rigid enough tool.)
There may also be a problem with all of the horizontal grinders. It has been claimed that because the scratches are across the blade instead of down its length, the edge will break down sooner.
Is this right? I don't know, but intuitively it seems to make sense. Even if it is true, the difference may not be significant. Anyone explored this issue?
The position of the sharpening port is such that the abrasive crosses the blade at close to a right angle. Here's a link to a picture of a chisel sharpened with the WS3000:
Any effect would be less than that of a hollow grind. Also, the last few honing strokes I take are parallel to the cutting edge, riding the hollow like a skate blade. I suppose it wouldn't take very many strokes on the 6000 stone to clean away whatever obtuse roughness the WS might leave. Depending on the final grit used.
I've read that, too. For what it is worth, I've noticed many woodworking claims made about this technique or that technique (not just sharpening) are based on some logically derived conclusion but no real data. As many tests of these claims have shown, logic alone doesn't really cut it.
I use the side to side sharpening technique, when hand sharpening a flat bevel with no sharpening jig. Works better (faster) for me than trying to keep the bevel flat going front to back. If I was using a hollow ground bevel, or a typical jig, I wouldn't do that.
I don't notice any difference in edge longevity. I generally sharpen the final pass with 0.5 micron abrasive. I think with that fine a polish, the direction of scratches vs. strength of edge effect is minimal.
That's more like 500 sheets, various grits, $50 in bulk. A few scraps of various thickness (and flatness) float glass, followed by a granite surface plate, $40. They got your money, coming, going, and while yer sitting still in between. Handtools decidedly ain't cheap.
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