worksharp 3000 buying advice

[mqbernardo]

Hi all! thanks for looking.

I´m almost set on buying an WS 3000 device, but the price at Rutlands (even with the "discount") seems a bit steep when compared with the US offerings, and i really don´t need the knife sharpening kit they´re offering - So, has anyone bought a WS 3000 from any other place apart from Rutlands? is it worth to buy it from the other side of the pond?

(i guess i´m only asking this so that folks convince me to buy it from Rutlands - it sure be faster to get here)

Thanks in advance,
Miguel.

 

[carlb40]

Never used that system, are there any other uk sellers of the worksharp system?
Also one thing to note re buying from the usa or any other country. Unless a world wide warranty is offered, you probably won't get any warranty at all buying from the usa or similar.

 

[AndyT]

"Clever" devices like that look attractive by suggesting that they will solve all your problems - even those you didn't know you you had. But if they were really the best way to sharpen, there would be lots of similar models and everyone would have one!
I think they are the woodworking equivalent of the kitchen gadgets sold on TV shopping channels - the special electric chicken roasters, the fat-free fryers, the coffee makers which only work with one brand of capsules, etc. People buy them in a fit of enthusiasm, use them a few times, then abandon them in favour of older, simpler methods.

 

[carlb40]

"Clever" devices like that look attractive by suggesting that they will solve all your problems - even those you didn't know you you had. But if they were really the best way to sharpen, there would be lots of similar models and everyone would have one!
I think they are the woodworking equivalent of the kitchen gadgets sold on TV shopping channels - the special electric chicken roasters, the fat-free fryers, the coffee makers which only work with one brand of capsules, etc. People buy them in a fit of enthusiasm, use them a few times, then abandon them in favour of older, simpler methods.

Must agree. I use a few methods for sharpening my chisels. All by hand. Some of my work chisels get chipped etc and needed grinding. I did look into various options, but decided for the little amount of use any type of grinder would get used, not to bother. Instead i made my own.
A piece of mdf, an 80g sanding disc for an angle grinder. Bolt through the centre. Bung in bench drill. Knock up a ply tool rest set at 25 degrees. Job done. Cost nothing but time as i had the bits already

 

[fluffflinger]

I'm with Andy & Carl I think there are far cheaper and easier ways to grind primary bevels on chisels and plane irons.

My preferred method is my belt sander. I can adjust the belt to run away from centre and this leaves me a nice platform on which to place my honing jig (Kell No 3) or you could use an Eclipse style jig or freehand or build some kind of ramp to support whatever you are grinding if your sander doesn't adjust like mine. If you are careful and keep your finger behind the blade or chisel it's easy to make sure that you are not overheating the metal, my method is slowest speed and dab the blade for a second or two only, use the coarsest grit possible it will remove metal quicker with less heat.

Cost zero as I had the belt sander, maybe you have one too?.

I also have but don't use often these days a cheap grinder that I replaced the wet wheel with a 2.1/2in wide ply disc with 40grit paper stuck to it, worked really well and it's so slow you simply can't burn the blade. You can pick these up for a few pounds on ebay. Mine cost £8 at a boot fair. It's like this http://www.tooled-up.com/product/dr...oductlisting&gclid=CLyUudeWibYCFabLtAod5CcAPw

 

[HRRLutherie]

I've had the WS3000 for about a year now, and I find it extremely useful, and, if you have the right accessories (many of which can be easily made yourself), you can sharpen pretty much anything.

In any case, if you decide that it is a gimmick, you can sell it on eBay and get most of you cash back.

This video will give you an idea of the kind of modifications that can be easily made:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU9WecxUFfw

 

[Mattty]

I know at least 4 Pro woodworkers, myself included who have the work sharp. It is an excellent machine and very quick and simple to use.
I think the knife sharpening gadgets devalue it and certainly make it look quite gimicky,(i have never tried them) but in reality it is far and away the quickest sharpening devise i've used and you can free hand sharpen and guide sharpen so it suits most people.

I'd be interested to know if the negative comments have actually tried the tool?

Price- yes it's expensive.

 

[mqbernardo]

thanks for the replies guys. oldskool!

well, you guys seem like my wife - when i´m ready to spend some cash she always comes with a reality check. tough thing, that reality ting.

i´m no pro woodworker by any stretch, but i´ve spent the last 3 years learning how to sharpen chisels, scrapers and plane blades. i told myself that when i started to grasp it and have consistent results, than it would be OK to cheat and get one of those gimmicks. i DO like to sharpen on the finer grits and will continue to do so, but grinding on waterstones is just messy and cumbersome for me (YMMV of course).
The WS3000 is a bit expensive (less than a Tormek, though - but it´s a different beast i guess) but i want to pamper myself for a change.
The missus is loosing this battle...

thanks,
miguel.

 

[carlb40]

I know at least 4 Pro woodworkers, myself included who have the work sharp. It is an excellent machine and very quick and simple to use.
I think the knife sharpening gadgets devalue it and certainly make it look quite gimicky,(i have never tried them) but in reality it is far and away the quickest sharpening devise i've used and you can free hand sharpen and guide sharpen so it suits most people.

I'd be interested to know if the negative comments have actually tried the tool?

Price- yes it's expensive.

No i haven't tried it. I ruled it out on expense and the fact it would get used twice a year if i'm lucky. I even ruled out a cheapo b&q bench grinder for the same reason - usage wise.

 

[carlb40]

thanks for the replies guys. oldskool!

well, you guys seem like my wife - when i´m ready to spend some cash she always comes with a reality check. tough thing, that reality ting.

i´m no pro woodworker by any stretch, but i´ve spent the last 3 years learning how to sharpen chisels, scrapers and plane blades. i told myself that when i started to grasp it and have consistent results, than it would be OK to cheat and get one of those gimmicks. i DO like to sharpen on the finer grits and will continue to do so, but grinding on waterstones is just messy and cumbersome for me (YMMV of course).
The WS3000 is a bit expensive (less than a Tormek, though - but it´s a different beast i guess) but i want to pamper myself for a change.
The missus is loosing this battle...

thanks,
miguel.

=D>

 

[HRRLutherie]

With regards to grit size, I made some MDF discs, and stuck on 0.5 Micron (30,000 grit) 3M Lapping film, from WorkshopHeaven.

Works a treat, and I get a ridiculous edge in under a minute.

 

[mqbernardo]

thanks for the info, taht seems a good idea.
BTW, i´m an amateur guitar builder - what instruments do you build, HRR?

miguel.

 

[HRRLutherie]

Well, it's more of an optimistic name than anything else.

I've been planning to build a dreadnought guitar for some years now, and I've been building up an arensal of tools, but I still haven't built one yet! However, a few months ago, I decided that I would take the easy option, and build a solid body electric guitar, as I don't actually have a decent electric guitar. With any luck, I should be ordering materials in the next few weeks, and will set about justifying my username!

 

[dp341]

I've had one for a couple of years. I really didn't get on with the chisel sharpening port, although I might give that another try. I used the system a lot for refurbishing a number of chisels and plane irons from an ebay splurge I had to build up a reasonable stock of hand-tools when I started down the slippery slope. It was great for speedily regrinding, using the wide blade attachment and for removing a little pitting from the backs of blades, freehand. I go back to it for regrinding when required as it really is very quick and easy to get a repeatable angle.

I tend not to use it for honing for a number of reasons. I don't really have room to keep it out all the time and and it's very quick to take a few passes on a fine stone to keep blades sharp. I found it could be a bit aggressive, even with very fine paper, great for speeding up grinding but unnecessary for a secondary bevel. The coarse papers are easy to get hold of cheaply but the really fine papers are more tricky to get for a good price.

I wouldn't buy it again if I either owned a reasonable set of chisels & planes or was planning to buy new, I think it saved me a lot of time in refurbishing the old tools I bought. Would the money have been better spent on a new set of chisels and replacement irons for old planes? Quite probably.

 

[Aled Dafis]

I used a Worksharp 3000 for a while and found it to be very good indeed, but for some unexplained reason I found myself going back to the diamond stone and strop due to convenience of not having to bring out another machine just to touch up a chisel/plane iron every time, so I sold it, haven't looked back.

So, yes it's very good, but too much hassle for an incredibly lazy guy like me.

Here's a little youtube vid of my diamond stone / strop approach. I've now mounted the stone and strop on a little ply board/bench hook so the whole process takes less than two minutes from reaching for the board to putting it back on the shelf and does away with the annoyance of the "non slip" holders slipping all over the bench.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFRJIAOGSJI

Cheers
Aled

 

[Boatfixer]

Theres the thing Aled - mine is plugged in and waiting in the corner of my shop ready to be used. I find it faster to flick a switch and have a honed chisel in a few seconds. I have used scary sharp in the past, moving on to freehand with oil stones. The WS 3000 I find to be quicker and easier to get a blade sharp enough for my purposes. I tend to only use 2 grades of abrasive so miss out on polishing to the Nth degree but for my hacking away at lumps of wood I get them to a workable edge.

Graham

 

[Aled Dafis]

Yes I'm sure that if you have a dedicated sharpening area, the Worksharp would be Ideal, but I never found a permanent home for it, so it became a phaff to use. I totally agree however that it's a great solution for plane irons and chisels and is capable of producing really sharp edges in a short time. I used mine with a honing guide against the top bar as opposed to using the port underneath, which worked quite well - I think that I have a pic somewhere...

 

[RogerS]

Who needs a permanent home for it? Mine lives happily on the floor ...always plugged in...so easy to pop up onto the bench and put sharpen up an edge.

Like Mattty says, there are a lot of professional woodworkers who swear by it. We tend to not get anally fixated about sharpening using 10,000 grit or whatever ....much preferring to get on and get the job done! The Worksharp fits the bill.

One of my Top Ten buys. Brilliant bit of kit.

 

[mack9110000]

Brilliant bit of kit.

Two's up on that !
mack

 

[mqbernardo]

Well, it's more of an optimistic name than anything else.

I've been planning to build a dreadnought guitar for some years now, and I've been building up an arensal of tools, but I still haven't built one yet! However, a few months ago, I decided that I would take the easy option, and build a solid body electric guitar, as I don't actually have a decent electric guitar. With any luck, I should be ordering materials in the next few weeks, and will set about justifying my username!

thanks for the reply.
well, i´ve been at this for 3 years now and i´m only finishing my 2nd guitar (both classical guitars, which is the instrument that interests me the most). it seems that guitar (instrument) building is a thing that settles in slowly, but after a few instruments you apparently gain momentum - or at least so i´ve been told. always persevere!

good luck with your guitar!
miguel.