Worksharp 3000 - Mini review

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MickCheese

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I have put this in Handtools even though it is really a machine!

I am just a hobby woodworker, I have always enjoyed making things but recently it has been DIY stuff. I will try my hand at most things, even plastering. (Not very good at that though!)

I have tried lots of different way to sharpen my tools, oil stones, ceramic stones, scary sharp the list goes on. I got on OK with the scary sharp system and the ceramic stone to finish but it seemed to take ages and I now know my tools were never properly sharp. I understand it was down to operator error and maybe I should have persevered?

Recently I took the plunge and bought the Worksharp 3000 from ‘Rutlands’.
It cost £199 and included a free leather honing wheel that I thought I would not really use but it was included, more about that later. I did ponder over the cost as it seemed quite expensive.

Worksharp

It arrived the day after ordering, well packaged within a Rutlands box. Upon opening the Worksharp box there is the machine, two 150mm tempered glass grinding wheels, one slotted grinding wheel, a tool rest, abrasive disc cleaner and an abrasives pack also the free Leather Hone Kit. It also has a 2 year warranty. It appeared a lot smaller than I had imagined.
So, as usual, I ignore the instructions and begin. (I had seen a video on YouTube).

Setting up is really easy, just peal the backing from the abrasives and stick them to the wheel. I wasn’t sure to begin with if I could stick one to one side of the wheel and another to the other, but that is the case.
Stood it on the worktop, turned it on, grabbed a old nasty chisel and began sharpening.

This is when I realised I needed to read the instructions, so I did.
10 minutes later I started by flattening the back of the chisel through the abrasives. You need to be careful doing this that you don’t allow the blade to touch the spinning wheel before the back or you will grind a back bevel into the end at a strange angle. At the end of this process the back was now more flat and shinier than it had ever been, it really didn’t take long.
I then set the angle of the grinding port to 25 degrees and started to grind. It worked really quickly and in next to no time I had a reground chisel. I then changed from the 120 grit to a finer 400 grit by just flipping over the wheel, really easy to do, just one thumb screw. I then gave the ground end a bit of a polish, I know it does not need it but I was curious. I then changed the grinding port to 30 degrees and the second wheel that was loaded with 1000 Grit on one side and 3600 micromesh on the other. Using the 1000 side a few touches had a secondary bevel and the 3600 polished it to a mirror finish. The wire burr is taken care of by the grinding port that has an abrasive liner that removes the burr as you pull the chisel away each time.

So, how did I find it? Fantastic.

Did anything go wrong? Yes but it was operator error. I managed to present the chisel to the wheel without it being flat on the grinding port meaning I had to re-grind the resultant missing corner out. I re-ground a block plane blade and found it was not square, I checked the other blades I had done and they were square, I found the setting of the grinding port that was ‘set at the factory, had moved and needed re-setting.
I was not sure how I was going to do that but in the end it was very easy (after reading the instructions again). I just used a scraper that I knew was perfectly square against a ruler, so I would say that is worth keeping an eye on. I think it moved as I had used too much pressure on a wide chisel when the 120 grit grinding abrasive had become worn and I didn’t have another.
I have now bought some more 6” adhesive pads from Axminster, £5 instead of £20 proper Worksharp ones, in fairness they do say in the instructions that any 6” discs can be used.

Today I tried, for the first time the, leather honing wheel, now I don’t really know what I am doing with this and didn’t think I would use it but it was there and seemed wrong not to give it a try. I loaded it as per the instructions with the honing paste, fitted it to the machine, this does not use the grinding port it is freehand, and I polished the rear of a chisel then the bevel. I really think this made the blade much sharper.

My chisels now cut cross grain in a piece of oak and make a shushing noise as they cut with a lot less pressure, I have only tried it on my block planes so far but the effect is a much easier cut, even my cheap Axminster block plane that I normally use for rough work now cuts quite nicely.

So, was it worth the money? Well I have only had it a few days, but I would say yes. What I have found is that it is really easy to touch the tools up frequently so you are never working with a tool that is past its best, something I had done in the past as the agro of sharpening was much greater then now.

Hope this is of use to someone.

Mick
 
Glad to hear that you agree with everyone else who's bought the WS 3000 on this forum. 8) :wink:

I've found that some block plane blades are tricky to sharpen and it is easy to present them at the wrong angle or let them 'shift' as they contact the abrasive. This is largely because they're so short. Some irons, like the one with the Veritas Apron Plan, are tapered down both edges, leaving very little straight, parallel steel at the sides to reference off of. Extreme care and caution is required. :)

I also got the leather wheel but I haven't really tried using it. You can get such a good edge with the abrasives, I really don't think it's necessary.
 
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