Most other threads here seem to be comparing the Tormek T-7 and Worksharp to each other, but
- Is the T3 any good? Do you need to have machine power to keep stuff sharp?
- Is using stones and the Veritas guide usable and easy for keeping chisels & plane blades sharp? Which grits would you suggest? Oil vs. water stones? Other guide systems?

Since I'm a hobbyist I don't need to sharpen blades by the boatload nor an extra 5min per blade bother me at all, but if setting up is tedious (machines?) or its hard to get the sharpening done right (stones & manual guide) it will be a no-go.

Currently I have absolutely nothing to sharpen anything but kitchen knives (diamond sharpener for them) so anything is probably a win

Axminster is having a sale on Tormek T-3's and for some time I've been eyeing the Veritas Mk.II Honing system & stones to go with it.

I went with the T7 over T3 simply because the larger wheel creates less curve in the bevel of a chisel Also the base machine is the only cost variable, All the accessories are common.

I've tried oil stones and have also destroyed a few tools on a normal grindstone. That's why I went to a system with a proven methodology I could follow, having seemingly accurate measurement tools and repeatable/adjustable jig setups.

Generally I don't believe you "need" power to sharpen stuff if you are skilled and patient (I am neither).

If you can get a cheap T3 and the appropriate jig for chisels (and not get drawn into buying all the jigs .... And also don't was to sharpen drill bits ...) it'd probably serve you well.

I know space is an issue for you and you may be better off With a compact light unit. Sharpening can e messy ...

I read this a little while ago ...

http://www.finewoodworking.com/pages/w00003.asp

... Looked all too hard.

Kev.

In a pinch, a belt sander.  I've sharpened some chisels so sharp they cut through paper.

I use waterstones and a Veritas mark II honing guide for all my tools. I even gave my bench grinder to a friend, but once when I wanted to change the angle on a plane blade I paid him a visit to use it.

I have Norton stones of 1000, 4000 and 8000 grit. They work very well. I also have a DMT diamond flattening plate to keep the stones flat.

I bought a cheap pine kitchen stand from IKEA to use as a sharpening station- I think it was $40- and I have a couple of granite slabs on top to place the stones on. It stands next to a sink- very useful.

That's all I have and all I need to keep everything sharp. It's super-fast and very efficient, which is important because if you are not comfortable with your sharpening process you will not do it as regularly as you need to. It's taken me over a year to get really efficient but there's no way I would change to another system now since this one works so well for me.

Another factor is cost. Once you buy the stones, the diamond plate and the honing guide you are done for a long time. It's much much cheaper than using sandpaper over the medium and long term.

Ray,

I use Japanese water stones, I have a 700 grit, 1200 grit and a 4000 grit and they with the aid of the new Veritas Mark 11 is all I need.  I had three other sharpening aids but, the new Veritas is well engineered and overcomes all of the deficiencies of the others I have owned.

Jack

Cheers for the link love the angle setting jig.


I use the veritas honing guide and a diamond stone.  I'll use a belt sander to grind it down when I need to which is rare.   I do want a worksharp but just not got round to buy one yet.  It does take ages using just a diamond stone but it's doable! I managed!

Jmb

I found a barely used tormek on Craigslist a couple years ago and it is just a great sharpener to have, especially with all the jigs you can get for it.  I do  timber framing and also collect old chisels. I'm always prowling eBay for them and many come in horrible shape and the tormek is amazing at working them back to form.  I couldn't imagine grinding the back flat on anything else after using this. You can so quickly go back and forth from aggressive to fine grinding too.   And the stone will last forever it seems.  I've sharped so many slicks and large thick chisels for myself, friends and family, it's incredible how durable it is.  If you are into festool, this sharpener is for you.  You will never be disappointed you got it.   As far as ease of use, I would say that is the number one reason to get it, it's fast and easy.  The old 2000 tormek is a great machine and I see it sold for cheap all over.  Everyone wants the newest thing, but you could get the old one for half the price and it will also work flawlessly.

The leather side of the tormek along with honing compound is amazing at just what you are speaking of, but hey if you like what you got, why change.

I just bought the worksharp 3000 and find it great . I bought some cheap sandpaper discs for 80 grits and also made a load of mdf discs instead of buying the expensive glass ones.

Reiska, this is just my opinion so others may well disagree.

I would not use the diamond plates as the basis for my sharpening system. I do use a diamond plate for flattening my waterstones, and I also use it for kitchen knives, but not my chisels and plane blades. I prefer the waterstones because they cut smooth and fast, and the water lubricates the cutting action. Waterstones are also preferable for more advanced sharpening techniques such as cambering the blade- if you use a diamond plate for this it is possible to dig the corner into the holes and it makes the process more difficult.

Regarding grit numbers, I don't know how a 1200 diamond stone compares to a 8000 waterstone in terms of results, but I can tell you that I use a DMT duosharp diamond plate equivalent to 220 grit to flatten my 1000 and 4000 stones. The flip side of the 220 grit (DMT refer to it as extra coarse) is 325 grit (coarse) and this is what I use to flatten my 8000 stone.

http://www.dmtsharp.com/sharpeners/bench-stones/duosharp/

If you do go down the waterstone route, buy the individual stones, not the conmbination ones. Yes, it is more expensive but they last much longer per grit so that works out the same. You also have two faces per stone so you can sharpen for longer between flattenings. (I dropped my combination stone on the floor and it split in half, so I ended up with two stones anyway but I do not recommend this!)

Lie Nielsen have two great videos on sharpening with waterstones on youtube which I highly recommend.

The Veritas honing guide is terrific, but with two drawbacks. The first regards the registration jig you attach to it to set the blade length. This is made of steel and the depth stop on it can damage the edge of your blade when you remove it from the jig. Remove this depth stop and use a marker to draw a line instead. Second, always remember to set the microbevel back to zero so you do not inadvertently but a microbevel where you don't want one when you next sharpen.

Hope this helps.

Good point about the stone length. I have never had a problem with the Norton stones, but avoid the King stones as they are way too narrow. Norton stones are 2 3/4" wide and 7 3/4" long.

For touching up a chisel, you turn it on push the chisel in and it is done - 10 seconds. If a chisel is badly damaged you can start with 80 grit to quickly establish an edge and then go up through the grits 400 - 1000 - I finish on 3600. No water all over the bench, no dressing the stone, no grading the stone no fiddling about setting the chisel to the right angle - what more do you want to know? With regards to edge quality, you can go up to 6000 solid micro mesh abrasive for fine honing but for me 3600 is quite adequate - enough to shave hairs. At the end of the day I want to spend my time woodworking with sharp tools not spending my time sharpening.

This looks interesting ...

http://alisam.com/

The have a blade sharpening sleds (there's several for sale on Ebay).

Uhm, this might be a really stupid question, but does the Worksharp sold in the UK have a 220V motor? (Since I've learned that some tools actualy use 110V there... just to be on the safe side  )

As a general rule all workshop equipment in uk is 240v and 110v is for site use , so equipment meant for workshop usually only available in 240/220 v