[member=1674]Peter Halle[/member] I know this post about the Workshop is from a long time ago, but I have a question (with some background to explain the question). I have a Workshop 3000 and had been using it to sharpen with great success. Recently, though, I started hand sharpening with diamond stones for the coarser grits and waterstones for the last couple of steps. I have flattened the backs of my chisels better than ever before using 4000 and 8000 grit waterstones. If I take a chisel flattened by hand and then try to sharpen it on the Worksharp, the back of the chisel gets scatched because the "heatsink" on the Worksharp uses a 1500 grit piece of sandpaper. Based on your experience with the Worksharp, do you have a way of getting around this. I was thinking of buying very fine sandpaper for the heatsink (like up to 10,000 grit wet/dry if that exists) but doubt that sandpaper that fine would actually help hold the chisel in place while sharpening which I think is the purpose of the little squares of sandpaper Worksharp directs to be mounted. Have you run up against this problem? If so, how have you solved it? I love sharpening with the Worksharp because it's so fast, but the results are much better using a Veritas MKII guide and diamond and waterstones.Peter Halle said:
Worksharp Sharpening Station
- Thread starter danjames
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jonny round boy
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grbmds said:
The sandpaper in the heatsink isn't to hold the blade, it's supposedly to remove any burrs on the back of the blade as it's withdrawn. It's never really bothered me, but I can't see any reason why you couldn't swap it for a much higher grit, or do away with it altogether.
jonny round boy said:
I like the result on the Worksharp. However, for the first time in my life, I have some chisels with completely flat backs and scratching them up on the sandpaper on the heat sink hurt. I didn't expect that result. I'll have to look for some 8000 grit sandpaper. I've never seen any but I suppose it exists in auto body stores for auto paint work.
[member=7129]danjames[/member] Whatever way you go, the best advice I ever got was to pick one method and stick with just that method; no mixing of methods. So, if you go with the Worksharp, stick with the Worksharp and that only. If you go the direction of the MKII honing guide and stones stick only to that. The MKII also has a narrow blade guide accessory which should work for all chisels. It holds the blade by clamping the sides instead of the top clamp method. I found this accessory holds the chisels perfectly straight and square to the sharpening surface and keeps them square; or enough to get an edge so sharp that just bumping your hand against it by accident will result in a major cut (no details on my research methods).
Just to clarify, I'm no expert on this, but found through research and a great class from Christopher Schwarz and a Lie-Nielsen expert hand sharpening isn't all that tough and the results are worth it.
One last note: I do own a Worksharp and find that it is easy to sharpen on. However, I have never got good enough results when trying to flatten the back of my chisels on it. Once I do that, going back to the Worksharp is really mixing methods and the results are not as good for me.
Just to clarify, I'm no expert on this, but found through research and a great class from Christopher Schwarz and a Lie-Nielsen expert hand sharpening isn't all that tough and the results are worth it.
One last note: I do own a Worksharp and find that it is easy to sharpen on. However, I have never got good enough results when trying to flatten the back of my chisels on it. Once I do that, going back to the Worksharp is really mixing methods and the results are not as good for me.
I like my worksharp 3000 and I have the knife attachment which works well too. I bought an extra glass disc and some finer sandpaper but I don't think it's necessary. It works well with the stock abrasives. I also have a water wheel (motorized) and hand water stones and a holder to keep the angle constant and they work too. But the Worksharp 3000 does a good job and does it quickly. There are also wheels with louvers on them so you can sharpen turning tools on the underside. I haven't tried that yet but I am confident it works. It's a nice tool.
JimD said:
The wheels with the louvers are made of plastic and I find that they flex slightly resulting in a different (not 90 degrees) angle on your chisel compared with the glass wheel. They are however excellent for see the grinding action happening and great for freehand sharpening of turning or carving tools.
I think that the extra wheel should be used for some intermediate grits as I find that the jump from coarse to fine a bit much. You spend too much effort removing the coarse scratches with the fine wheel.
While I am moving toward using stones and manual sharpening, I have used my Worksharp and it's best to move through the progression of grits they have available in steps from coarse to fine to very fine. You can even get up to 6000 grit. However, I'm not sure I see the point of that if the lapping plate is covered with their 1500 grit 2 X 2 squares. If the back and the front aren't polished to the same grit, I don't believe the result will be any better than the result you'd get if you used 1500 on both.
