Work Sharp 3000 Knife Sharpener

[Marie Ota]

WorkSharp WS3000 Tool Sharpening System Manufacturer: Work Sharp

Model number: WS3000

Price: 250.00

Power source: 6-Foot Cord

Motor size: 1/5 HP

Weight: 16 lbs

I love sharp chisels and hand planes but I hate sharpening them. I hate it so much that for many years I used my lumberyards sharpening service to avoid sharpening my own tools. While that system worked great, it costs me money and was not always fast or convenient. Thats where the Work Sharp WS3000 tool sharpener comes into play.

The WS3000 weighs around 16 lbs. and is a well built machine that uses a 1/5 hp induction motor. It spins fairly quiet and with almost no vibration and does not bog down when blade pressure is applied.

I found adjusting the sharpening port super easy to use and super accurate. Wider tools can be sharpened freehand on top of the wheel, using the top mounted tool rest and lathe tools can be sharpened under the wheel with the Edge-Vision sharpening wheel.

I set up my two glass wheels and Edge-vision wheel with several different grits of abrasives to suit my needs. I have a P80 side and a P120 side on the same glass disc for rapid grinding and the other disc with a finer abrasives for more honing and finishing. On my second disc I have P120 and P400. The slotted wheel has P120 grit. I find that the 120 grit is used the most, and I really like that I can quickly flip the glass wheel over to use the two different grit abrasives.

Pro Tip: micro-bevel your chisels. Sharpen a 25 chisel to a 30 micro-bevel. This not only dramatically speeds up the sharpening process, but also extends the life of your abrasives since the amount of grinding is greatly reduced.

Abrasives can be purchased in kits from retailers such as Woodcraft, Rockler, Hartville Tool, Garrett Wade (coarse, fine, honing, and slotted) or directly from DARE-X in any mix and match quantity. Abrasive kits sell for approximately $14.00.

The Work Sharp WS3000 is a real deal sharpening system and is priced extremely fairly for what it delivers. It completely eliminates the problems I encountered with hand sharpening jigs by delivering a precise, accurate, repeatable bevel angles every time!

The Work Sharp WS3000 can be purchased at most quality woodworking stores for approx. $250.00 and Amazon and around $200 at ACME Tools or hereWork Sharp Work Sharp WS3000 Tool Sharpening SystemAmazonBuy NowACME ToolsBuy Now

Robert Robillard is a remodeler, general contractor, and principal of a carpentry and renovation business located in Concord, Massachusetts, and serves as the Editor of Tool Box Buzz and founding editor of A Concord Carpenter . Rob is in charge of our Tool and Product Review - Tool and Product Review - Video Channel, , where we post all of our tool reviews and video tutorials. Rob enjoys using his knowledge and experience to help and educate building professionals as well as DIYers on best practices in the remodeling industry. The Concord Carpenter's motto: "Well done is better than well said!" : Read more about Rob

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The Work Sharp 3000 wood tool sharpener let's you monitor stock removal from above with the "see-through" wheel while a large port provides access from underneath. This works exceptionally well for sharpening large turning tools quickly and efficiently while also providing a means to sharpen and hone carving tools, especially the smaller profiles that require a more delicate touch. This is an air cooled, dry sharpening system that uses maintenance free 150mm tempered glass wheels to which you adhere PSA abrasives. Slotted "see-through" wheel allows for fast and precise sharpening of carving and lathe tools.

The precise and repeatable sharpening port enables sharpening of 20, 25, 30, and 35 degree angle chisels and plane irons up to 2" wide. No jigs are needed; just select angle and sharpen. Lapping abrasive in the sharpening port increases burr removal and speeds sharpening. The rigid bevel angle settings and skew cam provide precise positioning of the sharpening port. Bevel and skew geometry are not affected by wheel diameter, chisel size, or complex user setup. Forced air-cooling and the sharpening port heat sink allow for higher material removal rates without affecting the steel temper. It allows for quick reshaping of a new or damaged chisel, and fast honing of a micro bevel. The precise bevel angles are set in the sharpening port, not in a fixture or jig, so switching between angles is simple and fast. No re-calibration is required for changing wheel diameter or tool size. Coarse grind for rapid shaping and then micro-fine hone all in one port. The Work Sharp 3000 comes with a 2 year manufacturer's warranty and the following accessories: 2 tempered float glass wheels, a "see-through" slotted wheel, top tool rest, crepe stick, and PSA abrasive kit.

Features:

Full disclosures, I have two (2) hand grinders, two (2) 6 inches 3450 RPMs grinders with a bunch of accessories and a full complements of most hand sharpening systems known to man. So why add this one?

Normally I do all that by hands, using my flat granite runway or a piece of tempered glass or a flat stone tile. Problem is I have this small problem with tools. You see, my magnetic personality tend to attract rusty tools of every kind and after all these years, I have a "pile" of tools that need sharpening :-)

Like I said, I am not a fan of hollow grind, so wanted something flat. I have used my belt sander in the past to flatten my chisel's backs and yes, sharpen. Years ago there was a few Japanese waterstones machines, that used a flat revolving stone, but if you ever used waterstones you know they are messy and they wear fast, requiring constant flattening.

Both machines works very well, I have sharpen a few tools on the Veritas system previously. I like it very much but it is a tad pricy for me to justify. But Dear, I have over 140 planes and 47 chisels, I need help :-)

Worksharp made two models, the smaller and faster spinning 2000 (discontinued) and its bigger brother, the 3000, which run slower enabling us to use interchangeable glass platen. You can also make MDF disks to use and the machine can becomes a power strop by using a leather covered glass platen.

A port to sharpen your chisel and iron blades at a fixed angle, adjustable in 5 degrees steps from 20 to 35 degrees in 5 degrees increments and the ability to sharpen under a slotted disk enabling you to see your edge being sharpened. Used mostly for turning gouges and carving tools. Gimmick?

2- It is very probable that your chisel was not grinded at exactly 25 degrees, or may be bellied after repeated hand sharpening. And since we touch up the back, we may have introduced a slight angle vis a vis the other side. Keep on grinding and it will come out sharp and square. IF NOT, THEN you can touch up that adjustment.

I put down a different grits on each sides, so two grits per platen. Whichever grit I'm sharpening in the underside port, I have, half the time, a higher grit on top to touch up my back. The machine comes with 4 grits: P120, P400, P1000, P3600 and 2 platen.

Being Pressure Sensitive Adhesive (PSA), you need to clean the glass platen prior to sticking the abrasive disks to ensure good adhesion all over. I used Isopropyl alcohol 99%, but I'm sure the more common 90% would work just as good.

Interestingly, the grits provided are from Norton and they have both Ceramic oxide and Aluminum oxide disks. The Ceramic oxide, if you can find them are to be preferred over Aluminum oxide. Because they do not load up as fast and last longer and yes cost more, but still a good deal. I do not think everyone would have to sharpen that many chisels as I have, all at once, often, if ever :-)

Since my coarsest grit is 120 and I have lots of vintage that need a good "work out", I need something coarser to go faster. 80 grits or so for metal removal, not wood. Wood sandpapers works but they will load up and wear much faster.

Been looking around to see where I can find suitable abrasives disks, besides from Worksharp, and curiously, the better deal happened to be from Busy Bee Tools (where I bought my machine) and the OEM disks package from Worksharp. They worked out at about Can $2 each, not cheap but very good abrasives. Some aluminum oxides, but lots of Ceramic oxides ones also in their packages.

If you Google it, you will find all kinds of variations on Stumpy original design. I will probably end up with something incorporating a few features of each and maybe add my own twists to satisfy my needs.

2- For some idiotic reasons, they do not all sport the same sizes diameter spindles for the stones and leather hones as the original Tormek. When they do, they open the door to a large variety of options like various grits, waterstones, CBN wheels etc., when they don't, you may get by with shims or not depending if under or over size spindle.

You can see it being reviewed here , here in Canada at our local Canadian Tire hardware stores, they have their own version but the best one I found so far AND fit the the correct sizes for the Tormek is the King Canada machine which is also well priced, along with its own version of the Tormek adapter's.

The biggest problem with these types of wet wheel sharpener is the water bath. You must soak the wheel before using and you should never leave the wheel wet in the water bath for long period of time or it will unbalanced the wheel, the wet part becoming heavier, abrade faster and... Other than that they work fine.

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