Jet vs. Worksharp Sharpeners

[Anthony Whitesell]

After this economic mess is settled down and I (still) have a job, I'm going to be laying down the cash for one of these. But what is the difference or disadvatages/advantages of the Jet/Tormek vertical wheel style sharpeners versus the WorkSharp horizontal wheel sharpeners?

[scott spencer]

My knowledge is a little shaky on these Anthony, so take it with a grain of salt. The Jet/Tormek/Scheppach types have a round wheel that gives a hollow grind, which is desirable to some. I believe the Workshop may be simpler, but am not certain.

Both camps seem to be pleased with the results in general.

[george wilson]

I put up what became a long thread in the Neander section 'Did your jet grinder stop working",or words to that effect. Look it up and read it so you'll know what to do if it stops working.

[Jim Kountz]

I have the Worksharp 3000. Its very easy to use and puts a VERY fine edge on a tool. The one thing I found I didnt like was how fast the paper discs wear out. If you find a need to change the bevel angle on a chisel for example from say 25 to 30 degrees, its hard to do on the worksharp with a single disc. You end up changing out for a new one.
However for honing your tools to a ridiculously sharp edge and I mean REALLY sharp, it excels at that. After honing a chisel on the 3000, I pared down the end of a 1.5" piece of purpleheart and it sliced through it like cutting air. Effortless and smooth. For the money its a good deal but not nearly as versatile as Tormek or Jet. Not even close really.

[Paul Johnstone]

After this economic mess is settled down and I (still) have a job, I'm going to be laying down the cash for one of these. But what is the difference or disadvatages/advantages of the Jet/Tormek vertical wheel style sharpeners versus the WorkSharp horizontal wheel sharpeners?

I don't have either. But I think a lot depends on what you are sharpening.
From my research, the worksharp works well on chisels and plane blades.

Something like the Jet/Tormek is more versatile, because they have jigs for turning tools and other stuff. They say it is possible to "Freehand" turning tools on the worksharp, but the feedback that I've read said that it's not an effective way to sharpen.

[Fred Hargis]

Only my opinion, the Jet/Tormek is a bit more versatile, and probably more expensive if you get all the do-jiggies to go with it. The Worksharp seems to be more limited, but I've never seen a post from someone who bought and then didn't like it. I can't say that about the Jet, or the Tormek.

[Jacob Mac]

A couple of weeks ago I bought a water sharpener from Woodcraft on clearance. It broke before I had even sharpened 4 chisels. So I was left with a similar choice as you are facing. I choose the Worksharp, and I couldn't be happier.

I bought my Worksharp from Hartville Tools so I got free shipping and a free leather honing wheel. The honing wheel is fantastic for keeping my carving tools really sharp. And it is small enough I can keep it right by my work so I can keep a very sharp edge with little fuss. And I have never had sharper chisels.

The advantage of a Worksharp is that it is fast, neat, and almost impossible to mess up. I really like mine, and having consistently sharp tools is a real joy. The $200 pricetag is steep, but I don't regret buying it at all.

But that isn't to say the JEt and Tormek aren't good machines. They clearly are. They are just a lot more expensive. If you want a water sharpening system for cheaper, you might want to look into Grizzly's version.

[Wilbur Pan]

Dust.

With the Tormek or a Jet, you won't have metal and abrasive dust flying around your shop.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I thought of getting the Woodcraft one. I guess now I'm glad I didn't (I'm sorry about your misfortune).

I looked at the Grizzly website and they have two versions. They have a horizontal stone (Woodcraft/WoodRiver Clearance) and a vertical stone (Jet style). Any opinions as to which is better? They are both wet stone ginders only in different orientations.

[Richard Chan]

Go to ebay and search for (ace hardware) and make an offer. I got mine for 175.00 last year.

[Glenn Lewis]

for what it's worth I got a work sharp 3000 recently, and with zero previous sharpening experience, i managed to get all my chisels and plane irons sharp enough to shave the hair off my arm within a few hours of taking the machine out of its box. (explaining to my wife the strange hairless patches on my arm is another story altogether)

i have no experience with a tormek style unit, so they may be just as easy for all i know, but i have no complaints so far about the WS3000... oh 1 complaint, maybe: the big iron from my #8 is too big for the 'sharpening port'. apparently it can be sharpened free hand, but i don't have the confidence to try that yet...

[george wilson]

Be careful of the little thin push on connectors in the Jet's circuit board breaking. That's why they break. Easily soldered back.

[Barry Vabeach]

Anthony,Scott had it right. There are 2 main differences . The first is a vertical wheel will give a hollow grind and the horizontal gives a straight grind - meaning the bevel is flat not hollow. In addition, on a vertical wheel you typcially you have one grit ( or at most 2 - the Jet is 220 and about 1000 ) . As such it is usually used to sharpen a tool that is dull, and for tools that need to be really sharp, you would often use a flat abrasive, like a waterstone or scary sharp for final honing. ( lathe tools are often used right off the grinder ) The hollow grind makes it quicker to do a final honing, since you are not polishing the whole bevel, the area that is hollowed doesn't touch the stone. Also, it is easier to hone free hand, because the bevel won't rock as easily due to the hollow.In addition, the vertical wheel is usually pretty coarse since in most cases, you will use something else to hone. In contrast, if the horizontal wheel is a stone, it is usually a finer grit than the vertical one. Some of the horizontal wheels, like worksharp and Lee Valley, come with a number of different platters such that you do the initial grind with one disk, then refine it with another disk and so on until it is fully honed. Since the horizontal wheel generally gives a flat grind, it would be harder to free hand hone it on a stone since it is easy to rock it. I have owned a Delta horizontal wheel ( IIRC correctly, it had a 1000 grit horizontal waterstone and a coarser smaller vertical wheel ) and now use the lee valley disks on a horizontal grinder. The main advantage to the horizontal is that you have a wide variety of grits. The downside is that it is pretty easy to get a camber on the blade even when you don't intend to - in part because the outsides of the platter move faster than the inside. The main advantage of the vertical is that it is easier to keep the cutter square - though the downside is that I usually use some other method to do the final honing - in which case, you have to wonder whether you would be better off buying a cheap grinder, and either some fine sandpaper or fine stones, and follow the sharpening procedure described by Joel of TWW in FWW, which suprisingly I could not find on the TWW website, though he does cover how to hone after grinding on a vertical wheel.