Work Sharp 3000 first impressions.

[Dave Falkenstein]

I got my Work Sharp 3000 last week. It certainly does a good and quick job of sharpening chisels and plane blades under 2". I have fully sharpened 7 chisels and am working on 7 more plus a plane blade. A couple of the chisels had nicks in the bevels, and the Work Sharp removed them with little time and effort. The micro-bevel capability is awesome.

One thing I am learning - it takes a long time to get chisels that are not flat on the bottom flattened. I have a set of 7 Stanley chisels and five of them are not flat. I'm still working at it with 80 grit, but the blade heats up fairly quickly, and then my fingers. Once flattened, the bevel sharpening process is quick.

I have found sources for small quantities of PSA paper up to 400 grit - Klingspor and Barb Snyder. I am still looking for a source for PSA in 6" discs or sheets in grits above 400 AND in small quantities, other than the very expensive Work Sharp kits. Any help there, please?

[Jay Albrandt]

Dave,

Thanks for the quick review. I am sorry I don't have a source for paper, but I do have a question.

Does the tool rest slide move in and out in relation to the center of the disc so the entire surface area of the abrasive can be used?

Thanks,

Jay

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Hi Dave, For the higher grits I think you can find those at auto parts stores that stock paper for body work. You can use spray adhesive if needed.

[Dave Falkenstein]

Dave,

Thanks for the quick review. I am sorry I don't have a source for paper, but I do have a question.

Does the tool rest slide move in and out in relation to the center of the disc so the entire surface area of the abrasive can be used?

Thanks,

Jay

Jay - The tool rest moves up and down, but not in toward the center of the disc. I actually have not had a reason to use the tool rest yet.

[Dale Lesak]

I don't know for sure but I think I read some ware that some of the paper in the kits are ceramic paper (The finer grits) I've been using the heck out of mine and just clean the paper with the rubber and they are still cutting good. I did change the 80 grit, but the others are still going strong.

[Dan McCallum]

Alan is right, I buy sheets of higher grits at the local big box auto stuff store. They go up to 3000 grit, and at the local wood show there is always someone there selling up to 12,000, as well as ROS pads up to 1000.

Cut them to whatever shape you need and then use spray adhesive, as Alan also suggested.

[Rick de Roque]

I got my Work Sharp 3000 last week. It certainly does a good and quick job of sharpening chisels and plane blades under 2". I have fully sharpened 7 chisels and am working on 7 more plus a plane blade. A couple of the chisels had nicks in the bevels, and the Work Sharp removed them with little time and effort. The micro-bevel capability is awesome.

I didn't think the WS 3000 had the ability to micro bevel? I thought it just had 25°,30°,35°,40°, and 45° settings. Thats great news if it does. Can you show (explain) how it's done.

Thanks,
Rick

[Mike Goetzke]

I found this on another forum.

http://www.sisweb.com/micromesh/mmr_discs.htm#6_0_psa

(BTY - I'm having great results with my WS3000 too.)

Mike

[Alan Tolchinsky]

I didn't think the WS 3000 had the ability to micro bevel? I thought it just had 25°,30°,35°,40°, and 45° settings. Thats great news if it does. Can you show (explain) how it's done.

Thanks,
Rick


It's very easy to add a micro bevel. If the main angle is ground at 25 then you change the angle to 30 for the micro bevel. It works very well and you only use 1000g/3600g for the micro bevel.

[Dave Falkenstein]

I didn't think the WS 3000 had the ability to micro bevel? I thought it just had 25°,30°,35°,40°, and 45° settings. Thats great news if it does. Can you show (explain) how it's done.

Thanks,
Rick

Most chisel and plane iron bevels are ground at 25 degrees. When you finish sharpening a tool, you set the angle to 30 degrees (or one setting higher than your tool) and plunge the tool into the fine grit wheel, creating the micro-bevel in a few seconds. You can also touch up the micro-bevel to resharpen. Just remember to check the angle setting before you plunge the tool into the wheel!

[Dave Falkenstein]

I found this on another forum.

http://www.sisweb.com/micromesh/mmr_discs.htm#6_0_psa...
Mike

I saw that source earlier also. I read the minimum order is $25, but that should be no problem - less than 20 discs. Probably the best deal around for a small quantity order. Thanks.

I'll go to Klingspor or Barb for coarse grits and SIS for fine grits. Klingspor has finer grits from 400 to 1500, but they are in 50 packs. Maybe a few of us can share a combined order???

[Doug Shepard]

I found this on another forum.

http://www.sisweb.com/micromesh/mmr_discs.htm#6_0_psa

(BTY - I'm having great results with my WS3000 too.)

Mike

I've bought from them before with no problems. I think there may be a bunch of Ws3000 owners buying though. I just noticed that while their site shows stock on most all the 5" discs, all the 6" show no stock. Might have to wait a bit.

[John Williamson]

Mine came in last week and so far I have been very pleased with it. If anyone is interested there is a good review here:

http://woodworkerszone.com/index.php?categoryid=11&p2_articleid=3

[Dave Falkenstein]

Mine came in last week and so far I have been very pleased with it. If anyone is interested there is a good review here:

http://woodworkerszone.com/index.php?categoryid=11&p2_articleid=3

I read Boxman's review, and agree that it is good. One recommendation that he made and I followed turned out to be unnecessary. That recommmendation is to use a foot pedal to turn the Work Sharp on and off, so that you can lay the tool flat onto the wheel and then turn on the machine. When flattening chisel backs, I find that starting the chisel back on the running disc at a slight angle, and then pressing it flat is a better method, at least it works better for me.

[Rod Upfold]

Does the manual tell you how to sharpen spokeshave blades?...their website shows a spokeshave.


Rod