Chisel and planer blade sharpening

[Rick Levine]

I need help deciding on a replacement for my LV sharpening jig system. I know I posted photos of the setup I built for my grinder in another post but after using it to create a concave grind on all my chisels then trying to sharpen my 1 ½” chisel only to discover that concave grind completely disappeared when using my Norton flat stone and practically wearing out my fingers doing the initial stone work I think I’ll investigate an alternative method.

I like the idea of a wet grinder, especially after seeing a video demo of the dry version and how it tends to heat the chisel very easily. I had a similar problem using my grinding wheel when trying to create the concave surface on them. But the lack of jigs available on the Woodtek makes me wonder if that is the solution.

I really can’t justify the cost of the Tormek or even the Jet and besides, I think the idea of the flat surface of the grinders below are more to my liking anyway.

Please chime in on your opinions and experiences.

What I’m referring to is a semi automated system like one the following:

[Jesse Cloud]

Hey Rick,
Three part response:

1)If your stone work wore out the concave ground on your chisel, you were probably not doing the stone work well. That hollow ground should survive for a long, long time.

2)I have used the Tormek and now I use the Worksharp 3K. The thing I like about the WS3K is that it is easy enough to use that I actually use it. I'll confess to being a little lazy. In the old days the thought of all the set up and clean up work needed to use the Tormek or stones would leave me using that chisel after it began to dull. With the WS I'm done in a couple of minutes with no clean up. The air cooled design of the WS works well - I have not burned any chisels yet. I will confess, though, that the chisel does not come out quite as wicked sharp as I could get it on the stone.

3)I'm not sure any of these would be good for planer knives. With the WS3K you would have to do them freehand on the top and it would be very hard to get it dead right as planer knives need to be. Tormek makes a jig for planer knives, but its so expensive its cheaper to send them out. I see you are in New Mexico. Try Precision Sharpening in Albuquerque. They charge 55 cents an inch to sharpen planer or jointer knives and they do a great job.

[Rick Levine]

Jesse,

I'm sure you're right about my sharpening technique. I'm really inexperienced in the art.

I'm glad to hear about the heating aspect of the WS system. I was a bit concerned but if you say that isn't an issue I will seriously consider it.

I guess I wasn't too clear about the planer blades. I was referring to hand planes not power planes or jointers. Both my Steel City tools use replaceable blades so I won't be re-sharpening them.