Sharpening Station idea

[Todd Sebek]

Well, I haven’t necessarily “contributed” to the forum with any decent content, but I MIGHT have thought of something decent. I made this sharpening station with what I had laying around - plywood and leftover Sweetgum that I had from reclaimed wood.
I made it a height that was under my jointer on wheels, since my shop is on one side of a two-car garage. I wanted a ready-to-go station where I could make a mess and not care. I made the lid so that I can throw my granite with sandpaper on it, which makes a bigger mess. Or if I want to quickly put the Tormek up there.
I made it where I can quickly pop off the lid and run through all my stones, with the stop blocks for the LN honing guide ready to go. Also, from an article in FWW, I saw the value of covering the top with a drawer liner, from Home Depot. Makes wiping it up really easy. Lastly, having the flattening stone right there is nice to re-dress the stones. Those stone are 1k, 4K, 8k, 16k, 30k. It doesn’t take long to go through them to get sharp again.
The drawers give me options to rearrange. The 5-gallons bucket with the lid is for rinsing off the stones after flattening them. I put it on a small foldable stool so I don’t have to bend down. This whole thing is subject to change but it works really well for a small space. I haven’t posted pictures before so I hope they came out ok.

[John C Cox]

Very nice. I think it's worth setting a place up for this rather than squirreling it away and digging it all back out when needed. I personally sharpen a lot more frequently when I can keep everything out have it laid out for decent workflow.

[William Fretwell]

For those of us with space, a dedicated area for anything you do often is always welcome. It does encourage a quick sharpen when needed.

The important considerations are height, table weight, water resistance, good light and some storage.

Things tend to grow of course, mine houses Band Aids, a saw sharpening jig and files, saw set and a digital balance for mixing epoxy.

Yours seems to meet the criteria, not sure if your height or water resistance is ideal but you will find out!

[Luke Dupont]

If there's one thing I've always wanted more than any new tool or gadget, regardless of my hobby, it's space.

Woodworking? Bushcraft? Just give me a forest somewhere and I'll be super happy. Alas, I'm stuck in a city apartment as I have been for the last decade and a half! Just give me dirt! More dirt will make me happy. I like to joke that I'm "dirt poor."

That, and time.

[Jim Koepke]

Looks great Tod. Having a sharpening set up ready to go makes a lot of difference in keeping tools sharp. Like John mentions, having it ready to go makes one more likely to sharpen.

If one "has to drag it out," it might be the difference between doing some work in the shop or flipping on the TV.

jtk

[Todd Sebek]

Thanks everyone. I did 4 coats of Tru Oil, once again because I had it laying around. It has gotten pretty wet from my Tormek spillage and hasn’t flinched. Even if it does get all gross and gummed up, as long as the stop blocks are accurate, I can make another top, lid, etc. Honestly, it is not that messy, by cleaning off the stones in the 5-gallon bucket. That is one of those spin-tops for the 5-gallon bucket, so I can just leave all the messy water in there until I really need to dump it. I am really liking that pump sprayer too. I got it from Home Depot. I have been pleased with the ease and speed of cleanup. I made the lid to keep my 4 year old and 2 year old boys from grabbing my Shaptons.

[David Publicover]

Nice set up! I have a much simpler sharpening station and got some good ideas for some upgrades. I really like the 5 gal. bucket as I don’t have a sink near my shop. I keep my stones on a car floor mat that I got on sale for cheap. Having everything at hand and ready to go was a big step forward in my sharpening process.

[Frederick Skelly]

I like it alot. I especially like the drawer with your 5 gallon bucket of water. That's clever!

[Assaf Oppenheimer]

add a built in sink, and room to place a tormek and grinder and you have my dream station. very nice!

[todd butler]

Thats awesome, thanks for sharing, you just inspied me to convert a shop built router table that I only use every few years years into a sharpening station. I figure if I make a secondary top with cleats around the bottom, I can just set the sharpening top over the router table top... and bob's your uncle.