Best powered sharpening device?

[Woodman2k]

I'm sure this will fire up the troops,I have the usual sharpening equipment,slow speed grinder,high speed grinder,piece of granite with variety of fine and ultra fine paperetc etc.What I want to know is if you were gonna buy one of the current got to have units,be it the tormek,the jet version,or the worksharp and you were going to use it for standard chisels ,plane irons,and turning tools what is the best choice.

I am really curious about the worksharp system when you compare prices with the tormek type units but I'm running out of room for single function bench tools.I've got all the oneway stuff but can't seem to get my wheels balanced on my woodcraft slow speed grinder so I'm not getting the cutting edge that I should be getting.

Lastly,Is anybody using one of the above mentioned units to sharpen a finger nail profile on a good bowl gouge and if so which one is doing it the best.Alright,educate me!

[Sanders Woodworking]

I have the Tormek and I like it but don't have any other experience with others to compare it to. I sharpen my fingernail gouge freehand. It takes practice and the will to keep at it until you get the muscle memory thing going.

[DaveO]

Greg you might consider try some good Norton grinding wheels. They will probably help with the balance issue. If that doesn't solve it I would look at the Oneway wheel balancer. I do all my gouge sharpening with a One Vari-grind on a dual speed grinder and I think that I get very good results. I often touch up with a diamond card while working.

I think that both the Tomex and the Jet version would offer you the best flexibilty and overall sharpening range for all your needs.
I have neither. My chisels/irons are sharpened on DMT diamond stones, and my lathe tools are sharpened on the grinder. They suit my needs very well.

Dave

[jimwill48]

Greg,
Bring your bowl gouge on over and we'll put a fingernail grind on it with my Wolverine/Vari-Grind. For sharpening lathe tools its the way to go.

James

[McRabbet]

I won one (is that redundant?) of the Worksharp 3000 sharpening systems at the Spring 2008 Picnic and I can say it is a superb choice for sharpening plane blades 2" wide or less and for bench chisels. I took some very dull chisels that were not ground square at their ends and had them with a mirror finish (3600 grit) with microbevel in less than 10 minutes. I have not tried to sharpen any gouges or turning tools as I am a member of the Flat Earth Society (no dark side here). I have used a Delta show speed wet wheel grinder, but this $200 Work Sharp is truly superior.

[RandyJ]

I gotta vote for the Worksharp 3000. I've mostly done chisels and plane irons but also got very good results with my turning tools as well. As stated before it takes practice to get the feel but once you do, it's a piece of cake. If a newbie like me can do it anyone can!!!

The price is certainly another positive...

[Don Sorensen]

I have to second Rob's opinion (McRabbet). I won one of the WorkSharp units at the picnic as well and have had a couple of sharpening "parties" at my place - friends with dull tools. And it works great on the flat types of tools. It also comes with some slotted wheels that you can see through while sharpening from the bottom. Bas demonstrated that technique at the Klingspor extravaganza this year.

But, as does Rob, I belong to the flat tool society, so I have no experience sharpening lathe tools - though it'd be a mostly free-hand exercise on the 3000.

[Alan in Little Washington]

I'll throw my two cents in as well for the WorkSharp. I had and sold a Tormek- never could get a square tip on my chisels and irons. I always had to true the stone because it seemed to wear unevenly, at least in my unskilled hands.

I have not tried sharpening turning tools on the WorkSharp yet but it is supposed to work fine. You can sharpen skews and scrapers freehand using a tool rest on top of the glass plates and gouges completely freehand against the bottom (grit) side of the slotted wheel. The slots allow you see what you are doing, either directly, or using a magic marker on the tool tip. The slotted wheel works like the one on the JewelTool if you have ever seen that blender looking sharpening device demonstrated by its buxom inventor at a WW show.

Here is a review of the WorkSharp with lots of pics. http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/WayneC/blog/1113

Looking at the review, I noticed WorkSharp now has an accessory guide for turning tools.

[RandyJ]

Originally Posted by Alan in Little Washington

You can sharpen skews and scrapers freehand using a tool rest on top of the glass plates and gouges completely freehand against the bottom (grit) side of the slotted wheel.

Just a note, the tool rest on the WS3000 can be mounted UNDER the slotted wheels in another set of brackets intended for that purpose. You can rest your gouges on the tool rest and roll them ....hope that makes sense!

[Travis Porter]

I have the Tormek, and overall I like it. I think it is a bit overpriced, but I like the fact that it does hollow ground. It too has a limit of 2" blade size unless you buy an overpriced jig to do bigger blades. IIRC, a number 7 or 8 have bigger than 2" blades.

I used to have a Delta wet sharpener with the horizontal stone, but I didn't think it did real well with plane blades.

I bought the Tormek before the Jet or the worksharp was released and probably would have bought one of those instead if they were available. The worksharp seems very simplistic but very usable to me. The Jet seems to be more realistically priced to me than the Tormek.

[Alan in Little Washington]

Let me add, the Tormek was messy, water everywhere. Again, in my hands!

[toolferone]

Originally Posted by Travis Porter

It too has a limit of 2" blade size unless you buy an overpriced jig to do bigger blades. IIRC, a number 7 or 8 have bigger than 2" blades.

Not to hijack this thread but, you can remove the one screw (on the right in the pic) on the jig and place it through the slot on the plane iron if it has one and do wider blades that way. Tormeks instructions do tell you this.

[Travis Porter]

Originally Posted by toolferone

Not to hijack this thread but, you can remove the one screw (on the right in the pic) on the jig and place it through the slot on the plane iron if it has one and do wider blades that way. Tormeks instructions do tell you this.

Duh........

Well, I needed the jig for sharpening planer and jointer blades.....

Geeezzz.......

Well, it will make it easier sharpening them going forward. Where in the instructions does it tell you this?

[RandyJ]

My apology to everyone...I mistakenly stated in my earlier post that you mounted the tool rest upside down under the wheel on the WS3000. This is not true. The tool rest is mounted normally in a lower set of brackets under the wheels...sorry for any confusion my CRS caused!!

[JimmyC]

The new Woodworkers Journal (Aug. 2000 just tested sharpeners and their recommendations are the Grizzly for wet stones, and the Worksharp for abrasive type. One small note: the author put a piece of wood under a wide(2 3/8') plane blade which caused the blade to move forward keeping the same angle, thus allowing him to sharpen the wider blade. I have also heard that worksharp will be releasing a new part that will retrofit your tool to sharpen the wider blades.

I personally don't have any of the sharpening machines, but I will probably purchase a Worksharp based on the demo's (Bas's) that I've seen and the fact that I own their Drill Doctor sharpener which is idiot proof ( I should know)

Good Luck,
Jimmy