Add slow speed bench grinder or worksharp 3000?

[Mike Leung]

I have shapton ceramic stones 1k 2k 5k, a diamond reference lapping plate, and a dmt course diamond plate. I need to do some angle changes on some chisels so I need to add some speed. Would a worksharp or a bench grinder be better to supplement my stones? Or would a wet system be best? What would you do? Your advice is much appreciated.

[Chris Griggs]

6" dry grinder is all you need. The 6" variable speed porter cable that Lowes sells it a great buy if you don't want to spend a ton.

[Don Jarvie]

Slow speed grinder. The PC mention above come 8 inch also. You need to add a better tool rest though.

[Harold Burrell]

Slow speed grinder. The PC mention above come 8 inch also. You need to add a better tool rest though.

How about this (since we're talking about it)?

You go with something like this: http://www.lowes.com/pd_80500-46069-...nder&facetInfo= and use a 6" wheel instead (to slow it down even more)?

[Chris Griggs]

That would be waste Harold. If you really want slow speed the variable speed 6" gets plenty slow as is, and you can very easily grind at full speed without fear of burning the edge. In my opinion WAY TO MUCH is made of the risk of drawing temper. Keep your fingers somewhat near the edge and you will feel the heat well before you burn the edge. I had NEVER ground a blade before I got my 6" PC grinder and I was using it at full speed, with the gray wheel and rests (that the magazines say you need to throw away) within a week of getting it without any problems. I will occasionally burn a corner ever so slightly if I'm just flat out being to aggressive but it is not AT ALL hard to avoid. Burning and edge is not something one should fear, it is simply something one should be aware of having the potential to do. I do think a more friable wheel is nice just because its faster, as it both grinds faster and requires less quenching and dressing, but it is not a requirement.

Sorry for the rant. I'm just a big believer in a standard 6" grinder, and I rant sometimes about it because I kept putting off buying one thinking that I had to be prepared to spend $200 or so just to get started ($40-$100 for the grinder, $50-$100 for tool rests, and $40 for a new wheel, plus more if I wanted to balance the wheels). This is not and was not the case, and I'm soooooooooooooo glad I finally just bought one for the $80 or whatever it cost and used it as is...my only regret ever was that I didn't do it sooner. That PC or equivalent will work off the shelf with the gray wheels and stock rests. It comes with a dresser as well as a little water dish, and has everything you need to get started hollow grinding. I'm not saying not to buy after market rests, and I'm not saying not to buy more friable wheels...they are legit improvements, but know that in spite of what the mags say, they are not a requirement.

Happy grinding. Rant over.

[paul cottingham]

How about this (since we're talking about it)?

You go with something like this: http://www.lowes.com/pd_80500-46069-...nder&facetInfo= and use a 6" wheel instead (to slow it down even more)?

I have the delta branded version of that grinder,and quite like it. I have a white 8" Norton wheel on it, and run it very slowly. I still need to quench a lot.
If i were to do it again, i would probably look for a good, old used American made grinder. Stick a white wheel on it, and hand it down to my grandchildren when I can no longer work wood.

[Frederick Skelly]

I looked hard at worksharp in the spring to supplement my stones. It looks like a reasonable tool for a hobbyist. And Stumpy Nubbs had some clever add ons you could build.

But the real reason I wanted a machine was to speed the really tedious stuff like repairing a bevel, setting a new bevel angle, lapping the back of a plane iron, etc. And I got the impression doing those sorts of things werent too much faster on a worksharp than i can do by hand. (Maybe your thread will correct my previous impression- hope so because i really liked the worksharp.)

So Chris has a good idea on the grinder. Match it with a good honing jig and youd be set. Heck, i think i just talked MYSELF into it.

But Im keeping my stones ; )

Fred

[Mike Leung]

So using a grinding wheel will not be a problem to set a bevel and finish on stones? I was worried that the grinder will leave a concave surface and then I would have to do a lot of work on the stones to flatten the concave surface. I like the price of a bench grinder. Even decent stones cost more. I think the worksharp should be faster than setting angles or doing repairs by hand. Does anyone have experience on both systems? I am leaning towards the grinder now.

[Hilton Ralphs]

Lee Valley sells a great tool rest for the grinder and for a bit more you can get the Norton wheel specifically designed for grinding chisels and plane blades.

I would look out for a second hand grinder and then add the above.

[Kees Heiden]

I would buy a high speed 6" dry grinder, not a slow speed one. They are much cheaper. Invest in a good coarse stone, like 46 grit. The blue Norton 3X stones are very good. And buy one of these diamond T-shape stone dressers, so you can keep the stone clean easilly. There is a bit of a learning curve of course. Grind with light pressure, keep a finger just behind the edge to feel for heat, move the iron from left to right constantly and dip it in a cup of water when you feel the steel gets warm (not hot, warm). Dress the stone occasionally to keep it clean and expose fresh grit. I grind almost to the edge, so I can put it on a 1000 grit waterstone and raise a wireedge in 10 -20 strokes.

[Tony Zaffuto]

I had a 6" high speed grinder with a Norton 3X wheel (80 grit). When the Worksharp came out, I was intrigued and bought one. It did work well on chisels, but since this was pre-large blade jig time, not so well on larger plane blades. I sold it, for the simple reason it never matched the speed of the grinder and honing on a hollow grind. I also got the blades sharper on the hollow grind.

Now I have a slow speed 8" grinder, with a similar Norton wheel. I don't use any sharpening jig after the grinder. With it being maybe 4 or 5 years after selling the Worksharp, I don't miss it at all. I would opt for a wheel a bit coarser than the 80 though - maybe something around 60 grit.

[Chris Griggs]

You don't need to flatten out the concave surface. In fact you want it, it minimizes the amount of metal you need to work on the stones, and facilitates easy freehand honing. If you are using a jig and microbevels those things don't really matter for helping you, but they won't hurt either.

As far a the PC grinder goes I still have the stock gray wheel on mine (though I just bought a nicer one), and still am using the tool rests that came on it. You do not NEED to replace either, though and upgrade of both would likely improve your experience and make things easier. The biggest problems with the rests that they have "teeth" in them so they lock into set positions. I filed the teeth off mine but you can also put a washer in them so that you have continuous motion instead of locked positions.

The variable speed grinders are nice because you can set them slow when you are first learning to grind, but once you get comfortable, you will probably want to use them at full speed for faster grinding.

The only reason not to use a wheel grinder is if you specifically just prefer flat bevels or if you have a large number of japanese tools that you wouldn't want to dry grind with a hollow. I only have a few japanese tools so when I need to reset the flat bevel on them I just jig them on and put them on a coarse stone or some PSA sandpaper stuck down to granite.

A lot of it depends on what you want to do. If you plan to learn to free hand hone (this is by no means a requirement) a wheel grinder is worth its weight in gold. If you just want something that lets reset primary bevels and grind out chips without really having to put much thought into it or learn a new skill (a valid desire) and if money is not a major concern then something like WS3k may be the way to go.

[Archie England]

More speed = greater chance for drawing the temper. More speed = faster restores. High speed grinder with a very low grit stone might do everything you want (resetting bevels). Your Shaptons will eat away the hollow very quickly; but, as ChrisG stated, that hollow can actually benefit your freehand sharpening. In the end, all these above options work! Pick one and thoroughly learn to use it. Eventually, you might own a bunch of various "methods."

[Pinwu Xu]

If you check the early Fine woodworking, there was article talking about sharpening with 46-grit grinding wheel, and the speed
was not mentioned (so it's the high speed one)

[Joey Naeger]

I had access to a workshop at my job for a couple of months. The bevels it produces are slightly dubbed and difficult to hone free hand. I much prefered to use it to as a stand alone sharpener. We all called it the quick and dirty because it worked, but the edge was not as precisely shaped as one honed on a stone. The tools that I continued to hone by hand received a hollow grind from a 6" grinder. I currently don't have access to a worksharp and don't miss it.