Complaint & Question on Worksharp 3000

[Jesse Cloud]

Santa brought me a worksharp 3000 and I finally got the time to crank it up. Incredible machine! I tried it on the Stanley piece o' crap I bought at Home Disappointment - the old funky chisel I use to clean up glue squeeze out and such. The chisel was nicked, dull, and way off square. In no time at all it was wicked sharp! Encouraged by early success, it took my set of 8 workaday chisels to the machine. They were in much better shape, but still some were out of square. I have trouble keeping things square on the Tormek or with sandpaper. Wow, in about an hour they were all wicked sharp and square. I suspect next time it will take about 15 minutes to get them back in shape as the angle is now established and they are all square.

So - my question - when I would run the machine for a while (all 8 chisels on each grit) the knob that holds the glass platen on would get really tight - had to use pliers to loosen it. Is that normal? Does it go away with wear and tear?

Now my complaint - my piece of crap pop-the-glue-squeezeout chisel is now wicked sharp. It would be a shame to use it to pry open a paint can. I guess I have to go back to Home Disappointment and buy a new p.o.c. chisel to abuse!

[Dale Lesak]

Jesse, check to see if you have a rubber washer on the arbor where the glass sets. If the glass slips on the arbor it will tighten the holding knob. Also if you are using a lot of pressure on the chisel that will also cause the glass to slip. After you get all the chisels and plane irons sharp all it will take is a quick touch to get back to sharp. I found that coffee can lids will fit the glass discs for storage.

[Mike Cutler]

Santa brought me a worksharp 3000 and I finally got the time to crank it up. Incredible machine! I tried it on the Stanley piece o' crap I bought at Home Disappointment - the old funky chisel I use to clean up glue squeeze out and such. The chisel was nicked, dull, and way off square. In no time at all it was wicked sharp! Encouraged by early success, it took my set of 8 workaday chisels to the machine. They were in much better shape, but still some were out of square. I have trouble keeping things square on the Tormek or with sandpaper. Wow, in about an hour they were all wicked sharp and square. I suspect next time it will take about 15 minutes to get them back in shape as the angle is now established and they are all square.

So - my question - when I would run the machine for a while (all 8 chisels on each grit) the knob that holds the glass platen on would get really tight - had to use pliers to loosen it. Is that normal? Does it go away with wear and tear?

Now my complaint - my piece of crap pop-the-glue-squeezeout chisel is now wicked sharp. It would be a shame to use it to pry open a paint can. I guess I have to go back to Home Disappointment and buy a new p.o.c. chisel to abuse!

Jesse.
Thanks for the write up on the Worksharp. I've been looking for a sharpening "system" for chisels and plane blades. It seems that most folks are pretty satisfied with the worksharp.

Hey. I have a set of 4 C-man chisel that are so lousy, it's insulting to the paint can to use them to open it.
I'd let ya' have 'em, but I'd be rippin ya' off by just having you pay postage.

Once again. Thanks for the write up on the Worksharp.

Mike

[Don Bullock]

Jesse.
Thanks for the write up on the Worksharp. ...Mike

Yes, definately appreciated. Now I have another tool that has to be added to the "need" list.

[Ken Glass]

Jesse,
I have had the WS3000 for about 6 months. If you leave the nut fairly loose when you put on a grit, it will not over tighten when it spins, and will come off easily when you are ready to change grits. I was fearful of not tightening it enough in the beginning, but have learned to leave it barely tightened. Practice makes perfect.

[Bob Michaels]

Jesse, I replaced the knob with a larger knob having a threaded stud the same as the O.E.M. knob. The one I used is meant for homemade jigs and fixtures. Makes things a lot easier IMHO.

["Michael Hinkel"]

I emailed Worksharp of the problem with the nut getting too tight, they sent me a new nut AND a cap (for my head)

[Jim Becker]

Now my complaint - my piece of crap pop-the-glue-squeezeout chisel is now wicked sharp. It would be a shame to use it to pry open a paint can.

The former is good...a sharp chisel is a safe chisel and it will be less likely to ruin your project as you remove that glue. And having a dedicated chisel for that task means your good bench chisels are always in good shape for joinery. For the latter...use an old flat-head screwdriver instead of the chisel. They're mostly useless for anything else. (Personally, I use a paint can opener thingie... )

[Mike Heaney]

since I too received the WS3000 from Santa!

The self tightening knob also bothered me- I was just setting it up looser and looser until it seemed to be ok!

Some additional observations
- I LOVE the crepe block for cleaning the grits- should have had one in the shop ages ago!
- So far, I have re-flattened and sharpened a 6 piece 2 cherries chisel set (with the nasty polished finish which means it wasn't really flat on the back to start with!); 6 Ace hardware chisels, a couple from Irwin, a couple from Lie Nielsen and 4 or 5 plane blades- some brand new, some 60+ years old. After all that, I have worn out my first 4 sheets of grit (one from each grade). I confess it took longer than I expected, but much faster and much higher quality than I was achieving with the scary sharp method and float glass plates.
- I still had a little tub of water near by, as I found it really easy to warm up the tools when I was flattening the backs- not to the stage of a color change, but hotter to the touch than I would like. Don't expect this to be a problem with touching up the micro bevels from now on.
- An irritating issue with using the left hand side of the underside jig for sharpening. As advised in the manual, I used the LHS for sharpening smaller chisels- this takes the edge toward the center of the wheel and a slower surface speed- which helps reduce head build up. the "fence" on the LHS is a kind of crenelated thing and I found that the chisels would routinely catch on the crenelations of either the LHS fixed fence or the movable fence when I brought the chisel down to lap the back. Not sure if it is my technique or a design issue- would be interested in comments from others.


Other than that, I'm very very happy with this tool

regards

Mike

[herb fellows]

since I too received the WS3000 from Santa!

The self tightening knob also bothered me- I was just setting it up looser and looser until it seemed to be ok!

Some additional observations
- I LOVE the crepe block for cleaning the grits- should have had one in the shop ages ago!
- So far, I have re-flattened and sharpened a 6 piece 2 cherries chisel set (with the nasty polished finish which means it wasn't really flat on the back to start with!); 6 Ace hardware chisels, a couple from Irwin, a couple from Lie Nielsen and 4 or 5 plane blades- some brand new, some 60+ years old. After all that, I have worn out my first 4 sheets of grit (one from each grade). I confess it took longer than I expected, but much faster and much higher quality than I was achieving with the scary sharp method and float glass plates.
- I still had a little tub of water near by, as I found it really easy to warm up the tools when I was flattening the backs- not to the stage of a color change, but hotter to the touch than I would like. Don't expect this to be a problem with touching up the micro bevels from now on.
- An irritating issue with using the left hand side of the underside jig for sharpening. As advised in the manual, I used the LHS for sharpening smaller chisels- this takes the edge toward the center of the wheel and a slower surface speed- which helps reduce head build up. the "fence" on the LHS is a kind of crenelated thing and I found that the chisels would routinely catch on the crenelations of either the LHS fixed fence or the movable fence when I brought the chisel down to lap the back. Not sure if it is my technique or a design issue- would be interested in comments from others.


Other than that, I'm very very happy with this tool

regards

Mike

Yeah, I've had that happen also, it isn't the smoothest path backing out from the wheel. I've loosened up the slot by adjusting the fence slightly and bringing it back down the fixed side. I've pretty much decided to live with it, but if anyone come up with a fix, count me in!

[Doug Shepard]

Has anybody noticed a slight problem once approaching the 2" chisel/iron limit? I noticed that I seemed to be getting sharpening just a hair off from perpendicular to the blade - not much but visible to the eye. After spending some time investigating I could see the plate flexing upward at the outer edge just a hair and it wasn't like I was really pushing the blade/chisel. I've been able to control it but find I really need to concentrate on just barely touching under the plate.