Pinnacle Sharpening System

[Greg Hines, MD]

I had asked a while back about stones vs Tormek/Worksharp/other machines. No one had mentioned the Pinnacle system. Has anyone ever used this jig?

I am still inclined to go with the stones, particularly since Woodcraft has their Norton stones on sale this weekend.

Doc

[Jared Cuneo]

I have the Pinnacle and its a pain in the butt to use unless you are solely doing plane irons or long chisels.

I would go with the stones and the veritas MKII guide (which I also have). I like short (butt) chisels and they don't fit in the Pinnacle jig, so I bought another jig (the veritas MK1 which they also did not fit in, but I make do).

The biggest problem with the Pinnacle is that you can't hit the back of a chisel unless you disassemble it.

I can't afford stones right now, so I'll continue to suck it up with the Pinnacle, but its stones (or maybe sandpaper) for me from now on.....

What I don't like about stones is the wear issue.....its minor, but if I can just toss paper when I am done, and it requires no maintainance, that seems better to me.....

MANY people like stones, esp the very old experienced guys, so I am sure to catch hell in this thread

JC

[Robb Milley]

I agree with Jared; I bought the Pinnacle because I thought it looked like an easy and effective way to sharpen chisels and plane irons. What I found was that tools will get sharp, but it was a pain to use. Changing grit? Dissassemble and reassemble. Changing tool? Dissassemble and reassemble. I ended up doing the backs with PSA on top of the table saw, the the bevels on the Pinnacle. Also, the tool is centered each time you use it, so the sandpaper or stone gets worn in the middle only.

[Will Blick]

I thought the Pinnacle was a great concept.....till I tried it... lots of issues that become apparent when you use it. In addition to what has been mentioned, you have little control of how the blade is sharpened, as the cradle holding it rides in tracks, and the tracks dictate the angle and pressures on each part of the blade. The MKII is clearly an easier and simpler solution whether you use stones or paper.

[Tim Malyszko]

I use the pinnacle jig with shapton stones and a DMT diamond surface and it does a great job sharpening my chisels and planes. I will admit that setting it up is kind of clumsy, but once I get it set, it is very easy to use. Would I buy it again? Probably not. I would look at other sharpening jigs.

I have not used it with paper, so I cannot comment on that use.

[Jared Cuneo]

That's a very good point about pressure that Will has raised. This alone would deter me from buying it had I known.....Oh well, that was before I found all the WW internet communities....

[Tomislav Biric]

I just bought the Pinnacle. I have some shoulder trouble and lately I have struggled to not rock the chisels as I sharpened them.

I use a DMT course/extra course and then a 1000/6000 combo waterstone. The Pinnacle hasn't proven ideal with those, due to all the fiddling required to get everything lined up on the different thicknesses of sharpening surfaces. Plus, as noted above, it centers the chisel on the waterstone - bad for wear.

I will probably return it.

Perhaps it would work better with the flat aluminum surface and stick-on abrasive paper that they sell.

~Tomislav