Well I just got my work sharp 3000 the other day and after using it for a while I thought I would share my experiences with others. I wasnt really in the market for one but when Billy Gates threw that 30% cash back at me, well I thought what the heck.
First is the construction of the machine itself. Its ok for a benchtop tool I guess although its a little weak really, not at all an industrial machine although I dont really think its designed to be either. Alot of plastic where there could have been steel or iron and some things are just flimsy such at the fence for the sharpening port. This determines how wide or narrow the tool being sharpened is. You adjust it to fit the width of the chisel or plane iron you want to sharpen. I felt that since this is something that gets used lot it could have been better made. Next is the free hand tool rest. It seems to lock down tight and all but its just not a good design. There are no markings that allow you to return to a pre-determined height. You just have these two knobs that you tighten and thats it. So if you want to take it off then later put it back where you had it, you kind of have to just guess. I guess!
Next would be performance: This is where I had real mixed feelings about the thing. Let me start by saying its very important to remember that this is a sharpening device and NOT a grinder. If you have alot of metal to remove such as an old tool you are trying to revive or if you want to change the bevel angle of a tool, this is NOT the machine you want to use to do that. It just cant seem to get it done. I used the coarsest grit that came with it, 120 and after flatening the backs of 6 chisels and a plane iron it was about done. At least where rapid material removal was concerned. I next tried the same disc to change a chisel from a 25 to a 35 degree bevel and it took forever. The grit was just gone too far to do the job at that point. So its best to set the angle by some other means before taking the tool to the Work Sharp.
Now then about the actual sharpening process. Well this is the good part, easy is an understatement! Once the back is flat and the bevel angle ground this thing really zooms through the rest of the process and the results are downright scary! My machine came with the fine honing grits as well as the leather wheel and if you take a tool through the whole process you will be amazed. Perfect bevels honed to a flawless mirror finish in a matter of minutes or less. It took longer to change the various grits than it did to sharpen the tool! Which by the way changing out between grits is another plus. One single knob to take off and you just swap the glass discs to change grits.
A word about that while Im at it. You get these two plate glass discs that hold a different PSA disc on each side. So I had the 120 and 400 grits on one and the 1000 and 3000 on the other. Its a great system actually and you can purchase additional glass discs and keep them "loaded" with other grits if you choose. However most applications will be met just fine with the four grits I mentioned above.
The chisels and plane iron that I sharpened with the system are the sharpest they have ever been and Im a fanatic about sharpening. I had them honed to 2500 grit using the "Scary Method" and this met and exceded that I believe. Even if the results were equal to the scary method the system is better simply because of the time and ease of use.
I have yet to use the "see through" wheel that comes with it. This is a slotted disc that allows you to see through it while sharpening so you can see the actual progess and how much material is being removed and where. Fantastic for tools that are not flat like carving gouges and such.
So overall I think its a keeper just for the great results it gives and after all thats what its for so it does its job right. For rough initial grinding or flattening, look elsewhere or buy alot of discs, for perfect honing and sharpening every time, this is your tool.
I hope this is helpful to someone and I'll add to this review as I use the other features of the machine.
Jim
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