Work Sharp WS3000 Review.

[Diane Kauffmds]

Hey guys.
I corrected this review. Apparently part of it disappeared when I posted it.

On my quest for a Woodworking Tool sharpening system, I ran across the Work Sharp WS3000.

I was just about to pull the trigger on a Tormek T8 clone. I did one last internet search on sharpening systems, when I ran across a plethora of reviews and recommendations for the Work Sharp WS3000, so I read a lot of material and watched several videos on the machine.

I already own a wet chisel grinder made by Bucktools. It does a good job, but doesn't have the accessories of the Tormek. There were a couple of reasons why I hesitated buying the Tormek clone:
Unless you buy other wheels, your stuck at 220g. The Tormek wheels can do double duty by being regraded with a stone, but od prefer 3 or 4 grades.

I'm no sharpening aficionado. I need scary sharp chisels and plane irons to do my work properly and safely. I like to sharpen to at least 1000g. Additional wheels for a Tormek type system are very expensive, as are the accessories. But the Tormek is known as the best sharpener.

I own a great sharpening sled made by Alisam, along with ceramic stones. I also own the MPower Fasttrack system, which is an excellent manual system for sharpening. These are my needs:

1. A system with repeatability. If a chisel is sharpened to a 25° angle, I want to repeat it easily.
2. Simplicity. I want a system that's easy to use without a complicated set up.
3. I want a system that sharpens a variety of tools, including my shorter butt and palm chisels, and my little gouge. This is an issue that I have with my other 2 systems.
4. I want to be able to sharpen to at least 1000g + with ease.
5. I want to sharpen my tools in just a few minutes, without having to drag out a 40# machine.

The Work Sharp WS3000 fits all of these criteria.

After watching the videos, I ordered one from Amazon. It came yesterday. I'm really happy with it. But there is one flaw, and a new one is on its way. The adjustor dial handle for the fence won't turn without channel locks. It should turn and adjust the fence with ease.

In the meantime, I've sharpened all of the main chisels that I use. I'm working on the butt chisels. I've even sharpened chisels that Frank got from his Father, that belonged to his Grandfather. Frank is 87 years old, so you have an idea on the age of some of the chisels.

I'm ashamed to admit this, knowing how important it is to have sharp tools. My chisels were an unqualified mess. It is a hassle to set up the water system, time consuming to use the sled and stone, and the container holding my Fasttrack had slipped sideways in the back of the drawer; I couldn't find it to save my life. All of my chisels were honed to the wrong angle, which needed correction. I have never flattened the backs. A couple had chips.

The Work Sharp comes with 4 grits of PSA paper: 120, 400, 1000, 3600. There’s a special disc which you can see through while it’s running on the machine, which comes with 80, 400, and 1200g papers. The tool port, which has an adjustable fence, accepts tools up to 2" wide. I won’t go into all of the features. The link to a YouTube video is below. The Box says 3 year warranty.

Sharpening is a cinch. I flattened the backs and sharpened of 6 of the pictured chisels to 3600g with a 25° angle, in less than 30 minutes right after it was delivered. They are scary sharp and will shave hair (I tested one).

It was pretty much a no-brainer to use. It's a dry system, but I had no problem with the chisels heating up too much. They definitely could if you use a lot of pressure for a prolonged period of time. If you just touch them briefly, as instructed, there's no heat. It comes with 2 tempered glass disks that are dead flat. You just put the disk on and when done, flip it for the next grit. The adjustable fence keeps chisels and irons straight and square. There is an adjustment lever to correct the Grinding angle if necessary, but mine was squared.

The machine sharpens bevel up. The slotted wheel is amazing. I used it for the gouge and curved brace chisel. When running, it becomes transparent. I could see the sharpie ink mark disappear. I could even see the scratches from using the 80g disappear as I used the finer grit. It was almost freaky.

The important thing is that I'm able to sharpen all of my chisels, including the butt chisels and palm chisels that neither of my other systems were capable of sharpening.

The Work Sharp WS3000 has a small footprint. It's about 12" wide and 10" deep. I'm keeping it plugged in and on my bench, so I can hone the tools as soon as it's needed. I can just adjust the fence, turn it on, and hone.

This is a link to the manufacturer video. The system cost $229.95 on Amazon.

https://youtu.be/hXAnL59vJhs?si=yTC_MYFnza2snojT

[Diane Kauffmds]

I finished all of my chisels. For the first time since picking them up off of Ebay, I'm able to use the butt chisels, and they're super sharp! There's no brand name on them; the metal is hard. I think the butt chisels are harder than the German made Two Cherries, and Dastra chisels that I own. They took the longest to sharpen.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Diane
I have the Worksharp 2000 bought it many years ago. I haven't used it in awhile since I got a fancy Veritas roller guide setup to sharpen my plane irons and chisels by hand.
I need to bring the Worksharp back out and git it a whirl again. It's not as fancy as what you have works pretty good on chisels as I recall. I think changing the paper through the grits got a little tedious.

[Diane Kauffmds]

I don't know about the 2000, but to change grits on the 3000, I just flip the wheels. The screw holding them is finger tightened.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Yup works the same way. The paper does wear out and will need to be changed. The paper they sell is pretty steep so I've used other PSA disc's and the work fine

[Bob Gleason]

I had a Workshop 2000. Worked O.K., but the paper needed constant changing. I had a couple of extra wheels for it, which allowed more variation in the types of sandpaper I could use whithout having to change the paper.I really had to be careful about not tightening the mounting bolt for the wheel or it would be a bugger to get off.Never could get edges quite as sharp as with my Veritas jig and water stones that i used back then. I sold it and the Veritas jig and used the $ to buy the Bridge City Tools jig that I now use.

[tippie53]

I have a grizzly unit that is similar to the tormak the wet wet stones are great and then I use japanese water stones for final sharpening and polish

[Bob Gleason]

It is nice to have a power sharpening tool for doing the heavy grinding work on a damaged edge. I neglected to mention, mainly because it is such an expensive system that few would buy it, that I also have a Sorby sharpener. Most slightly damaged edges I can do quick enough by hand with diamond stones before going to water stones, but it is nice to have the power for heavy sharpening prior to fine sharpening. i guess almost any power system would do that job. It's great to have any tool that makes things easier.

[tippie53]

as bob pointed out , as a machinist you need to establish the proper angle on the cutting edge
but the hand stones is where you really sharpen that edge
if it don't shave it just pretty metal