Work Sharp WS3000 Wood Tool Sharpener

by Work Sharp

• Complete air-cooled, dry sharpening system for chisels, plane irons, spoke shaves, carving tools, and lathe tools
• No jigs required--sharpening port has precise and repeatable bevel angle settings of 20°, 25°, 30°, and 35°
• Powerful 1/5-hp motor with 580 RPM speed has routed air flow and heat-sink cooling system
• 2-year warranty only valid for North American 110V power source applications
• Use of power converters for 220V not recommended

Product Description

Amazon.com

The Work Sharp WS3000 Wood Tool Sharpener is an easy-to-use dry sharpening system for chisels, plane irons, lathe tools, carving tools, and other woodworking tools. Designed for the serious woodworker, this sharpening system is packed with unique features that make it easy to achieve consistent angles on flat blades and contoured tools.

The Work Sharp WS3000 Wood Tool Sharpener provides: A port for sharpening blades up to 2-inches A tool rest for sharpening larger blades on top of the wheel An edge-vision wheel for sharpening curved and specialty tools

Before and after shots show the way Work Sharp renews dull, rusty tools. View larger.

Tools with larger blades can be safely sharpened on top of the wheel. View larger.

Edge-Vision lets you look through the wheel and see the surface you are sharpening. View larger.

Everything you need is included. View larger.

Sharp Blades Mean Better Results
Sharp tools mean you can cut through tougher materials and create more precise details. They reduce the amount of strain work puts on your body and make you much less likely to damage your work surface or hurt yourself. But stopping to sharpen tools interrupts the flow of work, and with some systems it's quite difficult.

With the Work Sharp WS3000 Wood Tool Sharpener, you can sharpen blades quickly, consistently, and easily without making a mess or delaying a project.

Quick, Consistent Sharpening
Precision tools like small chisels are extra tricky to sharpen freehand on large, rough wheels. That's why the sharpening port on the WS3000 is so innovative. This port, which handles blades from 1/8 inch to 2 inches, makes it incredibly easy to sharpen the bevel on small tools from underneath the wheel.

Angles of 20, 25, 30, and 35 degrees are set in the machine, so you don't need an extra jig or a special tool to ensure that you are creating a bevel edge with a consistent, effective angle. You can also achieve a perfect five-degree micro-bevel for fast re-honing.

An adjustable fence in the port keeps the tool square during sharpening, and when you pull the tool back out of the port, a ceramic oxide lapping abrasive automatically removes the burr on the back of the tool for a clean finish and a sharp cutting edge.

Convenient Sharpening Options
When you are working with bigger tools, a conveniently placed tool rest makes it easy to hold larger blades in place as you sharpen them freehand on the top of the wheel. Also available is a wide blade attachment that enables you to sharpen and hone blades up to three inches wide with the Work Sharp 3000 (not included).

And when it comes time to sharpen contoured tools, you can slip an innovative slotted Edge-Vision wheel onto the WS3000. This lets you look through the wheel to see the edge of the tool you are sharpening from below, taking the guesswork out of maintaining lathe tools and other curved or v-shaped blades.

Durable Glass Wheels Provide Consistency
In addition to the Edge-Vision wheel, this sharpener comes with two tempered glass wheels. The big advantage of tempered glass is that it maintains its flatness and won't wear down like a traditional grinding wheel.

You can attach a wide variety of standard six-inch, adhesive-backed abrasive disks to these wheels, making it easy to select the grit you need for rough grinding or fine honing. And with two disks, you can always have four different grits ready to go (one on each wheel surface), making it easy to move from task to task.

Click to view more features of the WS3000.

Reliable, Mess-Free Dry Operation
In order to avoid the hassle and mess of expensive wet sharpening systems, this dry system uses routed airflow from the motor and a special heat-sink design to keep your tools from overheating. This means you don't have to worry about damaging the edge you just created or ruining the temper of steel tools.

To make all this possible, Work Sharp uses a quiet 1/5-HP motor that produces a high torque max wheel speed of 580 rpm. This low-rpm wheel maintains speed regardless of load for improved consistency, so whether your specialty is custom furniture, cabinetry, or old-fashioned wooden toys, you can rely on the WS3000 to keep your tools sharp and ready for use.

This award-winning Work Sharp tool is backed by a full two-year warranty.

What's in the Box
Wood tool sharpener, two glass wheels, one slotted Edge-Vision wheel, a crepe stick (for cleaning abrasives), an instructional DVD, and 16 abrasives: 11 solid abrasives and 5 slotted abrasives with grits ranging from P80 to 3600 Micro-Mesh

From the Manufacturer

The Work Sharp WS3000 is the sharpening and honing solution for the discerning woodworker and heavy hobbyist who want sharp tools quickly and easily. The WS3000 offers 3 ways to sharpen your tools: Top Side with Tool Rest, the Chisel and Plane Iron Port and the Edge-Vision Port. The WS3000 sharpens chisel and plane blades up to 2" wide to a perfect 20°, 25°, 30° or 35° bevel angle without any set up time! It also allows you to sharpen a perfect 5° micro-bevel for even faster re-honing. The WS3000 also sharpens carving tools, lathe tools, scrapers, putty knives and more! Work Sharp uses a powerful 1/5 hp motor and produces a high torque max wheel speed of 580 RPM. Work Sharp offers an active air cooled sharpening port with routed air flow and heat sink design to quickly and easily sharpen you chisels and flat blades without overheating or damaging the steel. This innovative, patent pending chisel sharpening port also uses a ceramic oxide lapping abrasive to remove the burr while you sharpen, making sharpening even faster! The WS3000 comes with 2 tempered 2 sided glass wheels (150mm) and one slotted Edge-Vision wheel and uses both solid and slotted adhesive backed abrasives so you can quickly and easily change between coarse and fine grits. Work Sharp uses 150mm premium Norton and Micro-Mesh abrasives in grits of P120, P400, P1000 and 3600 for a wide grit selection. This allows you to have 4 grits on your 2 glass wheels (one grit per wheel surface). The innovative Edge-Vision sharpening method allows you to see the cutting edge of tools while you sharpen, making sharpening of carving and lathe tools easier and more precise than ever before! Work Sharp provides slotted abrasives in P80, P400 and P1200 grits so you can coarse grind or hone all using the Edge-Vision method!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

141 of 141 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Best alternative to hand sharpening... August 6, 2007

By Badabing

Let me first say that I am a total novice when it comes to sharpening. I tried using oil stones and an angle jig but could not seem to get the hang of it. My results were horrible, probably because I was starting with some very dull blades that needed a lot of material removed before they'd be considered even close to sharp. Being a beginner/intermediate woodworker, I don't have too much need for a lot of sharp hand tools. However, the ones I have desperately needed help.
I started to look at my options and thought it best to go for a motorized sharpening solution. The competition is very expensive when you consider the initial cost and then the price of attachments to sharpen different tools. Even some of the manual methods would cost a lot when you figure in the different grades of stones needed to get the best results.
When I first saw the WorkSharp online I was fascinated by it. What a great idea! Being a skeptic though, I figured it was just too good to be true. After seeing some reviews I felt it warranted more looking into.
I bought it on sale at a local store that I go to all the time (used a promotion they offered for 10% off of anything) so I got a good deal. I have not used it a whole lot just yet, but here is what I found so far:
First, the price is very reasonable for what you get. The unit itself seems well made even though there is a good bit of hard plastic. The included accessories are well thought out and cover most of what the average user will need to use. I'm sure I'll find the need for some extras but for now it appears fairly complete for chisels and plane blades. The instructions are straight forward and well laid out.
My first attempt at sharpening with the device was on a 5/8 inch chisel that was terribly worn out.... In fact, after I got started I realized that I was going to waste a lot of time fixing a skewed bevel and rounded back plane. So I squared up the edge on my bench grinder before continuing. Once that was done, I was amazed at how well the WorkSharp did on that old chisel. I used the P120 face up to flatten the back plane first. Then flipped the disk over and used the P120 to grind the bevel to 25 degrees. I then took the chisel through the other three grits (including honing on the 3600) both back and bevel. The result was a mirror polished surface on both after about 10 or 12 minutes. It won't take near as long on a well maintained chisel but this one is better than new now! By the way, I also added a micro bevel to the bevel and that only took about 30 seconds. This is recommended in the instructions as a "Master Tip."
Here are some tips that I think should help in initial setup: first, I found that when trying to stick the PSA paper disks to the glass plates, it can be very difficult to line up the holes. I had a brainstorm and used a socket wrench extension rod clamped in my vice to poke through the hole in the glass plate. This held the plate in place and gave me something to fit the hole of the sandpaper onto so the holes would line up perfectly. Second, I used a glue bottle roller to roll out the paper once it was stuck to the plate. It was easy to see there were no bubbles when only one side of the plate had paper on it but for the most part, I had no bubbles in any of the grits except the 3600. That one didn't matter much because it is cushion backed and the bubbles were very small.
I gave it only four stars because I found that the heat sink did not work as well as claimed. My chisel got pretty hot quickly even though I believe I was doing everything right (according to the directions). I simply dipped the chisel in a cup of cool water and wiped it dry every couple of runs through the machine. No problem at all. UPDATE: I would now give this tool 5 stars! I found that the heat sink works very well when resharpening because not nearly as much material has to be sanded away. This device is well worth the money and performs as described. The results are excellent and I certainly was able to shave hairs off my arm with the finished chisel! I'll add more info as I use it and find out more tips/gotchas.
UPDATE: I also want to mention that customer service has been excellent. My 3600 MicroMesh disk got ripped from one of the chisels I sharpened. I emailed customer support to ask for advice on replacing it and also complained that the system was not as good for very dull blades (too much material to remove). They advised me to clean the glass plate with IPA (isopropyl alcohol) to remove the adhesive. They also said they are sending me some 80 grit disks and a new 3600 MicroMesh disk to replace the torn one at no charge! This is great customer service!!!
I want to upgrade this review to 5 stars (but the interface won't let me change my rating, it just lets me edit my review). After using the machine further, I found that it really is all it claims to be. The heatsink works well for resharpening and customer service is awesome! One recommendation: if you have gouges and such that need sharpening, you will probably need to purchase extra slotted wheels. The system only comes with one and you would have to change the disks on it each time you want a finer grit to sharpen with. It would be much easier to buy additional slotted wheels (they are reasonably priced) and have one for each grit (you'd save money on paper this way too, because once you remove PSA paper you can't reuse it). Read more ›

166 of 170 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very effective tool June 11, 2007

By Basement Blade

I bought one on the strength of almost universally laudatory reviews elsewhere. It certainly works for me- I'm a mediocre sharpener, it turns out, when I'm left to my own devices, or even to the devices many others are successful with. I have a Veritas MKII honing guide, and I can usually get a pretty decent edge with it and waterstones or sandpaper, but it isn't trivially easy for me and can take a while. And I find freehanding difficult unless I have a very well-established bevel to start with. So far, it seems to me that the Worksharp will do most of the work of a grinder in getting that bevel. And I am relishing the prospects both of an easier time, and less of it spent on, flattening chisel backs; and of not having to flatten my waterstones. Perhaps more skilled sharpeners than me dish their stones less when they use them, and so have less flattening to to do, and then do that more effectively- but I always seemed to spend more time than was reasonable on this particularly mindless part of the process.

I use it with four grits (120, 400, 1000, 3600- I don't have the 6000 grit micromesh disk) for straight blades; the 120 gets rid of metal in a hurry (I was actually quite shocked at what 2 seconds on the 120 did to the bevel of a vintage Buck Bros chisel I was sharpening) and the edge is pretty damn good after the 3600. Then I work bevel and back a little with some 0.5 micron diamond paste on a piece of MDF (Veritas green stuff works too, but it doesn't feel as flat under the blade) to get a mirror polish. This portion of the regimen I do freehand, and it's a piece of cake to do with the big flat bevel. After that my edges are easily as sharp as I've ever managed to get them, probably sharper, and with much less effort.... I am limited to the 4 preset bevel angles (20, 25, 30, 35), but I don't feel like I'm missing anything. Paper seems to hold up well, though it's definitely true that it's not cheap, and unless I find there's a big difference in quality, when I've run through the included paper I'm just going to use off the rack 6 in ROS disks for the coarser grits, and cut PSA sheets to size for the finer grits.

I don't know about turning tools, but the slotted wheels work well for carving tools. But sharpening these is a freehand operation on this machine, so the more skilled you are, the better you'll do. I'm still not doing so good, but being able to see the edge does help. Would be more difficult to economize on discs here, given their perforations, but may be possible.

So, as someone not innately gifted with sharpening nous, and who hasn't managed to develop it despite some quite serious time spent trying to, I am finding this machine a great help. It's obviously not as cheap upfront as scary sharp- though if you amortize the cost of the machine over, say, 10 years, and assume similar rates of consumable consumption, I'd say the difference in price is close to negligible. And I'd guess that if you bought yourself 220, 1000, 4000 and 8000 stones (or even combos) plus a decent jig, you'd be close to laying out the cost of the machine (though extra glass platens and slotted wheels will certainly add substantially to the machine's price, and they're too convenient to forego). Of course, if you can get sharp with spit, a piece of slate, your belt and your palm, this will seem like a preposterous piece of paraphernalia; but for me, the price is a relatively small tradeoff for an approach that I finally feel confident will get my tools sharp. Read more ›

56 of 57 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad - but not perfect either January 4, 2008

By BGN

Prior to purchasing the WS3000 I was using a combination of diamond stones, water stones and sandpaper on granite. I have always been able to produce a very sharp edge using this method but it is so time consuming! I have had the WS3000 for about a month now and used it on chisels and smaller plane blades. I purchased an extra glass wheel and also the leather stropping wheel which comes with its own wheel. I highly recommend that you purchase both of these. I have one wheel with 400/1200 and then another wheel with the 3600/6000 grits on it and the third one has 120 grit on both sides as I use it to flatten the backs of tools and it gets worn quickly. It is very easy to use and much faster than the old method. I like the fact that you don't need some kind of jig to hold the tool you are sharpening as this means you can only do one chisel at a time. The WS3000 allows you to do all chisels on one grit quickly before changing the wheel to a finer grit. It does produce a very nice edge and appears to be at least as sharp as the older method if not sharper. I have a small block plane with an extra blade and I sharpened one blade the old way and one using the WS3000 and then went back and forth comparing the results. If anything, the WS3000 came out smoother but they were both so close it was hard to tell. That said, I cannot seem to get the perfect shiny-smooth surface like I can using the old method. There are always some what I call "striations" or grooves left on whatever I am sharpening that are not removed by the next finer grit.... When I did the experiment with the 2 plane blades I paid extra attention to this as I assumed that you would be able to see some kind of marks left over from these - but for the life of me I could not see anything in the wood surface I was planing or in the shavings themselves. So I would have to say that the speed of sharpening and end result have met my expectations but the leftover grooves still bother me. Since the WS3000 cannot sharpen the wider plane blades or smooth the bottom of a hand plane, I will hold on to my diamond and water stones anyway. Purchase more paper disks if you buy this because all the tools you sharpen rub on the same place on the disk so they wear out fairly quickly. Read more ›