Hi All
After reading this thread and having lusted after the "Worksharp" 3000 for some time now, I "broke" when I saw the "Rutlands" cut in price from £199 to £152 ! and ordered one!!
I got the "Worksharp" Yesterday and couldn't wait to get it unpacked and have a play
this is what was in the box - lots of the slotted disks and an extra pack as well !
plus 1 honing disk @ 3600 grit; 4 x 1000 grit ; 1 x 120 grit and 4 of the 400 grit. Not a lot really considering their price!
There was also the manual and an instructional DVD the 2 glass and one slotted wheel; the tool rest and a spare square of paper for the tool port. Oh and a cleaning block.
I couldn't be bothered to read the manual
so I loaded the glass discs with the four abrasives and thought I'd have a go at my large bolster like chisel that I used for my oak framed conservatory last year. It had been sharpened recently on the "Tormek" so I didn't start with the coarse 120 disk but the 400 grit instead - this i think was a mistake as I'd chopped out a bit of plasterboard with it that morning oops!
anyway I am useless at sharpening freehand and as usual I wasn't happy with the results - I'm sure that is just me though and normal people would be ok.
I really need a jig for my larger blades so rather than pay the £50 for the "Worksharp" one I will be giving some thought to making my own.
The main thing was that the 400 grit got dirty very quickly and although you get a cleaning block (which I used a lot) the grit seemed to wear away very quick!
also by this time the "whisper quiet" motor had a few rattles! :shock:
Not too disheartened I ploughed on and tried a 3/8 inch chisel. Not having read the manual I used the right hand side of the port (i didn't realise that you could use the left side)
I started with the 120 grit which completely re-ground the chisel in short order. My old bevel was not the same as the 25 degree on the "Worksharp" so it was all re-ground. the 120 seems pretty coarse and very quick!
I then progressed to the nearly worn out 400 grit which then took what seemed like ages to polish out the grind marks. At this point I am wondering if I put a 1000 grit paper on instead of the 400 as they are the same colour eek I'm not sure and there is no way of checking without ripping the paper off.
Then on to the 1000 which polished it up nicely and then a quick flash of the 3600 which left me with a perfectly straight bevel ( a first for me lol) and the sharpest edge I had ever seen!
I tried my paper cut test and whereas with the "Tormek" even after polishing on the leather wheel I would have to use a slicing motion to cut the paper with this I could cut through the sheet just by pushing!!!
I did another 1/4 inch chisel and got the same results so it must be pretty foolproof as I consider myself perfectly foolproof proof!
In other words if I can do it any other silly person can do it.
Now the reason apparently why I should have used the left hand side of the port for smaller chisels is too avoid overheating - but I never had any problem with that at all.
since then I have read the manual and watched the DVD. Certainly worth doing but there really is very little to it really.
Overall I am impressed - Scary sharp is certainly apt! it's easy to use and does the job. There is no mess, no water all over the place and it is pretty quiet.
I am a little concerned about the 400 grit wearing out so quickly (I will check if I used the wrong paper tomorrow I'm out all day today) and also not sure what to do about the rattle ? I was wondering if anyone else has this? should i send it back for a replacement?
I will definitely be keeping it though - the "Tormek" is very good but this is better!
Mike Pooley