Work Sharp The Wood Tool Sharpener WS3000 model

[laird]

Mind you, all the other stuff I've had from Rutlands has been a simple click, wait two days and find it on the porch floor. I've used other companies (obviously) with the same results - mostly fine, occasionally a mind boggling delay. Personaly I wouldn't dump any company simply on the basis of one foul up. Remember in tools, as in so many other things in life, anticipation should simply whet the appetite 8)

 

[Krysstel]

You may be right and I'm just over reacting but I've ordered lots of things from other places with no problems, ever, both delivered to the UK and to Norway. As I said to Rutlands in an e-mail "this isn't rocket science".
I realise foul ups happen but I would always buy from a company that have never fouled up than one that did in a big way the first time I used them. As I said before, Rutlands don't really have that many things in their catalogue that can't be bought from places I already feel I can trust.
The problems I and others have had seem mostly to be related to shipping. It's a shame that Rutlands choice of courier reflects so badly on Rutlands itself. After all, the courier doesn't care what we think about them - their customer is Rutlands, not us.

 

[Krysstel]

The Worksharp & vise finally arrived, very battered but whole. The Rutlands 5 day delivery promise ended up as 20 days. I don't really know where the boxes had been but they looked like maybe Australia and back !

I notice from various others posts that I'm not alone in being dissatisfied with Rutland's service but I have at least something positive to report.
I sent a mildly complaining e-mail to them after the packages arrived and received a pleasant mail back where I was offered a £20 discount on my next order + a pack of worksharp abrasives worth £19.95.
So the story does have a happy ending and it's nice to see that Rutlands are trying to improve their customer relations.
Well done Rutlands

 

[laird]

Come on then, sharpen something. Surely after all this wait you're not just going to look at it :shock:
I still thoroughly like mine - especially the results (even sharpened some compound curves on a set of clippers for the dogs nails at the weekend) and the lack of time it takes to obtain them - once you've got the machine that is, I suppose at 25 days for a chisel you'd be faster with the doorstep.

 

[Shultzy]

And if you buy from Rutlands with the 15% discount its only £153 with free delivery :lol:.

 

[Krysstel]

Come on then, sharpen something. Surely after all this wait you're not just going to look at it :shock:
I still thoroughly like mine - especially the results (even sharpened some compound curves on a set of clippers for the dogs nails at the weekend) and the lack of time it takes to obtain them - once you've got the machine that is, I suppose at 25 days for a chisel you'd be faster with the doorstep.

You are of course absolutely correct !
Every time I'm in the workshop I look at it standing unpacked in a corner and think exactly the same. The only excuse I can offer is that one of these turned up a couple of days before the worksharp http://www.metabo.co.uk/Product-cat...nd-stationary-tools.23957+M573a44fb004.0.html.
I promise to keep quiet until I've got my first sharp chisel.

 

[laird]

Ah, bigger toy. Yes I can see how playing with that might take precedence.

 

[mpooley]

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 ***** 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

 

[Krysstel]

And yesterday evening it was my turn. Happy now laird ?

I took the worst marples chisel I could find that had a really nasty chip out of the middle. The one my son got hold of a couple of weeks ago - although he claims otherwise !
Read the manual and started with 120 grit. Took a long time to grind out the chip, probably 15-20 minutes, and produced a lot of swarf, but I got there in the end. Continued through the other grades all the way to 3600 and then ground a micro bevel with 1000 which was so quick that it turned out far from "micro" !

But, wow !! I've certainly never had such a sharp chisel before. No problem taking the hair off my arm or a sliver of end grain oak (didn't try paper but will this evening). Can't say it's completely scratch free but I'm sure that's just me - should have spent more time with the 400 to remove the scratches from the 120.

Overall well pleased. Easy, clean and almost ***** proof.
There is a slight learning curve to get used to how much each grade removes. As mikepooley and I both discovered; there's a big jump between 120 and 400 and you have to work a lot to remove the scratches from the 120. Perhaps there should be 240 grade between ?

Mikepooley - I too have a rattle which seems to come from the long screw that connects the upper body to the base - right hand side under the disc. Mine is loose but I couldn't find a single allen key that fitted it - probably imperial and I only have metric sizes. And I'm not really sure if it's supposed to be tight.

Here's 2 (bad) before and after pictures - couldn't get the camera to focus properly directly on the chisel but you can see the chip in the first picture and the scratches and over-ground micro bevel in the second picture.

 

[laird]

I've had two rattles with mine. Both my fault. No 1 was forgetting to tighten the hand nut holding the wheel on (quickley spotted !) and No.2 was the top tool rest bar loose. Both pure and simple stupidity .
The 400 seems to do most of the work but quite heavy use of the cleaning rubber has cleaned it up, in fact I'm still on my first disc.
So, the $1,000 dollar question, we all know it's ***** proof and gives excellent results (I find it funny that we all tested it first on the worst blades we could find, trial by fire sort of thing), but - Krystel - was it worth the wait ?

 

[Krysstel]

but - Krystel - was it worth the wait ?

Definately.
Yes.
Maybe.

I'm so busy with other things and holiday at the moment that I have no use for sharp chisels or plane blades until, probably end of August. So I could have waited til now to order and got it cheaper in the sale. Only real reason I ordered it now (or actually 4 weeks ago !) was because I hoped to get it in the same shipment as the vise - another thing I havn't got time to do anything with ! But then the one box shipment didn't work out so I could have put the worksharp off and just ordered the vise .......... bla, bla, bla, talking myself into a hole here !!!

Yes.
Definately.
Probably a real life saver for strictly amateur ***** me

Mark

 

[OPJ]

I'm pleased to hear you guys are getting on alright with the Workshop 3000 as I'm now thinking of getting one! :roll:

I'm currently using an 8" Record Power bench grinder. I don't have much patience with these things so, I regularly burn the edges. I'm also paranoid about the sparks it creates and always have to set something up outside - which I've found isn't convenient when you want to do a bit of 'turning on the lathe..

I've been looking at the Tormek grinders. The only thing that concerns me there (aside from the cost of the accessories!) is the mess created and the dangers of water in a woodworking 'shop (rusting, tanin reactions, etc.)

...So, I'm now looking at the Work Sharp and my only question is this - does it create lots of sparks? I'm aware of the cooling feature and have read one Rutlands review which states there are no sparks - sounds a little too good to be true...! :shock:

 

[BrianD]

OPJ,

I have had one for a while, no sparks are created.

Results are consistent and fantastic.

 

[OPJ]

Thanks, Brian, that is reassuring. I've been watching a couple of YouTube videos and there's one showing that the 2000 model seems to produce lots of sparks... Not on the 3000 model, which is the one I'll go for (one day). 8)

Has anyone yet produced their own 'Wide Blade Attachment' jig for use over the top of the machine? Mikepooley suggested, earlier in this thread, that he was going to do it... :wink: There's got to be a better way than spending £60! :roll:

 

[laird]

I had every intention of making one. You notice the term "had". Then Rutlands had an anniversary sale, I was ordering a load of other stuff, delivery was free..................................................
I ticked the box "out of stock. Reserve yours now" on the last evening of the sale. No comments on it as it hasn't yet arrived.

 

[andy king]

One of the things I commented on when I reviewed the 3000 version was that removing large amounts of metal can result in a build up of metal filings at the back of the machine which fall to the bench.
With that in mind, I gave it an extra bit of work to do, and it made these filings glow red from the heat generated. That could result in any sawdust or shavings on the bench catching fire, so you need to be aware of the fact if you are doing a heavy grinding session.
In general use the system works really well, it was only when I was giving the tools a good push to check the power of the motor and how it would cope that the filings started to glow red, so something to consider if you aren't aware of it.

cheers,
Andy

 

[OPJ]

Thanks for that, Andy. It's certainly not the kind of comment you'd expect to find in most reviews. :wink: I've been meaning to dig out your review from a back issue; I must get around to it soon!

 

[mpooley]

Olly I have produced a makeshift (or proof of concept as I prefer to call it ) large Blade attatchment !

Only did it yesterday as i had sent the WS3000 back to rutlands and they kept it for a week.

Got a new one though so cant complain

Mine works on a simple principle just a pivot point (block of oak) with a lip which the nut that holds the chip breaker on rests against - stopping it projecting too far.

Note my only wide blade is a clifton with the two part chipbreaker so the nut is always in the same position :shock:

On the first trial it worked perfectly - you have to be carefull to keep the blade straight to get a nice right angle but I could slice through a sheet of paper like it was butter afterwards,

I aim to improve the way the pivot is held to the machine (its a bit heath robinson at the mo

and Im thinking of sides to keep the blade straight -
I will post a picture later but no laughing


Mike

 

[OPJ]

Thanks, Mike.

If you don't mind me asking, why did you have to send the old one back? :? Glad to hear you had a good experience with Rutlands' after sales service though. :wink:

 

[mpooley]

Thanks, Mike.

If you don't mind me asking, why did you have to send the old one back? :? Glad to hear you had a good experience with Rutlands' after sales service though. :wink:

Yes Rutlands were excellent

I mentioned a bit of a noisy motor in my first post - i didnt like the sound of it - so I rang them and they collected it the same day.

the new one isn't perfect either but as long as its not too bad I dont mind.

as for the tool itself I am still very impressed.

Mike