William Sampson, will.sampson@ccimedia.net
Innovative sharpening station expands to handle specialty sharpening such as scissors and knives.
The WorkSharp WS3000 belt sharpening system quickly and easily attaches to the WS3000 sharpening system to make it possible to sharpen knives, scissors and other blade tools.
The WorkSharp WS3000 system just keeps getting better all the time. We’ve previously reviewed this system, which features heat sinks and tempered glass disks to provide cool, quick and precise sharpening for most woodworking edge tools. In standard mode and with previously reviewed attachments, the system already handles bench chisels, plane irons, turning gouges and a host of other sharpening challenges. But a new attachment expands its capability to knives and scissors.
How it works
The basic WorkSharp WS3000 uses tempered glass disks on which pressure sensitive abrasive disks are applied to be used as sharpening media. For chisels up to 2 inches wide, a fixture with built-in angle adjustment and a heat sink for cooling is used. For gouges, a special slotted wheel allows you to actually see the edge you are sharpening through the wheel while you are sharpening.
In use, we’ve found the WorkSharp is very fast, convenient and precise, but any time you have a sharpening system that does one or two things well, you can’t help but want to have it do more. I’ve tried to use the basic unit for knife sharpening with very limited success, so I was pleased to see a dedicated blade sharpening attachment announced.
The WorkSharp WS3000 belt sharpening system guide adjusts from10 to 35 degrees for knives and from55 to 80 degrees for scissors.
From disks to belts
The new attachment mounts a pulley on top of the disk on the sharpening unit. Then you screw on a blade sharpening fixture on the side of the unit and stretch special abrasive belts over the fixture and the pulley. A spring loaded bearing on the sharpening fixture provides belt tension and makes belt changes fast and easy.
Settings on the fixture allow you to easily select blade sharpening angles from 10 to 35 degrees for knives and from 55 to 80 degrees for scissors and shears. Clear instructions explain not only how to use the device for a wide variety of knives and scissors, but they offer helpful tips for better performance and dealing with specialty tools. You can even use the belt with the guide removed to sharpen the inside of carving gouges.
Priced at about $60, this attachment is a great addition to a WorkSharp WS3000 system. For more information, visit www.worksharptools.com.
Updated: Sep 11, 2011
This article appeared in CabinetMakerFDM, May 2011. ©Copyright 2012, All Rights Reserved.