Thread: Good information on disk grinders/sharpening... Worth a look!

Sorry I should have added, interchangeable plates with a fixed backer plate.

"Actually, feathering adhesive would be a good option for the scary sharp W&D paper system."

Ben, I've seen that statement over and over. Can you please explain the need to glue the
papers down? I use masking tape or electrical tape, what ever is handy. Just a strip at one end,
Sometimes each end, but only if I know I'll be pulling in each direction. The very slightest pressure
deforms the papers to the flat support shape. I can't imagine the effort to glue 1500 grit to a length
of aluminium tubing for my crooked knives!

At the moment, I have strips of 800, 1500 and strop card stuck in a row on a 30" x 5" strip of
polished granite bench top. Did not take me 5 minutes to refresh all of them.

That's a fair question RV and I have debated that one myself.

It depends on what your trying to achieve really, and somewhat how much room you have.
For knives and most edges, tape or even water sticks them down well enough. Keep in mind I have never liked reusing the wet ones again once they dry out. They are never flat.

If your trying to flatten a chisel or plane blade back, or your are fettling a plane or you are trying to achieve the flattest surface you can get, your going to have to stick them down and roll them super flat to remove any high spots of glue.

With tape or water, you can see the paper lifting just a tiny bit in front of the leading edge. You end up with a slight convex in the surface your trying to flatten. You can get around this somewhat if you do a 'stropping' stroke but even with this system the leading edge gets a convex.

How much effort is too fussy? Each to their own I guess. Every one has their own workshop requirements.
I use diamond plates that are pretty flat and when I polish the back of a chisel or plane after the scary sharp method with tape, it becomes obvious that they are convex. Which again is fine because you can rock the plane to polish the edge but why go to the effort of flattening a chisel or plane. If I know my chisels and planes are flat, sharpening becomes a quick process that is more predictable.

You can always cheat a little bit put a micro bevel on the flat side of your plane blades using a very thin steel rule but you will probably still need to work it a little if the back is not flat.

Now having said all that, I don't use the scary sharp method. I was pretty impressed with people's results and wanted to test them out for myself.
Like all systems it's a learning curve but the results are as they say, scary sharp!

I did say space as well... If you have the room multiple plates already set up is alway easier than replacing paper.
I found the paper to cut for a lot longer than most people use them for and if you live in a humid climate, the paper stays flat when glued down. Just don't get them wet.

God I can rattle on some times!...... It's a very flexible sharpening system and a good one to have a play around with!

Thank you. I suppose for my carving tools it isn't terribly important.
It would be, if the performance in the wood was poor.

When I'm done with that granite slab, I just stand it in a convenient corner.
Here in the city, I found a strip of composite wood flooring, about 90cm long.
Talk about ideal! Everything on one flat surface. Not 10kg, either.

For many years, I've used the water stones & leather strop, everything was sweetness and light.
However, the crooked knives presented a puzzle that no flat surface can address, adequately.
On my own again, I got the bevels down to 12 degrees and fine-finished. Chain saw files to the rescue.
I know that sounds crude but I am not about to mess around for 6 weeks, doing what I can accomplish in 10 minutes with chalk and the c/s files.
I must have 4-6 different diameters of rods and tubing for the 1500 & honing work now.
Not magic, just a very different way of doing things.

I must say that the basic body movements, the angle cards, all those things, are completely transferrable.

The next thing, I have a dozen very fine grained and very highly polished, oval river stones.
Avalanches/rock slides and bridge blow-outs have cut me off from the source. I may never see
that place again.
When I can catch my breath, I want to fool with using them on the crooked knives.
The Haida and other Pacific NorthWest native carvers must have had no choice, a century ago.
One day in the University of British Columbia/Museum of Anthropology shows clearly that they
were most capable to sharpen steel as it became available.

I was having look at Stumpy Nubs's website where he was using a modified Worksharp 3000 with mdf discs that where interchangeable. Might be of interest.

Tool Sharpening with a MODIFIED Worksharp 3000 and Review -Woodworking with Stumpy Nubs #6 - YouTube

That's a good find safari! I was thinking of mdf but was concerned about the runout and vibration. For the price and ease of replacement, MDF looks like it's the winner!

I have some cork buffing wheels I made up years ago. They are starting to show their age now and was thinking about an alternative. I will give it a go when I get a chance.

Thanks BD. That's an instructive vid, and the demonstrator is articulate. Hard to find on Youtube. And that feathering adhesive opens up lots of options.

A while ago the Worksharp design got me interested. Was a bit tired of Scary Sharp or anything manual by that stage. The machine was a stupid price.

So I got a couple of WS tempered glass discs for mounting on an MT2 arbour. Got a couple of arbours to fit the lathe and the pedestal drill (so speed is not an issue; I run them at about 90 rpm). One was made by a forum member the other I bought online. Can apply PSA discs on both sides so that gives four grits to work through. Lapping bench chisels and plane blades is the most time consuming part of blade rehab and this setup told me I had been wasting time doing this work unpowered.

Since then I've moved onto a Sorby ProEdge and am open to parting with my MT2 arbour/disc sharpening kit. Actually the custom one allows 3 MDF discs to be mounted but that's designed for a lathe as it needs tailstock support.