In theShop
Sharpening on the wide side
By William Sampson
wsampson@wattnet.net

Two companies have introduced new tools to make sharpening of wide plane irons and similar hand tools easier. One offers a wider whetstone platform with diamond surfaces for hand sharpening, and the other expands the features of a popular mechanized sharpening system.

Work Sharp wide blade attachment

The Work Sharp WS3000 created a revolution in hand-tool sharpening when it was introduced. It offered eco-

nomical precision machine sharpening of hand tools without the mess or fuss of liquid coolant. The system uses a machine with abrasive discs mounted on tempered glass wheels. A precision tool rest also serves as a heat sink to avoid overheating while sharpening.

The system has been very popular, but
it has limits, including a blade width of 2
inches. The new wide blade attachment
expands that capability to 3 inches. The
attachment has a metal table that mounts
on top of the machine and a blade holder
with wheels that rides on the table. An
alignment fixture makes it easy to set
up the blade to be sharpened in the
honing guide, and the tabletop can be used as a heat sink.

Wide sharpening — Two new systems offer solutions for sharpening wider hand tools: DMT’s Dia-Sharp continuous diamond whetstones, left, and the Work Sharp WS3000 wide blade attachment.

New tools widen horizons for hand tool sharpening

DMT Dia-Sharp

The simpler of the two systems is the most versatile. The Dia-Sharp diamond sharpener from DMT now comes in a 4-inch-wide plate that is 10 inches long. Covered with a continuous diamond grit over a steel whetstone plate, these sharpening stones are used like conventional water-lubricated whetstones.

We tried the fine and extra fine grit Dia-Sharp plates and they worked well. Wide tools such as drawknives and extra-wide plane irons sharpen easily on these stones. But, because of the continuous diamond surface, they are also great for small point carving tools that might be more difficult to sharpen on diamond stones without a continuous diamond-studded surface.

One size doesn’t fit all

Both these sharpening solutions have their place in a woodworking shop that uses hand tools. The extra wide DMT Dia-Sharp really excels for wide blades such as drawknives. The WS3000 wide blade attachment makes a great tool even more versatile. For more information about the DMT Dia-Sharp, visit www.dmtsharp.com. For more information about the Work Sharp WS3000 system, visit www.worksharptools.com. ◻

Go to www.cabinetmakeronline.
com/ DMT.aspx to see the
DMT Dia-Sharp in action.
Go to www.cabinetmakeronline.
com/ sharp.aspx to see the Work
Sharp WS3000 wide blade
attachment in action.