Work Sharp Sharpening System - Manual (Page 20)

The first step is to set the proper bevel
angle. Put your thumb on the lower tool
rest and pull up on the bar to index the
tool rest to the angle desired.
Check by in-
serting the
chisel on the
tool rest up
to the point
that the bevel
angle is even
with the top
of the Work
Sharp plate
surround and
sight across. The bevel on the chisel to
be sharpened should be roughly even
with the top of the plate surround when
the correct bevel angle is selected. The
tool rest will lock into the selected angle
by simply releasing the bar. The chisels I
use are beveled at 25 degrees.
Next, mount the P80/P120 plate with the
P80 side down, turn on the machine and
flatten the back of the chisel with the
P120 grit on the top of the plate.
The plate spins at 580 RPM’s so over-
heating is not much of an issue unless
you were to hold the chisel back in con-
tact with the plate for a long time. If it
starts to feel warm to your hand, lift off for
a few seconds to let the chisel cool down.
Work the back of the chisel until it is flat
for at least an inch below the cutting edge
and all the rust and pits are gone. The
easiest way is to rest the butt end of the
chisel gently on the edge of the glass
plate and then rock it down nice and flat
with one finger above as shown in the
photo left.
The top photo shows the back of our ugly
chisel transformed from the rust and pits
we saw earlier to a uniform scratch pat-
tern. It took less than a minute to do this.
While there is no cooling fluid mess,
know that the fine metal particles cut off
by the abrasive will create fine metal dust
as you can see if you look closely at the
photo above and those on the next page.
Always work from the right side
of the wheel where it is rotating
away from you. Never flat grind
with the wheel rotating towards
you as the chisel could dig in
and get thrown back at you.