Work Sharp Sharpening System - Manual (Page 5)

So, how does this thing work?
The Work Sharp machine rotates a
150mm diameter (6”), 10mm thick tem-
pered glass plate in a horizontal plane.
Pressure sensitive adhesives in a pro-
gression of grits are applied to the very
flat surfaces of these glass plates. The
plates can be dismounted, turned over
and remounted quickly with just a thumb
screw. No tools required.
So that you can see how this works,
the pictures here were taken with no
abrasive on the glass plates. I will add
abrasives when I show the Work Sharp
in action.
Below the plane of the glass plate is a
cast and machined metal tool rest which
has fixed fences on both sides as well as
a movable fence. Turning a knob moves
the movable fence to allow you to create
a space between the fixed fences that is
exactly the width of the cutting tool you
wish to sharpen.
The tool rest can be set to 20, 25, 30 or
35 degrees relative to the glass plate.
This is done by lifting a cast metal lever
and indexing a tooth on the tool rest to a
notch formed in another cast metal piece
so the angles will not change from use to
use or over time. They will always be ex-
actly the same.
The tool to be sharpened is registered off
of the flat back of the tool held to the sur-
face of the tool rest. The fences hold the
edges of the tool
in exactly the
same orientation
relative to the
glass plate time
after time as well.
With the machine
turned on and
the glass plate
turning at a low
RPM (so as not
to over heat the
cutting edge,)
you place the flat
back side of the
tool on the top of
the rotating glass
plate to make the
leading inch or
so perfectly flat.
Then register the
flat back on the
tool rest and
push the tool up
to contact the abrasive on the bottom of
the glass plate. Leave it in contact with
the abrasive on the glass plate for about
a second or two and then pull it down a