WorkSharp 3000

I also have one, and once I worked over my chisels, I haven't used it since. Once the chisel or iron is flattened and sharpened, it's easiest to give it a little bit of stroking on a diamond "stone" to keep it that way than to dig out the device. But man, it sure salvaged a number of chisels. Here a picture of the setup I made for it.

Well that was a glowing endorsement *L* Thanks Tom!

For those of us who actually spend a good deal of time using straight edged tools having to re-establish the primary bevel is quite common. Chips, dings and even having a secondary bevel creep too far up the blade all necessitate re-establishing the primary bevel then finishing up with a new secondary edge. Type of wood, pairing or using a mallet, metallurgical makeup of the tool itself, all impact just how quickly the need for a new edge happens. Not to mention using an edge on plywood's. Talk about an edge killer!!! The fact that as you state, you used this tool to "work over" your chisels and havn't used it since, tells me all I need to know.
The advantage that most power sharpeners bring to the table is that they eliminate the repetitive motions of sharpening using a wheeled honing guide or even freehand. The limitation to these tools was the available PSA grit mediums. As these machines became more popular and affordable, the aftermarket followed suit with numerous options. DMT even has a diamond disc available now. Using the right progression of grits, proper technique and setup. these machines can give you an edge comparable to anything out there, except "maybe" the high end water stones.
The reason for selling this is that I went back to the scary sharp method. Oddly enough, I enjoy sharpening, I dont mind the sweat an effort required to put on a perfect edge using a honing guide. The trade off between sheets of PSA micrograined papers and PSA micrograin disc's is about a wash in terms of cost and amount of materials used. I have a complete Lee Valley MKII system and the cost is in the same ballpark as the WorkSharp3000 with accessories. Within the last couple of months, I've broken down and bit the bullet and invested in DMT diamond stones. Very pleased thus far I must say. So far I've done a half dozen block planes, half dozen bench planes and another half dozen chisels. Once I do my beater chisels, I may do a review on em....
The area where the WorkSharp3000 and other power sharpeners for that matter shine is when it comes to tuning up lathe and carving edges. This aspect of having a WS3000 will be missed. Would love to spend a weekend with a Tormek T8. Just to see if it lives up to the hype. Judging by the reviews, it does.

In the end IMHO, methods such as waterstones, wetstones, power sharpeners, scary sharp etc. all are quite capable of achieving an outstanding edge. With perhaps the only exception being waterstones in the 20-30,000 grit ranges. No doubt that is a much, much finer edge, but one whack with the mallet or one hard push into sugar maple and that 20-30,000 edge quickly becomes a 5-10,000 edge...I enjoy putting on a high end edge, I just don't think I enjoy it that much

@vchiarelli

Vince, your not hijackin', you're contributing There is no arguing that the scary sharp method produces about a fine of an edge as you'll come across!!! The only problem I had/have was in the courser grits and creating a new primary bevel. I think the problem was/is that I would use a "wood working" paper and not a "metal working" paper like a garnet. Once the primary was established, it was all down hill from here. I'm real big on paying attention to the scratch pattern between grits. Typically I'll go:
80, 120,220,400,600,1000 on the primary. I don't believe you need to have a "polished" finished on a primary bevel. Then the fun stuff, creating the micro bevel. For that I
use 3M Micro abrasive film, PSA. I establish the secondary bevel with the 40 micron, then after that, it 10 or so strokes on 15, 5, 1 and a .3 micron. Here's a link to my source: https://www.toolsforworkingwood.com...sive_Film__for_Scary_Sharpening_-_PSA#reviews
To this point, I'm sold on the DMT diamond stones. I picked up the xc,c,f and xf. I do believe that they cut considerably faster than your typical papers. I am tempted to pick up the XXC stone. I think that would be a good investment in time savings. The Jump from the XF to the XXF is pretty sizable. 1200 to 8000. For 90 bucks, I may just stick with my PSA Micro abrasives. Putting on a mirror finish only takes a couple of minutes.

Bill - A number of years ago I bought wet stones in a 1000/4000 combination and an 8000 grit. I found that constantly having to flatten the stones was a pain so I rarely use them, but when I do flatten them I use 220 grit sandpaper attached to a granite plate that I bought from Lee Valley. I also have the DMT Dia-sharp stones in 325, 600, 1200 but I found even the 1200 dulled the surface. When I'm flattening the back of a chisel or plane iron (depending on how bad it is I may go down to 80) but generally: 150, 180, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 2000.

For the primary bevel, I use a Veritas MKII and run from 320 - 2000. I then reset the MKII for the secondary bevel at the first notch and run from 600-2000. Following that up on the reverse of a leather strop - that is, a piece of hardwood impregnated with green honing compound.

The issue I had with the MKII was trying to do narrower chisels, in that they constantly slipped because I couldn't tighten them down enough, so a while ago I bought the narrow blade head to go with the MKII and that made a big difference - should have bought it years ago.