New Product Review   —  "Work Sharp"

Once positioned where she wants it, Elena uses a veneering roller to press the disc onto the glass disk. While the veneering roller is ideal for the task, you can use anything that will press the disc smoothly onto the glass. Removing air bubbles is the goal.
	When you do get an air bubble, you can use a sharp blade to puncture the bubble and then press the abrasive to the glass. It is important to get the surface absolutely smooth, otherwise the blade you are sharpening will catch on the paper and cause a tear.
With the four sandpaper grades mounted on the two glass disks, Elena mounts the first glass disk. She mounts it with the rougher grade facing down.    The first sharpening steps will be against the underside of the sharpening plate.
	The arrow shows where the chisel or plane blade will be resting. It is adjustable so that the blade is smoothly held in the rest.  The glass disk with the abrasive isn't installed in this picture so you can see where the blade will be — on the underside of the abrasive disk.    This tool rest is adjustable for four different sharpening/honing angles.
Elena's shooting and I am practicing with the new system. I am using the tool rest.  If greater width is required, another tool rest can be put in place.    You have to get use to honing a blade that you do not see. But that is real simple.  You simply ease the blade on the rest until it touches the underside of the disk. You will hear it. Hold it there with minimal pressure for a few seconds and bring it out for inspection. It doesn't take long for the disk to have performed its magic.
	A rubber crepe "eraser" is included and should be used periodically to remove the black sharpening matter. This is useful particularly when sharpening wide surfaces, such as plane souls.
And that is what I am doing now — surfacing the soul of a block plane. My hands are largely in the way since I have to keep a firm grip on the plane.
	Having finished smoothing out the soul on a rougher grit, I can already see what the end effect will be.
It is near impossible to photograph a mirror-like bottom, but the plane on the left is getting there. The plane and the right shows how uneven a plane soul can be. Right now, the planes have only seen the course grit. By the time the other grits are used, both these planes should be outstanding.
	Five minutes later and this little block plane is far better than new. It makes shaving the wood like working with soft butter.
It didn't take Elena long to sharpen the 2nd block plane. She liked seeing how long a curl she could make.    We use both block planes quite a bit. It is nice to think that the WorkSharp unit will help us keep them finely tuned.    Next time: working larger plane blades and shaped carving tools.

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