Very Sharp, yes. Scary sharp, no, but a nice tool none the less.

Published Jan. 15, 2009 at 5:07 a.m.

I’m as susceptible to good advertising as the next guy and while Pro-Tool Mfg. makes a nice product, they are masters of marketing. So moving past the hype, here’s my take on the WS2000.

I’ve hand sharpened my chisels and the few planes I own since I started woodworking and the main reason I hadn’t done more work with my hand tools is because I’ve always hated using my limited time maintaining the edges necessary to do precise work. So when I saw an ad clip for the “WorkSharp WS2000” I thought it looked like a good fit for me. The tool is of a simple, straight forward design. The body is constructed of high impact plastic and an aluminum alloy, making it light and I assume pretty rugged.

The WS2000 is a snap to set up and effectively turned the drudgery of basic sharpening into a speedy, painless process. Much of the time spent on hand sharpening is in the set up. While the WS2000 unit doesn’t do away with the need to fine hone your tools, (it will get edges very sharp but WON’T get them scary sharp) it virtually eliminates 80% of the set up time involved allowing you to move through the basic process of sharpening in just a few ( 2 to 3 ) minutes. For many folks this basic process is all that they may ever need making the tool all the more attractive. Even for those individuals who NEED “scary” sharp tools it’s a useful and valuable time saving asset that provides the opportunity to use exactly the right tool for every job by eliminating biggest obstacle and excuse for doing otherwise, the time involved in sharpening,

So, will the Worksharp make every woodworker into a hand tool aficionado? Probably not, but it will save everyone who buys it a lot of time and effort and give them good value for their money and provide a pretty nice edge for their tools to boot.

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