# I Can't Imagine It Gets Much Better Than This



## Jimi_C

Oh, one other minor gripe… the manual does not say how tight to make the bolt that holds the grinding wheel on. Being a bit scared to crack my new grinding wheel, I was probably over cautious and didn't want to over-tighten it. This caused the wheel to slip on my a few times, till I finally cranked down on the bolt one good time, after which it didn't slip anymore.


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## patron

when i was taught to sharpen a chisel ,
and to save you looking goffy ,
with one arm bare ,
the test was to turn the chisel point down ,
and rum it across the thumb nail lightly ,
if it slides ( at 45 deg. angle ) ,
it is not sharp ( even though it will take the hair of your arm ) ,
if it stops cold ,
it will raise the hair on your arm !

and is sharp .


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## Jimi_C

Patron, it does not slide


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## drfixit

Good review! Even better idea on the gfci outlet…
Lowes carries this :








Its a 2 foot extention cord with the gfci built in to it.
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=145277-33536-30338062&lpage=none


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## Jimi_C

Thanks drfixit, I'll definitely be picking one of those up!


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## PurpLev

I have the smaller 8" version that was sold by scheppach (grizzley sells the same model as well). it's a fantastic product, and really helps put a keen edge on all the blades. I had very good success before I got it - or at least - so I though, and was very surprised to see that with this sharpener I can even get much better edges. makes woodwork easier, and better (better, cleaner cuts).


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## asthesawturns

Been thinking 'bout this for a while now, maybe soon I will do it, you know take the plunge into a wet grinder. pun intended.
Thanks for the reveiw, great job.


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## Dusty56

Nice review …thank you


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## jbertelson

Thanks for the review, not an item I am looking for now, but there may be a time…................


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## MercerRemodeling

I have the same model as Purplev and can also attest to the ease of sharpening. I had previously used a veritas honing guide and got great results but the wet grinder cuts the time in less than half.


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## a1Jim

thanks for the review.


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## Jimi_C

@crankyrocker: The Veritas jig is on my future wish-list… I have no problem free-handing the chisels, but I could not get a consistent feel for the plane blade I sharpened. I ended up using my honing jig, but I'm really not happy with the way it works.


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## sidestepmcgee

good stuff, I have been looking at this model.


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## bunkie

I bought one of these when they first came out. It's probably most likely a result of my lack of skill, but I've found it almost impossible to get an edge on a chisel that's truly square. As a result, I have been very reluctant to try sharpening the blade from my Lie-Nielsen plane with it. I have the wobble issue that others have described. I also have issues with the grommets that are used to locate the chisel jig along the horizontal bar.

A good friend of mine has a Tormek, which I have yet to try. I'd love to do a side-by-side comparison of the two units. My friend loves his Tormek.


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## Jimi_C

Bunkie, are you using the included jig, or did you buy the accessory kit that has the chisel sharpening jig with it? If you're using the included one, you're probably running into the same issue I mentioned in the review, which is that if you tighten down the jig too much on the side that isn't over the chisel, it causes uneven grinding. I found the trick is to tighten down the one knob over the chisel (aligned with the edge of the jig) as much as possible, and then just tighten the other a bit to make sure the chisel can't move - it didn't take much in my experience.

If you keep having issues though, I'd check out the accessory kit, or one of the Tormek jigs - I've read the Tormek chisel sharpening jigs work fine with the Grizzly.


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## TivomanBrad

Ditto on the great review. One criticism I would add is I am finding that the wheel flings water off itself (towards the front) and onto the bench. It doesn't happen all the time, but enough to wind up with a small puddle on the bench, and when sharpening I end up with a large wet spot on my sweat shirt.

I also put this on my xmas list and it magically appeared under the tree. My grinding wheel was a little out of round so I bought the Tormek diamond dressing jig and trued the stone before I attempted to sharpen.(the Tormek diamond jig works great by the way)

I also got the Accu-sharp jig from Grizzly and *WOULD WARN *anyone considering it. It does provide a better clamping method than the included jig, however, the portion of the jig that holds the tool being sharpened is a separate piece that has a nylon bar attached to it that rides in a slot on the other piece of the jig that is attaced to the grinders tool rest - i.e. the part that holds the blade is loose and unsecured. I sharpened a couple of chisels just fine and progressed to a plane blade. Twice the stone pushed the tool and sliding part of the jig out of the slot and the edge of the blade caught the stone and was trust back towards me and out out my hands. The second time, it cut a deep slice in one of my fingers. OUCH!

Anyone have any similar experiences?

I believe that this design is flawed and plan on returning the jig for a refund. I plan on continuing sharpenning once my finger heals


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## Jimi_C

Brad, sounds like you may have a little too much water in the reservoir. I think I may have had a little too much too (easy to do, since the wheel sucks up so much when dry…) and a little bit of water was coming off on the downward side, making a small puddle there. My solution was to just put a towel under the reservoir, which helped catch any little drips that came off the wheel.


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## llanaro

Thanks for your review

Purchased the grinder last week after reading this review and others…... Fisrt thing I noticed the wobble with the stone..turned the stone around and the wobble reduced by half…I could live with this not happy about it…tried sharpening a chisel and noticed the wheel was turning in the wrong direction..away from me but tried sharpening anyway and found the stone out of square and not lined with the universal rest ..needed to be squared.. what is required is a dressing jig to square it properly…my opinion..sharpening a tool should be done with precision and feel that this machine does not cut it when the plastic bushings are almost popping everytime you insert the jig…the jig should be more sturdy and have a precise method of attaching the tool…this one bends if you tighten too much…called grizzly about rotation ..they told me that the unit was wired wrong and gave me a schematic on how to rewire it…took it back to the supplier for a refund…

regards
Lou


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## Jimi_C

Wow, sounds like you got a lemon 

You touched on two of my major knocks against this, the lack of a dressing tool and the mediocre jig included, but the incorrect wiring is both surprising and confusing. Was the wheel spinning in the direction indicated by the arrow next to the leather honing wheel? I ask because there are two ways you can grind: with the rotation and against, but you can only use the leather wheel as it spins away from you (otherwise your chisel will dig right into the leather).


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## llanaro

Hi

It was definetly spinning against the arrow… if they had another I would have exchanged it and set myself up with some nice jigs…I founds that the grindstone bushing is a touch large for the shaft and by turning the wheel I got less wobble… I don't care if they say that the wobble does not affect the process… it feels strange following the wobble with the tool ..i put 2 larger washers and that helped center it and by dressing the stone parallel with the support would have been very close to turning true.. like I said I would have kept it and made it work if they had another…


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## skeeter

I got one under the tree as well. I probally wouldn't ask for one again though. The first problem I found with it, is that it is slow. I know it says slow speed grinder but it works very slow. I have two crappy bench planes with really nice LN blades in them and it takes forever to put a new angle on them. When i am working on them I have to keep reassuring myself that at least I am not burning up my tools. I like Tivoman got the tormek dressing stone and it does help alittle. My biggest complaint is the jig. I have to put the tools in at 15 to 20 degrees to keep them square with the wheel.


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 I graded the stone like they say with the arm close to the stone and it is parallel when I am finished. Also the leather stroping wheel is very wobbly. With that said I did take my large kitchen knife and ground it and stroped it free hand and for the first time it cut arm hair. So not a total loss.


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## Jimi_C

I guess speed is relative, I had only sharpened on sand paper, so the Grizzly is pretty damn fast to me  Like I said in the review, I had a hollow grind on each of my chisels in 10 minutes or less. I'm sure that would take seconds on a high speed grinder, but I'm happy with it (and I've heard the same complaint about the Tormek).

As for the jig, yep it sucks. I wonder again if you're making the same mistake I did: tightening down both knobs on the jig as tight as possible, which I found causes the chisel to skew (especially smaller ones like my 1/4").

I'm really surprised by the number of problems people have reported in comments here. Did I just get really lucky? I had few issues and went to chopping dovetails almost immediately, so maybe my unit was the outlier.


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## skeeter

I got suduced by the made in Germany also. Thinking Bmw's and Mercedes. Not really !!More like Trabaunt. It couldn't be from tightening them too much,because the irons are .125 thick by 2.375 wide. Now on my LN chisels it was pretty fast.


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## JohnGreco

Thanks for this review! I just got mine today and am pretty happy with it so far out of the box.


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## nx95240

thanks for the review . i guess iam going to try this one .


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## Chris_

I got one for Christmas and overall, I've been pleased with it.

It's been a development process to get consistently sharp square edges, but I'm getting there.

Firstly, yes the stone needs to be graded parallel with the support shaft. It's nearly impossible with the stone grader Grizzly lists on their page. I made a jig to hold the stone grader which clamped onto the support arm. Crude but functional. The real problem is the point on the dresser is very small and it's very difficult to sweep the entire surface. Luckily I had one of those wide diamond dressers that I used for a final touch up to level out the hills.

In no uncertain terms buy the Tormek stone grader. It was the final step in producing a good, true surface to sharpen on. Prior to all this my sharpening was very inconsistent.

The edge jig is a paradox. The only use for the outboard screw is to keep the two halves parallel to each other. I find that I crank down on the knob over the piece to be sharpened and then only snug up the other knob. If you need a little bit of skew (use a marker to darken your edge) you can tweak the outboard screw. Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty simple.

I'm still struggling with getting the edge jig to slide smoothly. I've waxed the support arm, but the bushings scraped the wax off. Just this morning I misted it from a can of spray Lithium grease and that worked, but I can see it becoming a mess.

The one major finding that I've stumbled upon is the honing strop. This is where the real sharpening takes place. The stone gets your edge in good condition, the strop brings it to incredible sharpness. At first I was using the edge jig with the strop and I managed to dubb the edge over about 50% of the time. I've been doing it freehand lately and that is working much more effectively. The strop is not flat though so I'm thinking of replacing it with the Tormek/Jet replacement. I just need to see if either will fit.

To other posters, I don't consider this a tool to repair a severely damaged edge. I've got a slow speed (1800 rpm) grinder I use to repair edges. It takes about 30 seconds. Then I can sharpen the edge with the wet grinder and then hone to a final edge.

Thanks for the review.


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## Jimi_C

Yeah, I hear you about keeping the stone square. I wish the Tormek truing jig weren't so damn expensive, because it looks very nice. I may have to break down and get that at some point, because it seems to be a pretty foolproof system. Do you know for sure that it will fit the bar on the Grizzly model?


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## Chris_

Not for certain no. But everything I read indicates the bar on the Tormek/Jet is the same diameter as the Grizzly. This means the Tormek/Jet jigs should fit. I've read in other forums about people having no issues, but have not personally experienced it.

The spacing on the bar legs is different though and Tormek/Jet guide bars will not work without modifying the grinder. I'm "thinking" about buying a 12mm tap to thread one of the legs of the guide bar to make a poor man's adjustable bar like on the other two. Saying that I don't find the existing bar all that difficult to adjust.


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## Jimi_C

Yeah if I end up pulling the trigger, I'll just bring the bar in with me to Woodcraft and ask if I can open the package to make sure it fits before buying it. They're usually pretty good about that.


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## TommyTee

Thank you for the review. I bought one of these and have only one problem besides water going all over the place and that is when I grind a blade is in the vertical position with the wheel turning towards me, I cannot get the blade square. It has a very nice sharp edge, its just not square. I bought the Tormek plane jig and wheel dressor and it still does not grind right. On the horizontal position it does really well, but it takes longer to grind. I use mine manily for knives and such and am happy with it.


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## Chris_

Well, I'll be honest, getting a square grind is/was challenge.

Firstly make ABSOLUTELY certain the face of your wheel is parallel with the bar. Mine wasn't. I wasn't interested in paying the small fortune that Tormek wants for their wheel dressing jig, I made my own. It's pretty crude in that it's pretty much just a piece of 1×4 pine that I clamped to the bar making certain it was parallel with the bar. Then I clamped one of the cheapo $15 Grizzly wheel dressing diamonds to another piece of 1×4 which sat on top of the piece clamped on the bar. I could then run the dressing tool back an forth making certain the wheel was flat and concentric. It was neither before I started. It took a while and I finished the process up by cleaning up the surface with the Tormek wheel grading tool. It leveled the surface very nicely.

When I have blade I wish to sharpen on the wet grinder that's never been on it before, I do a preliminary grind on a dry grinding wheel. I do two things on the grinder, 1) make certain the cutting edge is perpendicular to the side of the blade, and 2) I clean up the bevel getting close to the final shape.

I mount the blade in the holder and then I color the face to be ground with a sharpie. I then touch the edge lightly to the wheel and then inspect the edge. If the area I'm grinding is not consistent across, I "massage" the blade holder by tightening the knobs depending on which way it's skewed. I've got the original sheet metal holder and I've learned you cannot put much tension on the outboard know without skewing the cut.

Woodcraft had the Jet blade holder on sale for $18 so I ordered one of those to see if it's any better than the sheet metal one I've got. It can't be any worse.

I think the real magic is when you turn the grinder around and strop the edge on the leather wheel. I use the bar in the other position, but I hold the blade by hand. Once your edge is ground, all you need to do to if itt's dull from usage is use the leather wheel. I'm thinking about making a wider, flatter wheel out of mdf an covering it with leather I like it so much.

I've gotten fairly consistent with the grinder as evidenced by the large hairless spot on my left forearm. Thank goodness it's normally under my watch. I never got anywhere near this consistent with sandpaper or stones.

Good luck and keep us appraised to your progress.


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## Chris_

Just some feedback on the Jet blade holder. It's significantly better than the Grizzly one. Well worth the $26 I paid for it. First time out of the box, I put a blade on it that had previously been sharpened on a stone and the grind pattern was straight across the edge. No skewing like the Grixxly holder.

It's made of solid material instead of sheet metal and deflects appreciably less. You can probably tweak it, but you would have to tighten the knob a lot more to do so.

Highly recommended.


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## Chris_

I seem to be the only one posting, but I'll keep a it. As indicated above the Jet blade holder is very good. You can still get chisel blades tweaked if you tighten the outside screw too much. I've been using the chisel to first set the outboard screw just tight enough to grab the chisel and then move the chisel to the inboard and apply holding pressure with that screw. Seems to work fine.

I got crazy and bought another bar which I mounted on the backside. I set each bar so it gives me the appropriate angle on the grinding and buffing wheel without taking the blade out of the holder. I made some gage blocks to set my tools with different blocks for different angles. I set the bar on the honing wheel side to do a very small microbevel.

Thus far it seems to be doing fine. I'm trying to eliminate the trial and error (and resulting time usage) out of sharpening so I can just get more work done.

Saying all that, I've got three King waterstones that I bought a while back that I just tried in earnest the other day. The edge I got from those was easy and consistent. The problem with these water stones is you have to soak them prior to use. I've had them over a year and this was the first time I've really used them because of that.

So, I think I'll keep at the wet grinder for now.

y'all take care now,


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## bbc557ci

I have a similar rig, but an older Delta with a 10×2 wet wheel, works on the same principle. Can be a bit messy but overall it does a great job.


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