WEN 10 in. Variable-Torque Water Cooled Wet and Dry Sharpening System

This is a review of Wen’s BG9910 wet/dry sharpening machine.Why would I give it a “buy” recommendation at only 3 starts? Well, it represents a decent “˜value’.It’s a clone of a clone [Grizzly] of the outstanding “˜pro grade” Tormek T-8.If you do a little “Rube Goldberg’ing” and spend some money of the #42074A accessory kit [which Includes a long knife jig, a short knife jig, an axe jig, and a scissors jig], and you practice, you should be quite pleased.The drive on this unit is “capstan style”, i.e. the “torque” knob moves the capstan towards or away from the stropping wheel drive belt.I think the 220-grit wheel is too coarse for sharpening, okay for grinding; my chisels are finished off at 1200-grit, for example.I took the dial indicator out for some measurements: the shaft to which the wheel mounts has a respectable runout of 0.002″; when the wheels mounted, the runout grows to 0.008″, which may tell you to dress the wheel immediately. The next measurements I took were of the support bar’s parallelism and concentricity to the wheel; the best I could do was achieve 0.4 degrees error, which could impart some “˜skewness’ to critical jobs.The wheel’s shaft measured 0.472″ with a working length of 1.875″; the “compliant” bore’s diameter of the wheel measured 0.463″ and works easily onto the shaft “¦ I wonder if repeated mounting/dismounting will loosen the snug fit?The stropping wheel was ridiculously sloppy out-of-the box “¦ like a tire on a badly damaged rim. By remounting the rubber belt, it mostly resolved the issue “¦ but it seems that side won’t achieve the steadiness of the wheel side.The manual doesn’t suggest adding an anti-corrosive” agent to the water “¦ I guess because you’re told to dry after use. I’d suggest dismounting the wheel and wiping down the shaft.

WEN 10 in. Variable-Torque Water Cooled Wet and Dry Sharpening System – For nearly 50 years I have sharpened chisels, plane irons and knives by hand using various grits of sandpaper, oil stones, water stones and ceramics. I have also used different sharpening machines with varying degrees of success. None of the machines’ results were to the level of hand sharpening up to 8000-grit water stones, But most of them including the WEN 10 in. give a decent edge that will satisfy many people. The WEN system is easy to use, the machine appears well constructed, it runs smooth and quiet and the instructions for its use are clear and easy to understand. Included is an angle setup gauge that makes it easy to install your implement at the correct angle for sharpening. The 220-grit grinding wheel needs to be saturated with water before use, and it should never be used dry even though its called a wet / dry system. A suggestion: set the unit in a shallow pan to catch water that splashes off the wheel and keep a rag nearby. The stropping wheel dressed with included honing paste does help to finish the edge. For sharpening knives, scissors and such, an accessory kit is needed and available on line.

This is my second WEN product for my shop and if this one works as well as the first one then it should last for years. The grinding wheel is got some real heft to it and is will shaped for its purpose. It comes with a gauge to check the bevel you are sharpening to take the guess work out. The tool rest can be put in two positions. The only thing is the On/Off switch is on the back of the unit instead of the front which means you have to reach over to start and stop it and that means the wheels are moving.

With this 10 inch wet and dry sharpener you will keep all your sharp tools sharp. And your blades from overheating it has a 10 in. x 2 in. 220-Grit wet sharpening stone and an 9 in. by 1-3/16 in. leather stropping wheel,The motor quietly rotates the wheels at 120 RPM for maximum precision during operation. Once the edge is nice and sharp, polish and finish the surface on the leather stropping wheel. Bring all your dull blades, wood chisels, carving tools, scissors, screwdrivers back to life. It has a support bar adjusts to both horizontal and vertical positions, with a fine-tune adjustment ring for ultra-precise adjustments. The bars 12 mm Dia allows for compatibility with the majority of sharpening.The WEN 10 in.It also includes an angle guide, an onboard carrying handle, a height adjustable water reservoir and a plane jig.

This Wen sharpening system is a decent tool for the price. Sturdily built to last a long time under normal conditions and use. This is definitely not an industrial grade product but is perfect for a homeowner or lighter use professional. I have used it to sharpen mower blades, axes & hatchets, mason hammers claws, wood chisels, and stone/block cutting chisels and it works great for these applications. The 220 grit may be a bit course in my opinion for the final edge but it is a fair compromise for a one size fits all selection. The product comes with a tube of polish that will help finish your blade.