WEN 8-Inch Water-Cooled Wet/Dry Sharpening System (BG4108)

The main difference between this and Tormek that I can see is that the rods to rest your work fixtures on are round with the WEN, while Tormek boasts a shaped rod that they say provides more tightening force. Can't say about that but I can say that tightening the tool holder on the WEN is just fine and it doesn't seem to need any extra force. Possibly the stone wheel is not as true as the Tormek wheels? It was a bit off at first and did take a few sharpenings for the wheel to even out. This could be addressed by forcing the work-supporting rod at a slight angle but I just let the sharpenings dress the wheel. From day 1, the WEN grinder does make a grinding gear kind of noise while rotating, which was surprising. I don't know if thats good or bad. Anyway its been working in our company for 5 months now and still working great. All in all it allowed me to jump into sharpening drill bits at a low price and I would purchase again.

I got this because I wanted a good sharpening option, without breaking the bank. I have not been disappointed. Having never had my hands on the fancy European-made one that goes for around 7 times the price, I can't compare the two; but what IS nice is that all the attachments from the fancy one fit this one as well. So by investing in some of the big-ticket machine's attachments and accessories, I feel like I've gotten as close to having one of those as my budget justifies. It's definitely a huge boost to my sharpening capabilities - very satisfying to see the results.

The Wen wet stone sharpener is a great tool, it does a excellent job at sharpening my tools, and my knifes. The company that sells the Wen wet stone sharpeners, are great company to work with, I had several questions about the wet stone sharpener, and they were there, to answer me everytime, really good communication with Wen.

In my ever widening search for the perfect sharpening scheme I decided to try this cheap Wen knock off of the expensive Tormek system. After a couple of sharpening practice sessions on some cheap bench chisels, I have made the following observations: 1. The machine is not cheaply made as I feared it would be. It’s a solid, weighty piece of machinery. I have never used a Tormek system so I cannot compare the quality of the two, but the Wen product impresses out of the box. 2. The idea of wet sharpening appealed to my impatient nature; I’ve been known to blue a tool or two over the years using other methods, including my Worksharp 2000. What I did not realize, though, is that this wet/slow stone method would require a lot of fiddling and adjusting to get a precise edge. After truing up the stone (using the $100 Tormek accessory I bought for this purpose) filling the tank again and again (as the stone drank up the water on the first use), adjusting the holding bar at the correct position to produce a 25 degree bevel, getting the chisel adjusted to sit 90 degrees to the stone in the little carriage (and having to readjust several times), then working the tool on the stone until it was hollow ground, I had wasted far more time than I had planned for this trial run. Granted, there is a learning curve for this type of system and were I to learn the process and master the shortcuts to getting it done punctually, I’m sure it would cut significantly off the time I spent. But still being basically lazy and impatient, it made me appreciate jamming the tool up the slot of my Worksharp (that sounded a little dirty!) and taking a few swipes on my 8000 grit water stone. 3. Sharpening is messy no matter what you do, so the little slop that resulted from the Wen was no big deal. I hate to admit, though, that it never occurred to me that the water reservoir would need to be emptied after each use so that the stone doesn’t sit with one side in the water and the other drying out resulting in it becoming too lopsided weight-wise to run. Again, for the lazy and disorganized like me who want to sharpen a chisel then go back to work only to find myself wanting to sharpen, say, a plane iron half an hour later, this would become an issue. If you’re the type who sharpens all your tools promptly at 9 AM ever Tuesday and Friday morning, great. This works for you. My garage shop doesn’t have running water, either, which exacerbates this problem. 4. After all my effort on my first chisel, the result came out slightly skewed. Why, I’m not sure. I think the holding bar may not have been perfectly parallel to the stone face. I later tried a plane iron and tried to account for this misalignment, but it came out slightly skewed as well. I’ve since noticed that the carriage thing that slides back and forth on the bar may not be quite true. It's made of stamped metal with one end (where one of the holes that slide over the bar is located) is bent 90 degrees... but it’s not. It looks more like it’s 80 degrees or so. If this proves to be the problem it would be a quick fix—but I don’t suspect many Tormek buyers find themselves doing this, but then again I paid a fraction of what the did. My final conclusions are this: This is a great buy for those who have the temperament for it. It is a great discount machine for those want to get it set up, trued, balanced, and tweaked. It's just too finicky for someone like me. I wish I had spent the extra $50 and gotten the Worksharp 3000. But, I’ll keep the Wen around as I’m just getting into turning and I think this method may work well with lathe gouges. Of course that requires another $120 investment in a grinding jig. Nobody tell my wife.

Will never have a dull knife, scissors, or chisel again. 😁

Original review with update below. First off I didn't purchase this wet grinder for fine sharpening of my tools. So I wasn't expecting a comparison to Tormek. But I wasn't expecting it to be as bad as it is. First I noticed patches on the stone wheel. They are rubber based and left small balls on the wheel. So I won't get an even edge on my tool. Next the wheel shaft is not true, causing a noticeable wobble. This could be corrected by using a diamond wheel dresser. But not on mine because of the rubber based patches. But the reason for returning it is the motor drive gear is elliptical. Wen doesn't have a replacement part for that. So Wen tech told me to send it back. They would have sent me a new wheel but what's the point. So I am giving a gold star to Wen tech department for great service. I also ordered another wet grinder. I will update after I inspect it. P.S. the Tormek accessories do work on the tool rest. Also the wheels fit but the run out wouldn't work for the diamond wheels. Update: The return was easy through Amazon. The next one is better than the first one. It still needed a lot of work to run rite. The motor gear is roughly machined. It left metal shavings after the first test running that would have damaged the nylon gear if not removed. I cleaned and sanded the gear to a smooth finish. I then applied white lithium lube. It runs quiet now. Unfortunately it is still not a good sharpener. It will reshape your tools but don't count on this wet grinder to get a sharp edge. The stone just isn't fine enough. In the instructions it is recommended to true the wheel and grade it. You will need to purchase a diamond truing tool. Tormek TT-50 ($93.00 dollars) fits the tool rest. You will also need a stone grader Tormek SP-650 ($33.95 dollars). I tried using a duel grade water stones for grading. It didn't work as well as the SP-650. To get a sharp edge you will need a finer grit stone Tormek SJ-250 ($401.00 Dollars) fits this machine. Now that I have it tuned and running well, I'm just not that satisfied with it. In order to use it I had to purchase separate items per the instructions. The tool rest is also a problem. It is difficult to adjust. When moved it looses its parallel to the stone you just trued to. The water trough is a pain to take off after sharpening. It also won't sit under the stone so I have to put a rag under it for drips. The stone will not hold its graded grit. When graded for rough work it gets finer. When graded for fine it gets rougher. The washer plates did not sit flat against the stone. I had to flatten them or risk cracking the stone. And as mentioned I had to tune the gear or have premature wear and failure. If you only use it to sharpen lawn mower blades and chisels that you hit with a hammer, you would most likely be happy. The wet grinder and items you need to use it cost about $250 dollars. My two star rating is comparing it to the tasks I would use it for. Because the tool rest accuracy is not repeatable I can not give it three stars. Yes it is a low price compared to Tormek. But it is a wet stone grinder. So it is in the same category. I am keeping this and using it as a shaping grinder.

I have a tormek for 10+ years. I wanted a second grinder to run my 4000 grit Japanese stone. I was really surprised how solid it was built. Reverse is a nice option to have. You can decide wether the stone is on the right or left. I removed the leather polish wheel to be able to use more stone before having to change due to stone diameter lettering knife handles bump into strop wheel. Tormek design uses the polishing wheel as a drive wheel so changing stones more often is needed. The support bar and chisel holder are very poorly made. Chisel holder needs to be bent into adjustment to be able to use. Tormek tools are far better. All that said wen’s grinder is a bargain! Update- I just retired my tormek due to needing parts and I decided to replace it since I have not had a problem with the wen.

Excellent sharpener. I've used this to sharpen my lathe tools and my chisels. It runs at a consistent speed and the water well keeps the tool from overheating. the only thing that I have against it is that the plastic that the body of the tool is made of could have been a little more sturdy. But at the price point that this is at it is well worth the money.

Motor broke 2 weeks after warranty

Sí bien la piedra no tiene la calidad de un Tormek, cuesta menos de una cuarta parte, puedes lograr muy buenos afilados de manera muy rápida y si eres exigente con el filo puedes terminar de asentar en una piedra de agua hasta reflejante en el filo, por el precio es muy buena compra

Excellente qualité prix, n'est pas du haut de game, plastique et assemblage a la chaine. MAIS la meule affûte très bien. Une seul vitesse, une seule direction. Nécessite un système pour dressé la meule, mais le reste je le fais sans guide (habitude des pierre a eau et a huile) Pour le moment j'ai fait couteaux de cuisine, haches, machette (difficile avec les objet long).

Facil de usar y muy practico para sacar filo a los cuchillos

Funciona bastante bien y puedes dar un buen ángulo a todo lo que afiles