Buy Now Makita 9820-2 1.1 amp Horizontal Wheel Wet Blade Sharpener We Compare and Choose Low Prices to offer You Here!
Venerable But Excellent Grinder
I bought this from Amazon in April of 2007. In those (almost) 4 years, I have formed some strong opinions. Please allow me to share them with you.
I just came up from the shop where I sharpened nine bevel chisels, five lathe chisels of various types, one plane iron, and three 6" jointer knives. My session took about 3 hours, including cleaning and drying the machine. My usual session is only an hour or so, but the lathe tools were in bad shape. All the tools were ground with the 1000 and 6000 grit stones. The lathe tools required a little fixing with the 120 grit stone first.
This machine requires some practice to get great results from it. I suggest reading highland's white paper on its use. It is on their web site. IMHO, if you are good with tools, you can learn to be expert with this machine.
Here is my setup:
Basic Makita machine with 1000 grit factory stone (and a spare 1000 grit stone I picked up somewhere).
Makita 6000 grit stone
Highland Woodworking 120 grit "green" stone
Highland Woodworking chisel jig. This thing is utter simplicity and only $15 or so.
Here are my experiences sharpening various types of tools:
Plane Irons - Fabulous. Using the Highland jig in the Makita tooling is just the ticket. Flattening the back of the iron is easy too.
Bevel Chisels - Excellent, just like plane irons.
Jointer Knives - Excellent. The Makita tooling is unsurpassed for knives.
Planer Knives - Don't know. I sharpen two 6" knives at a time, which can't be too different than a 12" planer knife though.
Lathe Chisels - Anything with bevels is easy - just like bevel chisels. Gouges must be done freehand, but that works fine.
Thoughts on this machine, including some trouble others have reported.
Stone Quality - Terrific Japanese water stones. Flat & true. I own 4 stones, and I've never experienced the wobbling and vibration that one reviewer hsa reported. The only thing I can imagine is that the reviewer isn't properly engaging the drive tab on the bottom of the stone's platter with the mating feature in the drive disk. This would certainly cause crazy wobble and vibration.
Tooling Quality - Excellent. Cast iron platten. Adjustable height and angle. Clearly indended for jointer knives. When teamed up with Highland's jig, the tooling is superb for chisels, plane irons, etc.
Machine Quality - Just fine. No problems. Some have called it flimsy. I don't get it. Runs quietly, without vibration.
Corrosion - Not a speck on mine after almost 4 years. The steel parts are plated to resist rust. The cast iron is not. Maintenance is required, including emptying the water from the machine and allowing it to dry. I use WD40 on the cast iron and on the steel too after a grinding session. If you don't maintain the machine (that is, if you allow it to stay wet after use), of course it will rust eventually.
Mess - A little, yes. The machine has an excellent spray shield that can be raised to just below the plane of the work surface. Most cast-off water or slurry is caught by this shield. As I type this, I am wearing the sweatshirt I was wearing 30 minutes ago when using the grinder. My shirt is bone dry.
Conclusion - Excellent sharpening system for knives, chisels, plane irons, and the like. Accessories are easily available. Maintenence is required. Practice is required.
Nothing Better Available Today! - Have used this model for over 20 years
I just bought a new 9820 after using my old one for over 20 years.
I am a full time professional woodworker and have sharpened my planer/jointer knives hundreds of times on this machine. With a little finesse in the set up, it does a fantastic job.
For planer/jointer knives I have always found the 1000 grit stone that comes with the machine more than adequate to produce a very sharp, long lasting edge. I own the course green wheel also, but seldom use it since I rarely damage my knife edges. But when I do put a nick in an edge, the green wheel makes short work of reestablishing a clean facet to sharpen with the 1000 grit wheel.
The machine is a mess to use, since the horizontally spinning stone slings water and stone/steel slurry all around. But since I am a woodworker and a metal worker, I am used to getting filthy while working so it does not bother me. I just make sure that it does not stain anything that I care about keeping clean.
I also own the chisel sharpening jig, but seldom use it. If I nick a chisel edge, I lightly touch it to a small belt sander, always making sure not to overheat the edge, and then sharpen on my diamond stones with the General sharpening jig. This is just much faster and less of a mess than using the 9820.
For me the 9820 is all about planer/jointer knife sharpening. This is where the machine shines. To not have to rely on a sharpening service makes learning to use the 9820 worth it.
No machine is perfect, and the 9820 is no exception. The plastic housing is somewhat fragile, so be careful not to over tighten the height post nobs. The steel backing plate of the stone rusts. I had to reglue the stone to the backing plate with construction adhesive.
My old machine was still running strong despite the plastic housing being cracked and the 1000 grit stone being less than 1/16 " thick after 20 plus years of use. I made some repairs with plastic weld and gave it to a good friend who makes knives. FYI: Grizzly has a great price on the replacement stone.
I would have bought something different in a heartbeat, but there is nothing on the market that does what this machine does: flat grind, water cooled, reasonably priced, easy to use.
Hopefully I will still be around in another 20 years to buy another.
p.s. You can watch a series of "how to" videos on my YouTube channel that shows much more detail on how I use this machine.
Money Saver
If you run a jointer or planer, and have to send your blades out, this is the product for you. I was spending $25 per set and having to wait for my blades, putting me behind schedule constantly.
After a short learning curve, I had my 1st set sharpened and back on the planer, and what a difference! My blades were sharper than the ones were I got back and I'm confident I can do it over and over again. Only 8 sharpenings and I have my investment back.
Two downsides to mention: 1) the included instructions are less than user friendly. I ended up googling the sharpener and found some excellent tips from previous users that really made sharpening understandable and easy to perform. 2) you will get wet using this tool. Make sure you are in a suitable area, and prepared to have some water splashed your way. Not a drowning, but you will be damp.
I love this tool and will get lots of use out of it (One site even showed some homemade jigs for sharpening virtually anything and everything you may wish to sharpen: lathe gouges, chisels, knives, scissors, etc etc)
