Reply To: Paul's Sharpening Method
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I too have switched over to the free hand method Paul teaches.
At first I was “a-scared” of it. So, I practiced on spare a chisel I bought from one of the big box stores. It turned out pretty good. I was surprised at how easy it was to do. And fast too.
So like David Knight, I bought some DMT diamond stones, a strop and some green polishing compound from Harbor Freight (per Paul’s recommendation).
I still have my combination water stones but, I don’t see myself using them. I don’t know what to do with ’em. And I still have my $15.00 sharpening jig (guide) too. I guess that may be useful someday.
However … I’ve only used the free hand method on blades from 2″ down to 1/4″. The 1/4″ took some concentration because it seems like it would be real easy to tilt it too much to one side or the other and end up with a deformed edge.
But, when I met Paul at the Woodworking show in Ft Worth, he showed me that even *his* chisels have a *little bit* of a skew on the edges (or at least a couple of them did). So I guess that ain’t really anything to be worried about. …too much.
kelly
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