Reply To: Sharpening
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I’ve watched Pauls videos on Youtube where he demonstrates how to sharpen chisels and plane irons.
Compared to other methods described on the net and in books Paul’s system is a bit different.
1. Only one bevel. Other methods prescribe one, two or even three (!) so called micro-bevels in addition to the normal bevel.
2. Uses coarser grits than most other methods I’ve seen. Paul’s grit series is 250 -> 600 -> 1 200 -> 15 000 (leather strop) if I understand correctly.
3. Doesn’t spend a lot of time working on the back side in the normal sharpening round. I guess that a proper lapping of the back is part of his routine when acquiring a new tool.
4. Fast. I guess that Paul spends less than a minute including setup time to sharpen the tool at hand.
A question that pop up in my head when reviewing the items above:
Is the use of coarser grits connected to the fact that we maintain the entire bevel surface at all sharpening sessions. The use of micro-bevels might put off the use of coarse work in the small maintenance rounds but will require a re-grind of the normal angle bevel regularly.
In order to match the speed Paul keeps I guess the only way is to leave the honing guides behind. Just placing the tool in the guide and adjusting it has wasted at least half of the time Paul needs to complete a tool.
Located in Jönköping, Sweden.