Diamonds, chrome, steel and shellac – a great day.
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I was a bit behind in my regular work but pushed hard and got a whole lot done. Enough to take off a bit early. My three EZE Lap diamond plates came in today, along with a big bar of chrome oxide and a vintage saw set. Made for a nice afternoon in the shop.
I must say, I was holding onto some skepticism about Paul’s cambered bevel sharpening technique. But I’ve adopted him as my teacher, so I decided to do what he says, to the letter. Sharpened and stropped my new gouge and six old chisels.
The gouge was new, but not sharp. I think I need a bit more practice on that. It’s 100 times better, but I still think it could be improved. Yep, I’ve watched the gouge sharpening video.
My chisels were pretty sharp I thought. I’ve been using the scary sharp sandpaper method with a honing guide, primary and secondary bevel. I gritted my teeth and took them to the diamonds freehand. Made a strop with a block of wood and piece of leather, just like the one I’ve seen in about 20 videos here. Stropped it, removed the burr.
OK, I’m seriously impressed. One, it was so darned fast. I sharpened six chisels in no time. And two, wow, if they were scary sharp before, they’re terrifyingly sharp now. Did my marking knife just because it was lying there. I’ve never seen anything so sharp – at least not anything I’ve sharpened myself. I was doing ninja/samurai moves on a piece of paper – slicing it to pieces.
The planes are next.
Oh, and the saw set. I have a nice old Richardson saw I got from Craigslist a few weeks back. Great saw and already fairly sharp from the last owner, but it would always drift off to the right. I didn’t really know what I was doing with the saw set, but I get the basic concept. Ran down one side and then the other, now it cuts like a laser.
And finally, finished up the finish on my latest dovetail box – I’m going to keep making these until they’re perfect, this one is close. I’d finished another one with some amber shellac. This one I did with the plain kind. Same brand, but totally different results. Not just the color, but the smoothness. I am in awe of how this thing looks and feels. Waxed it with the steel wool and buffed it with the Kiwi shoe polish brush. Now I just want to caress this thing the rest of the day.
So, yeah, knocked it out of the park today. Thanks Paul for being an amazing teacher.
15 May 2014 at 11:19 am #57149sounds like you had a very productive day keith it’s great when it starts to come together and all makes sense, happy sharpening
15 May 2014 at 1:27 pm #57152That is a good day! I am also a convert to Paul’s sharpening method. It was a real eye opener. I realized I sharpen to work on projects, not sharpen for hours to sharpen for hours.
It’s freeing not to spend so much time on a task that should be quick. I always think if I was making a living at woodworking 100 years ago, my boss wouldn’t give me 45 minutes to sharpen 2 chisels.
Practical teacher, practical sharpening. -
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