Sharpening
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- This topic has 18 replies, 15 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 11 months ago by thomm.
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Mostly, I use Paul’s method. If a blade needs to have a lot come off of it or if I need to get something square, I’ll use a guide. For straight knife blades, like my marking knife or chip carving knife, I use a palm sized stone which I hold in my hand and then move the blade back and forth across the stone in my palm. Yes, I’ve cut myself (but once seemed enough to learn my lesson not to add a flourish at the end of the stroke). I start with the blade flat on the stone, skimming the surface and then rock up until I just start to feel the edge bite and hear a scratch come into the sound. I go back and forth between the two sides of the blade every 10 or 20 strokes so no burr builds. One change to Pauls method for plane irons is that I will sometimes go to a very fine waterstone that I already owned (or my chip carving knife polishing stone) instead of the strop.
29 March 2016 at 6:01 am #136074For plane irons, I use a honing guide and diamond stones. My go to planes are bevel up so the bevel angles are more critical. I find the guide gets me where I need to be very quickly, as I use micro-bevels to cut down on the amount of material to be honed off. I have a extra-extra fine stone so I don’t generally strop plane blades. I generally sharpen my chisels using Paul’s method.
For knifes and carving tools, I use diamond paddles and a strop.
29 March 2016 at 12:24 pm #136078I bought a set of waterstones a few years ago. 4 grits. I did most of my sharpening freehand on those stones for a while but wasn’t getting things as sharp as I would like. Then I bought a honing guide in hopes of getting a better edge. I found the guide frustrating and tedious to use so I barely used it. Recently I decided I’d rather spend more time building than sharpening, so I bought a Worksharp3000 power sharpener. Very costly, but now I can sharpen all my chisels to a very good edge in pretty short order instead spending of all afternoon. Some people enjoy the sharpening process but I just want to get it done 🙂
Curious to hear from others.
29 March 2016 at 3:17 pm #136081I started with oilstones. So I stick with them. I hollow grind with a grinder, then free hand on two stones, then strop. My luthier told me this. He learned it from the Krenov book.
I was taught to use the Veritas MK2 jig with scary sharp papers on float glass. personally the veritas jig is a faff and scary sharp, while initial outlay is relatively cheap, will soon add up and become quite pricey over time.
I had the eze lap stones that Paul recommends and wasn’t overly keen at the time but would like to give them another go.
I tend to also use a micro bevel of 30degrees on chisels and I have plane irons set at both 30degrees and 50degrees for each of my bevel up veritas planes (smoother and jack). Combined with the 12 degree bed these give effective cutting angles of 42 degrees and 62 degrees. The 62 degrees blade is superb at controlling tear out, and you can plane against the grain without too much issue if the need arises.
- This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by Darryl.
7 April 2016 at 6:26 pm #136241I use the DMT diamond plates up to 1000 grit. I have a coarse and fine that is two in one. It’s kind of annoying to have to flip it but its rare that I have to use the coarse side unless I mess up pretty bad.
I then have a king water stone for my ultra fine 6000 grit needs. It works very well but of course it has the inevitable valley that I have learned to navigate.
I then strop with just the chromium oxide compound and a plain piece of leather. Takes me about 3 minutes free hand after normal use. About 10 to 20 if I need to adjust an angle.
I made that holder from pine and it is bolted to the back of my bench. It seems to work well there, and is very accessible in my tiny tiny shop.
In my opinion, free hand sharpening is a very useful skill in regards to muscle control and sensitivity. Most of the critical woodworking operations rely on strong and steady hand muscles, such as setting out knife walls and paring down to them. Holding a chisel blade at a very precise angle and applying pressure is a good workout for your hands. It also saves time to freehand, from what I can imagine. I have never used a honing guide. Maybe not a first, since you will definitely mess up and roll the edge too far but once you develop the skills, it leaves you feeling more confident and in touch with your tools.
Cheers and happy woodworking!
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You must be logged in to view attached files.7 April 2016 at 9:47 pm #136244I’ve read so many times “There are many methods, so choose a method and stick with it.” I’ve been using Paul’s method, but with a twist. I can sharpen plane blades and 1/2″ and larger chisels freehand on the diamond stones, but I typically can’t get the cutting edge on smaller chisels even close to square freehand. For those I try freehand and when I’m way out of square I break out the honing guide. Unfortunately it’s the type that clamps on the blade from above, and there’s no good way to ensure it is clamped squarely in the guide. If it’s not squarely in the guide, the sharpened cutting edge will not be square to the side of the chisel.
Like anything, it takes practice and then more practice. After three years or so I’m still getting better at it and it does make a noticeable difference in planing and chiseling when the blades are really sharp.
7 April 2016 at 10:37 pm #136250It’s cool that we can talk about sharpening without getting into the flame wars which seem to accompany the topic elsewhere. My view is that if what you’re doing works, you’re doing it right.
I have always free-handed the way my dad taught me using a combination oil stone followed by a quick “strop” on my sleeve or the thigh of my jeans. But last year I broke my combination oil stone. Having been following Paul for a while I decided to up my game and looked at diamond stones, I’d tried scary sharp once, but couldn’t be bothered with all the double sided tape/spray glue, umpteen sheets of wet ‘n’ dry, etc. In the end I stuck with Norton oil stones, but upped my game to a set of three (£54): coarse, medium and fine; and splashed out on some green polishing compound, I’m real high tech now. I use a guide for sorting out blades from tools I get from Ebay and car boot sales. Something to think about, my dad would never let me use his oil stone, I had to buy my own on day 1. He told me to never use someone else’s stone or let someone else use yours. Because way back when, everyone free-handed so every stone was worn to the individual joiners technique and style of sharpening, which is affected by stance, pressure, stroke length, etc, etc. Something to think about if you are tempted to buy a used stone from the likes of Ebay. The wear pattern might not suit your sharpening style and you will be fighting to get a sharp edge every time you use it.
11 April 2016 at 7:05 pm #136294Sharpening used to drive me up the wall! I always used a guide, the Eclipse type, with a set of combination waterstones I bought a few years ago but they wear so fast I really got fed up with having to flatten them out. I would go from one grit to the next and then find the first had hollowed slightly thus not matching the next stone-most frustrating!
I recently bought a new set of chisels and obviously they needed work to flatten the backs and hone an edge. I started on the waterstones again to flatten the backs but soon got fed up with them so I pulled out some old (really cheap) plastic backed diamond stones I had, stuck them to a board and wow what a difference. I then found that my guide wouldn’t hold the chisels square on the inner set of jaws (quite a common problem with these guides I gather) so I watched Paul’s video again and gave it a go. I never thought I would be able to sharpen freehand but I got the hang of it in no time and it’s so fast, like 10 or 20 times as fast and so much less messy. I still use the 6000 waterstone after the diamonds because it’s pretty hard and wear is minimal and then strop on leather with the green compound. I’m so pleased with the results that now I’m sharpening my plane irons the same way. I only use the guide if a blade is really out of square now and if there’s larger damage I have a watertstone wheel grinder that I use for my turning tools which does the trick pretty quickly for rough shaping.
I’ll look to get some better/larger diamond stones in the future, I won’t go back to waterstones. I have to agree with Peter about the good discussion without being told we’re doing it wrong etc, whatever works for you is great and I’ve definitely found the best method for me.
- This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by cragglerock.
13 April 2016 at 5:17 pm #136375I have a question I’d like to piggyback on here if that’s ok. If not, tell me to pound sand and I’ll start a new topic!
I’ve got a Veritak mkII sharpening guide + diamond plates (coarse, fine, very fine) + compound/strop but I’m not sure if I’m using it correctly. Each time I use it, it looks like the chisel is being sharpened at an angle. Not sure if I’m describing the phenomenon correctly so I’ve included a picture of what I’m seeing (I’m at the office and don’t have a photo of my chisel so it’s MS Paint to the rescue).
Basically the lighter grey portion is the sharpened bit, and the darker grey are with the sloppy lines are the machine marks from the factory grinding. Is it normal for it to sharpen at an angle like this?
My initial thought was that the chisel wasn’t seated in the sharpening guide straight, but I checked it several times and it seemed like it was dead flat against the guide.
Thanks for any insights!
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You must be logged in to view attached files.I use the Ezelap stones freehand for all my sharpening. I don’t have a guide, but I would probably use it to square edges if I had. I have been sharpening edges since I was 6 years old using different techniques. I tried the Sellers method, but I didn’t think it was right for me. At least not the way he sequence through the grits every time he sharpen an edge. I do however hold the tools the way he does, and I make the convects bevel. So here is what I do.
For damaged edges, or when the bevel angle needs adjustments, I do the same as Paul: Start with course (or medium, I don’t remember which), goes to fine and then super fine.
When the edge is just getting dull, I just touch up using the super fine stone. I don’t see the point of spending time removing steel that is not damaged.
I never polish the edges. Why not? First of all, I don’t think I am gaining enough from it. The bevel sure looks nice, but that’s about it. Also, it is very easy to round off the edge during polishing, making the edge duller again.
So I finish finish with the super fine stone, then I slide the edge through some end grain to remove the worst burr. Then I do 5-10 more strokes on the super fine stone using almost no pressure. and 2-3 strokes on the backside of the edge. The result is super sharp. Best part, most of the time I only use one stone, and I sharpen the edges in less than half the time as Paul does.
I do sharpen my straight razor slightly different. I may do a few strokes on the super fine diamond stone if the bevel needs to be reset. Then the I use a fine grit water stone that produces an almost mirror finish. Last I use a leather strop without any buffing compound. 40-50 strokes on the strop, and if is ready for my face. This produces an edge sharper than anything you manage to sharpen on woodworking tools.
@jlassberg I own an mkii as well and it could be your chisel is “slipping” in the jig. This is the reason why I stopped using it. No matter how tight I turn the screws the chisel or blade slips from time to time.
That or your chisel is really out of square and the light gray line is the correct angle.
Wesley
- This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by Wesley.
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