How Do You Sharpen Your Tools?

[echnidna]

Like Bazza and Bob W I was taught to do it with a grinder and oilstone but nowadays I use the grinder and a diamond file to deburr and polish the bevel. Even works very well with my thicknesser blades which I grind freehand.

[Wood Borer]

I use a similar method to Alexs except I do not use a grinder. My diamond stone is mainly used to flatten my water stones (because the water stones cut faster than my diamond plate)

I have 3 water stones but regularly only use the 1200 and 6000 to regularly touch up my chisels and plane blades finishing off with a strop charged with the Veritas honing compound.

I find the regular touching up to be the important part. Like others have said, the blunter the tool becomes the longer it takes to get an edge on it which makes you less likely to sharpen the tool and then it becomes blunter ........

I have just about weaned myself off jigs now and I find sharpening and honing by hand to be much quicker and produces a better edge. Why didn't I put the jigs away earlier?

- Wood Borer

[Zed]

ive always used a 8 inch grinder and a fine oilstone to finish the bur and final cutting angle. since doing my woodturning course the instructor reckons you can "use whatever seems to work" he then proceded to rough the gouging chisel with a rough8' wheel then finished the bur with some wet and dry paper, from there straight into the job and back to work! since then i've used the wheel, oilstone and a diamond stone. whatever works gets my vote.

I've had a little play with some of those funny little half circular jap stones that are something like 5000 grit (used on the inside of small detail gouges) - they strike me as largely a novelty as they are so soft they change shape real quick and thus are less useful than they could be... wet and dry seems the go !!! especially with HSS that holds a good edge and doesnt change its temper readily...

cheers

[GregLee]

When doing heavy sharpening I start off with a white wheel on the 6" grinder to create a hollow ground, then I hone the main bevel on an oilstone with a Stanley Jig and finish the main bevel and micro bevel on 1200 Wet n' dry.

Sometimes I also polish on rag wheel on grinder. However, this is normally only for asthetics. Wet n' dry seems to finish like a razor.

[Rowan]

and here I was thinking that the duller the blades got the safer I was, is this theory wrong???? :eek:

[woodymarts]

hi
i use a eletrice grind stone it works very well with all my chizles and my lawn mower blades.
wodymarts

[LineLefty]

Scary Sharp all the way for me.

It costs a bit in paper but if you reuse the paper you can save heaps.

By reuse I mean to "downgrade" the higher grits. That is, afte a 100G piece is uesd a few times then take use it as a lesser grit or a few more sharpenings. Seems to work for me.

Oh and from my experience, a thick peice of MDF works well (with spray glue), didnt have any glass on hand.

Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't a grinder (whic I dont have) grind a concave bevel? How then, do you know the angle?

[silentC]

I measure it like this:

[LineLefty]

So actually, the cutting angle is a bit shallower.

Does it work ok with a hollow grind?

[silentC]

You would normally use a flat ground secondary bevel at a greater angle after hollow grinding, so the actual cutting angle is that of the secondary bevel, not of the primary bevel. The advantage of the hollow grind is that you need to remove less material to get a back a sharp edge, so the edge lasts longer between grinding and is quicker to touch up.

[bitingmidge]

Just realised I haven't used chisels in over a year, and am about to do some painting so pulled one out to open the can.....it seems to have kept it's edge the whole time..not bad I reckon!

Cheers,

p

[Wood Borer]

That is real bad taste in tool etiquette – how could you do that?


- Wood Borer

[silentC]

It's easy: you take the chisel, place the sharp end between the lid and the rim of the tin, then lever the lid up by pressing down on the chisel handle.

[Wood Borer]

I am seriously considering reporting this disgusting filth to one of the administrators.

What if some innocent child was read this muck? Would it affect them permanently or only temporally?

I scoffed when the government sent out their dob in a terrorist propaganda but I can now see an application for it. Do you have the terrorist stoppers number?

- A very disappointed Wood Borer

[Eastie]

Adding to Silents excellent instructions -
I find a 1/2" best - smaller will only lift and ruin the rim of the lid.
If you’re outside you then poke the sharp end in the ground until it’s time to put the lid back on. If you are inside you can skip that bit. To put the lid back on align the lid with the tin and whilst holding the blade of the chisel simply whack the lid with the chisel handle until it’s seated - with older paint tins with a crust of dry paint in the rim you'll have to whack pretty hard to get a good seal.

I find this works best with some of the older meaty registered chisels, but a new 1/2 inch sorby wouldn't be too bad once you get the knack of it.

Eastie